"Send me inventive middle grade fantasy novels. Ex: THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON, WHEN YOU TRAP A TIGER, THE LAND OF STORIES, and THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL."
mariavicente.com #MSWL

“I want nonfiction proposals that offer a new perspective on an entertaining topic in any of these categories: art, the environment, pop culture, science, psychology, cultural history, and the occult.”
mariavicente.com #MSWL

I only accept queries via Querytracker: querytracker.net/query/MacLysaght

This link will open May 15th, 2026. See you soon!

Nos:

🤖🚫 IF YOU HAVE AI IN ANYTHING, NO THANK YOU

🖼️ PB, MG, or illustrator-only pitches

🙅‍♀️Faith stories, Aliens and Superheroes, portal fantasy

⁉️Stories with the express purpose of tricking or disappointing the reader

In Nonfiction:

💻 Fandom and nerd culture academia

🍬 The intersection of modern politics & pop culture

🦠 Weird histories, deep dives into oddball concepts

🚓 Ethical true crime & structural injustice

In YA:

🕵️ Hijinks, heists, and daring plots!

👠 Gender & sexuality as play and exploration, not trauma or parable

🎤 Voice for days, kids making 100% (in)correct KID choices

💬 Witty, complicated friend groups

In Horror:

⚰️ Indigenous horror, unexplored folklore of all countries and people

⛴️ Closed-set horror, like a cruise ship, a locked mall, a flooded island

👹 Tightly interwoven choice and plot; characters that drive the plot; rejecting puritanical moral codes

🌽 Ethel Cain & Hozier music

In Fantasy & Science Fiction:

🍷 Lush, decadent, slightly fallen worlds with horrible, sexy people

👺 I’m weak for a monster, a knight, a saint, or an alchemist

🏚️ A haunted house, a secret organization, a placid surface with fraught depths

🔮 A bargain, a deal with the devil, a curse

In Mystery:

🔎 I’m really looking for a charming sleuth with series potential!

💾 Monster/case of the week that builds to a greater plot

🏡 Harlan Coban pacing & intricacy, but not terrible to women

🐺 True Detective: Night Country, but if they were (correctly) gay

In Romantasy:

❤️‍🔥 ROMANCE COMES FIRST! If theres a monarchy, it exists to put the characters in a fraught marriage; magic exists to make them unbelievably sexy/horny/compromised

🌶️ High heat, high emotion, fast plot

🗡️ Toxic, horrible, sexy people. I want the reviews to be “WHAT DID I JUST READ”

In Romance:

💘 I want, most of all, to fall in love. Make me swoon like a Victorian maiden. 100/10 on the swoon scale.

🌸 Historical romance that explores secret societies, unspoken relationships

🗝️ Romance always has to have another genre for me, be that fantasy, horror, or mystery (or all three!)

Overall, I am seeking:

🗡️ Strong, confident writing with a tinge of darkness

🎓 Compelling voice and convincing authority in fantastical worlds

⚡ Stories dialed up to 11, high genre 🚀

💌 Tropes, done creatively!

🍳 Stories that pull a little of column A and B

🍑 Romance and mystery in *everything*

#Amquerying authors, it’s time for 2026 #MSWL refresh! As always, I am looking for YA, Adult, Graphic Novel, and select Nonfiction titles with a focus on commercial genre fiction from marginalized voices.

My reading taste is eclectic, but to give you some vibes, think of me for projects that are..

I’m a highly editorial agent.

If you have a great idea but need help shaping it into a compelling, market-ready proposal, that’s part of what I do.

I work closely with authors to develop projects that can break out both critically and commercially.

#MSWL #nonfiction

If you own your subject and can write the hell out of it, we should talk.

#amquerying #nonfiction

What I’m looking for:

• Authority: you’ve done the deepest work on your subject
• Originality: you’re saying something new and necessary
• Narrative drive: this is a story, not just information
• Platform: you can help this book reach the audience it deserves

#amquerying

I’m especially interested in:

• Narrative history with a strong throughline
• Deeply reported journalism
• Military, political, and international history
• Books that illuminate systems of power
• Fresh perspectives on overlooked or misunderstood events

I know what makes editors say yes—and how to shape a project to get there.

#MSWL

As an editor, I worked with authors like Alex Kershaw, Phillips Payson O’Brien, Jonathan W. Jordan, Daniel Stone, John C. McManus, Tim Mak, and William Inboden. As an agent, I've sold projects to Basic Books, Beacon and Oxford University Press.

#MSWL

Before becoming an agent, I spent nearly two decades acquiring nonfiction at Penguin Random House, with a strong passion for history and politics.

#MSWL