Manuscript wishlist
Bumping this to the top in light of recent events: I am not a fit for books with discriminatory messages. I do not tolerate racism, homophobia or transphobia, xenophobia, ableism, or otherwise prejudicial books.
On a (somewhat) lighter note—I have unironically described my taste in books as “sad, literary works for traumatized nerds.” If yours fits this, and/or any of the below, I would love to read it!
Headshot © Nancy Adler.
YA and MG - Contemporary
This space is my biggest priority. My favorite published contemporaries I’ve worked on are TOGETHER WE CAUGHT FIRE by Eva V. Gibson (YA) and THANKS A LOT, UNIVERSE by Chad Lucas (upper MG), along with the upcoming INTO THE DEEP BLUE by Jennifer E. Archer (upper YA).
-Lyrical, literary writing (Eva Gibson is the perfect example here! So is INTO THE DEEP BLUE by Jennifer E. Archer, another all-time favorite.)
-Novels-in-verse (NOTHING BURNS AS BRIGHT AS YOU by Ashley Woodfolk, THE TRUTH PROJECT by Dante Medema, THE POET X by Elizabeth Acevedo)
-Overall tone: “Dark and gritty”, “issue-driven”
-I also love seeing moments of profound joy, celebration, or triumph alongside the grit, especially for marginalized characters!
-Slice-of-life and coming-of-age (THE UNBEATABLE LILY HONG by Diana Ma—another favorite!)
-Endings: I do like happy or hopeful endings, but I’m good with bittersweet or downright sad endings, too.
-Protagonist ages: 12 and upward (love college-aged protagonists, too!). Note that in the MG space, I’m the best fit for upper middle grade—I very occasionally find myself falling for a story about an 11-year-old protagonist, but most books I’ve seriously considered representing in this space have been older. I’m a lot more open to different ages in YA!
-Exceptionally voice-driven (ALAN COLE IS NOT A COWARD by Eric Bell)
-LGBTQIA+ (Too many favorites to name—one that’s darker is THE BEST LIARS IN RIVERVIEW by Lin Thompson)
-Chronically ill and/or disabled creators and characters (BREATHE AND COUNT BACK FROM TEN by Natalia Sylvester)
-Mental health topics and representation, neurodivergence (GOOD DIFFERENT by Meg Eden Kuyatt—also a fantastic novel-in-verse!)
-I also do my best to feature, uplift, and prioritize BIPOC creators and stories.
-Mixed storytelling formats, e.g. Multiple POV, mixed-POV (FANS OF THE IMPOSSIBLE LIFE by Kate Scelsa—three narrators, one told in first-person, one in second-person, one in third-person)
-Mixed media (ALL THE FIGHTING PARTS by Hannah V. Sawyerr, MESSAGE NOT FOUND by Dante Medema)
-Multiple timelines (WHERE SECRETS LIE by Eva V. Gibson)
-Romance as a subplot: I adore romance, especially LGBTQIA+, the good times and bad and everything in between! But my favorites are usually stories where the romantic element is not the sole plot focus.
-Non-romantic relationship focus: Friendship and found family, “friend break-up” (WHEN YOU WERE EVERYTHING by Ashley Woodfolk), complicated family dynamics
YA and MG - genre
Contemporary fantasy will be my largest focus here, but I’m sparingly open to other genres!
-Fantasy/speculative: Foremost, contemporary fantasy with lyrical writing and character focus (THE NATURE OF WITCHES and WILD IS THE WITCH by Rachel Griffin—her style is the perfect example of my wishlist, in writing style, topic, and composition!).
-I’m open to near-future dystopian (by “near,” I generally mean no more than 100 years in the future) involving social critique, magic, or both (BLOOD LIKE MAGIC by Liselle Sambury, INTERNMENT by Samira Ahmed). I’m not a good fit for apocalypse or post-apocalypse stories.
-Very narrowly open to higher fantasy, if the world is extremely detailed and the writing is atmospheric and accessible (A FORGERY OF ROSES by Jessica S. Olson).
I would love to see ghost stories! Note, though, that I’m not a fit for other paranormal characters, such as werewolves, vampires, zombies, mermaids, dragons, or faeries.
-Historical: Very sparingly open; I prefer stories set in the nearer-past (so, generally any time in the 1900s), stories set in lesser-told times in history, and those that have a human-interest element alongside the education (HER REBEL HIGHNESS by Diana Ma).
-Thriller/mystery/suspense: More open here! I’m a fan of murder mysteries, especially those with unconventional formats (WHERE SECRETS LIE by Eva V. Gibson again, THE LOVELY BONES by Alice Sebold), but don’t tend to love plots with heavy police involvement. I also like more focus on character than is typical for these areas (Maureen Johnson’s TRULY DEVIOUS series) and very literary writing (I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU by Kara A. Kennedy—another favorite!).
-Anthologies and anthology pitches: The industry remains divided on anthologies, so my consideration may be narrower than it is for novels, but I’m interested, for both fiction and nonfiction. (THIS IS OUR RAINBOW and BEING ACE are two favorites!) Note that I’m not a good fit for short story or essay collections by one individual author.
picture books
This will be the smallest part of my list. My favorite (soon-to-be) published PB I’ve worked on is THE HOLE by Lindsay Bonilla.
I have a strong preference for SEL (social-emotional learning) in picture books, and almost always prefer human narrators. Some other elements of interest are:
-Grief: Hopeful but not saccharine; honest about the heavy parts. (THE HOLE is a perfect example of what this means to me!)
