Ellora's Cave payments policy
Just a word of warning for any non-American members amongst us. Ellora's Cave have confirmed that they ONLY pay via US check. They don't use PayPal and can't wire funds direct to bank accounts. Anyone with a bank like mine that charges to honour 'foreign' checks will receive little or nothing back once they've paid the bank charges. Which effectively means it's not worth submitting manuscripts to Ellora's. Does this count as discrimination against non-American authors?

Damn. I was really hoping they'd make exceptions for those not in the US. Oh well. Thanks for the heads-up, hun. Wish it could have worked out.

Me too! They say 15% of their authors are non-US - but presumably based in countries with a less draconian banking system....

:shock: I'm surprised it's even that high.

I had noticed this. Very few countries have the facilities to honor US checques without large fees. However, many writers have somebody the can trust in the US who will bank a checque and paypal it to them. So long as I don't have to do it more than quarterly I can help out in this way.

Wow, thanks for the offer, hon! That's really, really sweet of you. Only trouble is, I think they pay monthly. Plus I've already written to say that sadly I won't be able to submit to them so I've probably shot myself in the foot there. :wink:

I'd offer, but I don't have a checking account. LOL (Our only account is a savings account, and we pay our bills with cash or money orders.) Hmm.. wish I knew what to tell you, hun. :?

LOL. Thanks anyway. And I think 'try another publisher' is the obvious one. :D

You could send me the cheques quartlerly to bank? If they are shipped tp you first you have the peace of mind of knowing how much they are first. Give it some thought--E C is a premier market.

Emily have you had this kind of problem banking US checks in New Zealand?

Yes, very much so. Before even considering it ask you bank *all* of the fees involved in banking a checque from them -- variables such as the exact issuing bank and exact cashing bank can make the fee range from $10 to $70. I haven't tried it recently so there is some chance they have improved the system which typically involved 3 different banks if the US issuing bank was a small one. I await the arrival of Western Union which is one way around this in the UK.

Sorry, but if someone - in this day and age of international economy and gobal market - is not willing to pay me in ways that are acceptable to countries other than their own, then I would not want to have any dealings with them. (not that I would anyway, but that's not the point. The point is the principle) I think it is utterly arrogant and short sighted to proclaim 'we only do this such and such a way' and shows what they think of their authors. I'd feel treated like scum in that case, a la not being worthy enough to be taken as a serious business partner.

Yes, although the same also applies to the British (and presumably NZ) banks.... It's about time they started accepting other currencies wiithout charge. After all, so many people work via the internet, buy/sell on ebay etc etc - I can't believe the banks haven't caught up yet. For info, in the UK both Halifax and Nationwide are worth querying with since I understand neither charge to pay foreign currency cheques into an existing account....

I have recieved money for short stories in US cheque form and haven't been charged that much by the bank for a $50 story but are you saying they charge more the bigger the cheque is? Sorry I am not good at maths. Paypal punishs you for not being in the States too. They would charge me $3 NZ for a $50 cheque. Ellora's Cave is supposed to pride itself on all it's international authors.

It does vary an awful lot by bank too--so maybe you have a good one?