Thanks for that, Kelpie!
The reason I enquired about the short story vs novel approach was that I had the opportunity to meet one of my favourite childhood authors when I was younger and he said (at the time) that most publishers are a bit put off with a brand new author trying to hock a novel at them as their first published creation! But if the idea's good enough, it'll hold it's own I'm sure (just out if interest, did you go down the short story route yourself or straight in at the deep end!
)
Another question would be, is it worthwhile working through an intermediate when dealing with publishers? To use JK Rowling as an example of this, she used an "agent" of sorts to act as liaison to the publishing houses to avoid getting ripped off or tied down to lengthy contracts. I haven't ever had the guts to try and put forward any stories I dotted down (believe me, I've spared you all!!
) but a concern would be that you never know/understand what you're signing up for.
Also, when pitching to the publishers do you try and target small or large publishers? Which do you find easier to break into?