Thank you for posting this, Rachel. They're a publisher new to me, and I've added them to my list of queries to make in my latest campaign. I've only queried one digital publisher before, who responded by saying their list was closed, even though their website said they welcomed submissions.
At least, with a digital publisher there's more of an equitable distribution of profits with a 50/50 split of royalties. I find myself torn about this, for though it's fairer than a traditional publishing contract, a digital publisher isn't really doing anything that I couldn't do myself. Except, they've already got a swish website and marketing team.
Agora's existing roster of crime writers shows that I might find a suitable berth for my
Cornish Detective series. I'd be interested to see their Terms & Conditions—would I need to be exclusive with them? Or, could I also market my titles elsewhere, including self-publishing?
One tip with checking out publishers, is to search your local public library system to see if they stock any of their books. I checked Agora, and Cornwall has only one of their books, a well-reviewed novel.
I think I might have left it too close to Christmas and New Year to make submissions. Previous experience of sending off queries at this time of year, shows a delayed response time averaging six months. I've read some real horror stories about agencies clearing the decks in December, binning manuscripts to make space for the office party and emptying their In Boxes to make a clean slate for the new year.
What say you,
@AgentPete? Is there any point in querying in December?