Please always query before submitting – this gives us the opportunity to let you know whether or not to go to the expense and trouble of sending a full manuscript before we've said we're interested.

We're looking for short stories and articles (for a Sailing Anthology), and also for full book manuscripts about pretty much anything to do with boats – from blue water sailing to canal boats, barges, riverboats, etc; fiction as well as non-fiction. Travelogues, humour, practical help books, reminiscences ... Some of our books are Christian in nature, others won't be – but either way, we are not interested in foul language, gratuitous sex, violence, racism, or anything you wouldn't want your 10-year-old to be reading. (We also don't promote religions other than Bible-based Christianity.)

To see how we work and what is expected of our authors, please read the Sunpenny Publishing "Submit To Us" section. Please note that as an author, much of the publicity required will fall on your shoulders and as we are a very small company, we rely on our authors to be very involved in promoting and selling their books. We do not have a marketing division, though we do our part in getting the books into distribution channels and online stores.

QUERIES: Please send us an email or letter telling us a bit about yourself, your background, your future vision, and a brief paragraph about the book, and attach or include the book's synopsis (1-2 pages). It can sometimes take a while for us to reply, due to the number of queries we get, or work load.

MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSIONS: When we have indicated that we would like to see the full manuscript (or, if you prefer, the first few chapters), please post us a paper copy. Don't send your original; our tame shark might eat it. We don't take responsibility for postal failures, coffee stains and doggy-do, or other mishaps; accidents happen. Keep your original.

If you truly can't send us a paper copy (eg if you're off sailing in the far corners of the world), ask us about emailing us the file instead, but hard copy generally gets read sooner because we can do so while having coffee, driving to meetings, or sitting on the deck of a boat. :-)

PRESENTATION: Please take the time to find out how a professional manuscript is presented. If you're serious about the job of writing, come to the interview looking well prepared, as it were. A careless manuscript indicates a careless writer, and we will take this at face value. To find out how we like our manuscripts presented, please visit the Sunpenny presentation page. If you are unable to produce a well presented manuscript it won't mean we overlook your book; just that it's less likely to score highly with us.

To query or otherwise contact us, please use the email address at top right of this page, or get our full address details here.