EDGE and Tesseract are imprints of Hades Publications, Inc.

Frequently Asked Questions

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How do I submit to EDGE?

If you are an author, please review our author guidelines.

If you are an artist, please review our artist guidelines.

You will need to adhere to these guidelines in order to have your work considered by EDGE.

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Why are there author submission guidelines?

We have a very specific evaluation process. This process requires a certain amount of material to be on hand, and because a submission may only receive one evaluation, or several, we need to keep this process uniform. Making sure that each submission package contains the same amount of material helps to give each author fair and equal representation. The more closely you can adhere to the guidelines, the smoother the evaluation process will be, and you will end up hearing about your novel sooner.

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How do I make a good first impression?

Be sure your information is accurate. This includes spelling the editor's name correctly, addressing the submission to the right person, and most of all entails being sure that what you are sending in is something we're going to want to look at.
     If you don't know if your novel would be suited to our house, don't be afraid to ask first. There's no point in sending us your romance novel or your comic book just because we're a publishing house-like any other publisher, we have goals and a specific kind of material we want to see. Research any company you are looking at before you send them anything; not only will you save yourself time and money, but you will prove yourself to be thorough and "on the ball".
     Another thing that will ensure your first impression is a good one is to make sure that your submission package is complete and error-free. Don't assume your printer is printing off what you tell it to: too often we receive submissions with missing pages or other printer errors, and then we have to wait while the author scrambles to fix the mistake. Other common errors are cover/query letters addressed to other publishers, or missing material in the submission. If you're not sure if you should include something, or what the publisher's submission guidelines are, ask first.

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As an unpublished author, do I need an agent?

No. We accept manuscripts from unagented as well as agented authors. There is not much an agent can do for most new authors other than try to locate a publisher. If you have already signed up with an agent, tell them to contact us with your work and we will study their proposal. However, agented works do not get special treatment; to us there is no difference than when you contact us yourself.
     Our book contracts are pretty uniform. We rarely ever negotiate the royalty percentages and/or advances that we offer, and if we do so, then only with previously published writers. However, if you are already committed to an agent, you must honor that commitment.

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Do I need to hire a publicist?

Some of our authors decide to hire a publicist after being signed up by us. This can be a good decision if the publicist knows how to expose the author locally. It makes very little sense to hire an East Coast publicist if you live on the West Coast, or the other way around. That's money wasted.
     A word of caution: do not hire a publicist if you're unwilling to do the hard work yourself. No publicist can replace you at the center of your book's success.

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What are my obligations as an author?

The author has really only one obligation: to provide us with the completed final-version manuscript. We'll take it from there. Does this mean that the author must sit on his/her hands after signing the contract? Not exactly.
     After the book has gone through the editing process it is set up in type and then forwarded as a page proof to the author for final, minor correction. The author is expected to return such corrections within fifteen days. The book is then prepared to go to the printer, where it will wait in line to be printed. Once we feel that all necessary elements are in place, we will begin to market and distribute your book.
     The book industry puts initial local marketing front and center where the author is excellently positioned to directly communicate with his/her audience. Because the book is closely and often intimately linked to the author's personal life experiences, fears, hopes, and dreams, it's the author who is designated to spearhead local promotion.

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When will I see my book in print?

The official answer is between twelve and eighteen months. The truth is, we want to release an accepted book soon, but wisely.

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Can I have my submission returned to me?

Yes. If you receive a letter or email that states your submission will be destroyed, you have thirty days to claim your work. You should contact us immediately by . You will then need to send us the appropriate postage (Canadian stamps or IRCs only) and a return envelope.

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Why might my submission be destroyed?

1. The author thought the copy was disposable
2. The author didn't include a proper SASE
3. The author didn't include IRCs
4. The author stamped the return envelope with American or other foreign postage
5. The author sent us a check to pay for postage

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My book isn't finished yet. Can I still query about it?

Yes. However, be sure to clarify in your letter that your novel is still a work-in-progress and that you only want to know if the idea sounds interesting to us. Keep in mind that we won't want to see actual novel material until the book is finished and refined.
     Send this kind of query by regular mail, not email. You'll need to include a separate, short synopsis of the story. The synopsis should not be any longer than five pages.

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Can I fax my query or submission?

No. We only accept queries and submissions by regular post. However, you may fax us a request for guidelines so long as you supply a return fax number or email address.

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EDGE and Tesseract Books are distributed in Canada and the United States by Fitzhenry and Whiteside   (more)
EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing, Inc.
and Tesseract Books, Ltd.
P.O. Box 1714, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2P 2L7
Phone: (403) 254-0160 - Fax: (403) 254-0456
CONTACT US

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