-LGBTQIA+: Open to anything from celebratory, to informative, to issue-based (WHAT ARE YOUR WORDS? by Katherine Locke is one recent favorite!).
-Diverse cultures, holidays, traditions, identities: Again, whether celebratory, slice-of-life, informative, or issue-based (THE PROUDEST BLUE by Ibtihaj Muhammad, YOU ARE THE COLOR by Rifk Ebeid).
-Sparingly open to biographies; any subject and era. I usually prefer women, LGBTQIA+, and/or BIPOC, or otherwise underrepresented subjects (THE POLIO PIONEER by Linda Elovitz Marshall, NIKI NAKAYAMA: A CHEF’S TALE IN 13 BITES by Debbi Michiko Florence).
-Also open to other nonfiction—off-the-beaten-track education on niche topics, with wit and humor, like Mary Roach for kids!
-Disability, in both fiction and nonfiction—again, open here to anything from celebratory to slice-of-life to educational to heavier.
-Author-illustrators/teams! I’m open to and experienced with a wide range of art styles, so try me with anything. See McIntosh & Otis’s PB author-illustrators for examples: Stacey Byer, Maribel Castells, Rachel Más Davidson, Tiffany Golden, Skylar Hogan, Dawn Masi, Sue Safianoff
-I strongly prefer human narrators over animal narrators. I’m not totally closed to the latter, but the story needs a strong SEL theme (POCKET FULL OF SADS by Brad Davidson).
random/specific interests
Sharing just in case they happen to apply to your book! Many of these asks (such as loss of a parent or friend, disability/chronic illness, queerness and asexuality, fatness, cat ownership, music, childfree characters, and knitting) are inspired by my own experiences.
-Death/grief, where it’s a focus and not used as a plot device (again mentioning the upcoming INTO THE DEEP BLUE by Jennifer E. Archer!). I’m specifically interested in characters whose parents have died, and characters whose friends have died.
-Endometriosis/adenomyosis, hearing loss, brain tumors, headache disorders, cerebellar ataxia/movement disorders—I’d love to see books with any chronic illnesses or disabilities, but these are mine!
-Fat characters who are NOT interested in weight loss
-Asexual characters
-Pets, especially cats. I’m also interested in stories about pet owners who were afraid or reluctant at first!
-Beach settings
-Retellings (though not necessarily fairy-tale retellings—a good example of my taste here is NEVER LOOK BACK by Lilliam Rivera)
-Singers, music, musical theatre
-Characters who don’t want kids (whether this is the protagonist or adults in their lives)
-Knitting (even tangentially related books, e.g. THE HELPING SWEATER by Rachel Más Davidson!!)
-Gymnastics (I loved BREAK THE FALL by Jennifer Iacopelli!) and swimming—I’m not always the perfect fit for sports stories, but I love seeing these two in books every time! (To expound on my feelings about books that feature other sports, I told one of my authors that the sports thread in his book is my favorite kind of sports thread, because it’s “all feelings, very little actual sports.”)
-Holiday stories (any, especially holidays from diverse cultures—I’m a HUGE holiday person!)
i am *not* a fit for:
-Racist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, xenophobic, misogynist, or otherwise discriminatory content
-Rhyming picture books (unless the author mainly writes free verse or prose)
-Early readers, chapter books, or lower MG
-Adult work (unless a kidlit author, who’s querying me with a children’s manuscript, has an adult manuscript or two—in which case I’d loop in a colleague!)
-Third-person. I would certainly work on the occasional third-person book (especially in the picture book space!), but I have a strong preference for first-person. I personally find it easiest to connect with the narrator(s) and cultivate an authentic kidlit voice in first-person formats. (This is just a personal opinion; I have nothing against third-person books in general!)
-I’m not the best fit for graphic novels or comics, but I do enjoy hybrid/illustrated novels! (A MONSTER CALLS by Patrick Ness, a big favorite)
-Christian religious themes (except for select stories about leaving the religion) or parables
-Animal narrators, or talking animal characters outside of PBs
-Art created by AI, or stories about AI
-Supernatural characters besides ghosts (so again, I’m not a fit for faeries, vampires, zombies, werewolves, mermaids, dragons, etc.)
-Pirates
-Court fantasy
-Steampunk or oceanpunk
-Sci-fi (especially aliens or space)
-Time travel or portals
-Insects or snakes
-Excessive gore in battle scenes
-Prehistoric settings
-Organized crime, assassins, the mafia, etc.
-Plots that heavily involve police
Favorite shows, movies, musicals
I’m perpetually behind the times with movies and TV, but here are some I love (though there are parts of these media that I don’t condone, such as homophobic, transphobic, fatphobic, or sex-negativity comments), in no particular order:
-The Good Place
-Ted Lasso
-Inside Out
-Parks and Recreation
-The West Wing
-Gilmore girls
-Dash and Lily; Let it Snow (Netflix adaptations)
-The Holiday
-Abbott Elementary
-Shrinking
-Only Murders in the Building
-Pushing Daisies
-Carol
-Mare of Easttown
-Avatar: The Last Airbender
-Never Have I Ever
-Nimona
-A League of their Own (the Amazon Prime show)
-I’m a HUGE Broadway/musical person (some favorites are Fun Home, Waitress, RENT, Tick…Tick…Boom!, Wicked, Come From Away, Phantom of the Opera, Wicked)