Submission Guidelines

We publish only speculative fiction with a focus on science fiction and fantasy.

For Science Fiction we are looking for good plots with solid science and philosophical underpinnings. For Fantasy, any magical system must be both rigorously coherent and integral to the plot, and overall the work must at least strive for originality. For Horror, the story does not have to be gorey, but should engulf the reader in the writer's reality.

Assuming your manuscript meets the above criteria, your work will be judged primarily on plot and characterization.

We are looking for works between 30,000 and 80,000 words (although we are prepared to consider anything outside of this range).

We release titles in both electronic book (eBook) format and print on demand paperpack. While we do not pay advances on contracted works, Hague Publishing is a royalty-paying publisher, and does not charge fees to the author. A sample contract is available at: Standard Contract.

How to Submit a Manuscript:

Query letters are not necessary. We prefer to see complete manuscripts accompanied by a synopsis. We prefer not to see simultaneous submissions.

Submission Management System (presently being redeveloped). We do not accept submissions by either email or snail-mail.

To use the Submissions System you must first register as an author. Once you are registered you will be able to upload, delete, and monitor the progress of your manuscript. It will also allow you to read any personal messages left for you by one of our editors.

To register you need click the 'signup' option at the top of the submit screen. Once you have completed and submitted the form you will be sent an email to confirm your email address and to complete the registration process. Please ensure your spam filter has been configured to allow emails from 'donotreply@haguepublishing.com'. Once registered you can then use the login option to access your account in the submission system and to upload your manuscript.

The following advice is intended to assist you complete the submission form.

Synopsis:

Please paste a copy of your synopsis into the space provided on the Submission Form. The synopsis should tell us what the novel is about, and should be somewhere between one and two pages in length. As a summary of the novel the synopsis should tell us:

• The type of story, e.g., a light-hearted fantasy quest or a hard science fiction thriller.
• Main characters - names, motivations, conflicts and crises.
• Plot - the entire main story line needs to be included, showing how the central conflict and any sub-plots are resolved. It may go against the grain for a crime or mystery writer to give away whodunit; many synopses only hint at the novel's ending but we ask for plot resolution because it allows us to see how your opening chapters have set up the themes and characters central to your story.

Attaching the manuscript:

Attach the manuscript as a MS-Word (.doc or .docx) or Rich Text Format (.rtf) file. Any other format will not be considered. The file name must be title-of-your-novel.doc, title-of-your-novel.docx, or title-of-your-novel.rtf. Do not include anything else in the file name.

Send the manuscript as a single file (do not break it into separate chapter files). The form will only accept a single file NOTE: Any viruses attached to your submission will send your manuscript straight into the bit-bucket.

On the first page of your manuscript, at the top, you must have the following information:

• Your full (real) name.
• Your (good, reliable, and current) e-mail address. [If you have an alternate permanent email address, please include it, in case your primary account goes out of service.]
• Your snail-mail address.
• Your phone number.
• The exact title of your book.
• The name you want on the book (pen name or real name).
• Approximate number of words (not number of pages).

To minimise the amount of re-formatting required it is best to use minimal formatting. That is:

• Do not format text boxes or sidebars into the manuscript, use block quotes instead.
• Center chapter headers and scene break indicators (###, ***, etc.).
• Use page breaks only at the end of chapters.
• For emphasis, choose either underline or italics and use it consistently throughout. Try to avoid bold face, as it doesn't tend to show up.
• Do not use "smart quotes"/curly quotes or single character elipses, mdashes, etc, instead use straight quotes and apostrophes.
• Avoid non-standard fonts, and unnecessary changes in font face, size, etc. Time Roman is good. Make it readable, or we won't read it. If something needs special formatting e.g. small caps for a certain entity's dialog, explain it in a cover letter.

Biography and comments

Otherwise known as the 'covering letter', please provide a short biography of youself in the 'Bio/comments' of the submission screen.

Your biography should include a listing of other published works, awards, etc. Including your website link is also helpful if you have one, but is not required. It would also be useful for us if you included your promotion/marketing plan for your book. Hague Publishing does offer promotion services to authors, but authors are encouraged to market themselves and their works.

Reply

We appreciate the time and care you put into your manuscript and can assure you that we will always seriouly consider your submission, but because of time constraints we generally don't give lengthy feedback on submissions.

We will endeavour to respond to your submission within eight weeks. If you haven't heard back from us within twelve weeks, please send an email query.

Privacy

Note: We NEVER release ANY personal information to third parties. All information you provide is kept in-house for the processing of your submission.

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