Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency

GeorgeK said:

I sent a snailmail submission to him almost three months ago and still haven't heard anything. His site says email submissions should get some sort of response around a 2 week turnaround. Why should snailmail be significantly more than a week longer? Maybe it's a good sign? Maybe I need to inquire if it ever arrived?

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I hope so, but he took 2.5 months to send me my form reject.

The querytracker.net site shows email responses from 21-48 days and snail mail from 7-82. So, I think the 2 weeks on email isn't exact. Six weeks and I'll write them off as a no. Let's see. I guess that will be around Thanksgiving.

Ethan Ellenberg used to be my agent. He's not now. I had the impression it was because he was generally cutting back, personally, but who knows. It's a legit agency, and I certainly didn't/don't have any major complaints.

Ashleen O'Gaea

I quired Ethan about a month ago (probably the worst time to send snailmail). Anyone know if he will take on two part novels?

I unfortunately have a two-parter and am a first timer which is probably another worst combination. Could not be helped though with the storyline I formed...

He responded to my email query in a day and requested the full, then offered three days after that. I believe his email policy is you will hear within two weeks, if you hear nothing assume its an R.

YAwriter72 said:

He responded to my email query in a day and requested the full, then offered three days after that. I believe his email policy is you will hear within two weeks, if you hear nothing assume its an R.

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Wow! Congratulations!

Thanks for updating the thread. This is nice to hear. I sent him a query today...

I know Ethan asks for the first 50 pages. For those of you who e-queried him, did you actually paste the first 50 in the e-mail? I wasn't sure!

brgray19 said:

I know Ethan asks for the first 50 pages. For those of you who e-queried him, did you actually paste the first 50 in the e-mail? I wasn't sure!

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Yes, pasted in the email NOT attached.

Thanks YAwriter! I have my partial out exclusively with my dream agent right now, but I'm trying to be prepared to send to my top 10 list of agents when I hear back (or don't as I hear apparently that's sometimes the case!), and that definitely helps.

brgray19 said:

I know Ethan asks for the first 50 pages. For those of you who e-queried him, did you actually paste the first 50 in the e-mail? I wasn't sure!

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I figured 50 was too much, so I sent first five chapters (about 30 pages). I didn't want the email to choke. I figure if (they) read the first 30 and are interested, they'll ask for more. They'll probably only read the first page anyhow, then ship out the form rejection.

I thought 50 was only meant for snail mail queries. The site said they didn't open attachments, so I sent the first chapter. a 50 page email is pretty big.

Yes, I was worried about the size of the e-mail. You're probably right though--I worry about these things and he decides off the first page!

Sorry. There is no specific number, its just sample chapters. I think I sent the first 30 to him.

YAwriter72 said:

Sorry. There is no specific number, its just sample chapters. I think I sent the first 30 to him.

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One more question! Did you also include the synopsis he asks for on his website, or did you just reply on the mini-synopsis in your query letter?

As a rule, always give the agent what he or she is requesting. If he wants a synopsis, you should be sure to send the synopsis -- even if you had a "mini-synopsis" in your query letter.

I queried Ethan Ellenberg a couple of days ago - I sent 50 pages inline and a synopsis too even though there was a mini-synopsis in my query.

That said, I think the synopsis is a bit flat, so I'm talking it over to SYW for dissection. God, I hate synopses.

Shall keep the world posted on how quickly I get rejected responded to!

brgray19 said:

One more question! Did you also include the synopsis he asks for on his website, or did you just reply on the mini-synopsis in your query letter?

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Full inline! I did query letter, <break>, synopsis, <break>, first 30 pages

Wonderlander said:

I queried Ethan Ellenberg a couple of days ago - I sent 50 pages inline and a synopsis too even though there was a mini-synopsis in my query.

That said, I think the synopsis is a bit flat, so I'm talking it over to SYW for dissection. God, I hate synopses.

Shall keep the world posted on how quickly I get rejected responded to!

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I sent a proposal to Ellenberg a few days ago, too. Haven't heard back.

This is a no response means rejection agency. Their submissions page says if you haven't heard back in two weeks, then consider it a no. At least they say that. Better than those who don't mention that they're non-responders.

dragonjax said:

If he wants a synopsis, you should be sure to send the synopsis -- even if you had a "mini-synopsis" in your query letter.

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Say there, it's been a few years since I looked into all the ROE for submissions (heh, my draft to EA has reference to 80 pages not 50), if the agent requests a "synopsis" they aren't looking for a snippet in the query then?

What's the typical length of a standard synopsis-to-agent?

Thanks much.

Wrum Riter said:

Say there, it's been a few years since I looked into all the ROE for submissions (heh, my draft to EA has reference to 80 pages not 50), if the agent requests a "synopsis" they aren't looking for a snippet in the query then?

What's the typical length of a standard synopsis-to-agent?

Thanks much.

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You need to ask the agent for specifics. A synopsis can be a short 1-3 page overview of the whole manuscript, or they may want a detailed "chapter-by-chapter" than can be up to 10 pages. A simple, polite email shouldn't be a problem for a direct question.

From what I've learned, agents like it best if you can manage to pack your synopsis into a single (single spaced) page.

You should have a different query letter (more of a "cover letter") designed to accompany a synopsis, so you aren't repeating synopsis-type details in your query. An agent pointed that out to me a while back.

Mine was 3.5 pages for a 45,000 word YA novel. I know some people have up to 10 pages. Some agents will specify a long or a short synopsis.

Any new info on this agent? I'm thinking of submitting, but I'd like more info before I do.

New info? Like what exactly?