Publishing
Send the book to the one that publishes books like it. A manuscript that arrives at the right list is read by somebody already looking for it — and the wrong list is the single most common reason a good book gets a form rejection.
Fiction with a long fuse
Literary novels and story collections — books meant to be argued about a decade after they are published. We are especially hungry for translations from Indian languages and for first novels over 60,000 words.
Not for: Genre series, romance and thrillers — Tidewater takes those, and takes them seriously.
Reported non-fiction
Narrative journalism, science, business and memoir. Bring receipts: we fact-check everything, joyfully, and we would rather delay a book by a season than print a claim we cannot stand behind.
Not for: Opinion collections without original reporting.
Debuts only
Poetry and prose from writers who have not published a book before. The Lighthouse Prize carries a ₹5,00,000 advance and closes on 31 August each year.
Not for: Anyone who has published a book with anyone, including themselves.
Story first
Crime, speculative fiction, romance and the books people actually read on trains. Commercial does not mean careless — these get the same editor, the same cover budget and a larger print run.
Not for: Standalone literary novels — those belong at Beacon.
Books for young readers
Picture books, middle grade and young adult. Illustrated work is commissioned in-house; if you write and draw, send both and say so.
Not for: Adult books with a young protagonist, which is a different thing entirely.
If none of them fit
Every imprint here started as a manuscript that did not fit the ones we had. Tell us in the submission note which list you think is closest and why — that sentence is read, and it has started two of these five.
The whole manuscript, a synopsis, and a line about who it is for. A commissioning editor reads all of it, and everyone gets a reply.
