Tiller Publishing is a small publishing house specializing in nautical books, primarily dealing with yacht design, yacht designers, boatbuilding and related history. We are particularly interested in keeping classic books of yacht design and boatbuilding in print. As a small publisher, we encourage new writers and unsolicited submissions. However, bear in mind that as a small publisher we generally produce no more than four to six new titles each year. Please review our guidelines carefully before submitting your manuscript to us.

Fiction

We are not seeking to publish fiction. We have more than enough backlog of good non-fiction books we want to get into print. We suggest, if you have in mind getting a work of fiction published, that you seek another publisher for those books of fiction.

Non-Fiction

Review the books we have listed on this website to get an idea of the types of books we publish. We prefer that you send a query letter before submitting a manuscript. The query letter should include a detailed synopsis of the proposed book, but no more than five pages typewritten, double-spaced, one side of the page only. Include a brief autobiography or resume. You must also include a standard business-size SASE for our response. Allow four to six weeks for our reply.

While we prefer a query first, we will review unsolicited manuscripts under the following conditions:

  1. Send the complete manuscript as typewritten copy, double-spaced, on one side of the page only. Include a synopsis and autobiography/resume as described above. We do not accept electronic submissions.
  2. You must include return postage for the full manuscript or a standard business-size SASE for our response and permission to recycle/dispose of the manuscript. Unsolicited manuscripts that do not include return postage or SASE will be destroyed unread.
  3. Include photocopies of any artwork you propose to include (drawings, photographs, sketches, plans, etc.) Do not send original art. We will not be responsible for the safety or the return of unsolicited original artwork.
  4. Include a cover sheet with the title of your book, any subtitle, your name and complete contact information (address, telephone numbers, email, etc.), date, and approximate word count. It is not necessary to attempt a fancy title page; a few lines of type centered on the page are sufficient.
  5. Manuscripts must be double-spaced, with no extra space between paragraphs, printed on one side of the page only, in black. Use a standard typeface such as Times Roman or Helvetica, preferably 12 point in size. Use a tab space, set at about one-half inch, to begin each new paragraph.
  6. We recommend at least a three-quarters-inch margin all around, preferably an inch.
  7. Each page of the manuscript must have a header that includes your last name, the title and page number in Arabic numerals. Do not number each chapter individually or use Roman numerals - the page numbers must be consecutive for the whole manuscript. Leave space equal to at least two carriage returns between the header and the text.
  8. The first page of each chapter must have the header described above. The chapter number and title (if any) should appear approximately one-third of the way down the page and the text should begin several carriage returns after that.
  9. Do not insert extra spaces after the end of sentences and check carefully for extra spaces between words.
  10. Use spell-check frequently and also manually proofread your manuscript often and carefully.
  11. Be sure to use proper punctuation and grammar. We recommend Karen Elizabeth Gordon's The Well-Tempered Sentence and The Transitive Vampire as guides. Many publishers and editors also recommend the AP Style Guide or the Chicago Manual of Style. If you want the ultimate guide, get Fowler's Modern English Usage.
  12. Allow three to six months for a response to your submission of a complete manuscript.