Ali Herring
@HerringAli
Assistant Literary Agent, Spencerhill Associates. Twin mom +1. Eclectic in life & books. I♥️Jane Austen & SFF in equal doses. Query me: bit.ly/2EOFVFa
Metro Atlanta
Zabé/Z.R. Ellor @ZREllor
My two cents on YA sci-fi—it works best when the science fiction elements line up with actual teen struggles. Uglies and Divergent are two great examples. Body image? Cliques and belonging? These books use science fiction to speak directly to the unique needs of teensI’m all for YA sci-fi, but totally agree 👇👇👇, so if you can show me how your YA SF aligns to teen struggles, then #MSWL, y’all.
Ali Herring @HerringAli · Feb 4
Angie Thomas @angiecthomas
Somebody please write this YA book. Preferably a Black man. Thank you. twitter.com/SlaylerJ/statu…I would love to see this, but I kinda want it as an MG. #MSWL
Ali Herring @HerringAli · Feb 2
I would REALLY REALLY like a “Dumplin” for the middle grade audience. In these formative years, there needs to be a book about accepting/loving yourself, how to handle bullies, positive coping mechs, finding true friends, and just general body positivity. #MSWL
Ali Herring @HerringAli · Jan 23
Elana Roth Parker @ElanaRoth
Fantasy is a tough one right now for me. I think I'm more game for fantastical elements in MG/YA rather than "capital F Fantasy." Weave something speculative into something ordinary. Riff. Innovate. Iterate. #MSWL#MSWL This for me, but adult fiction.
Ali Herring @HerringAli · 5 Dec 2019
Ali Herring @HerringAli
I had a weird dream about a girl who lives at the base of a dormant volcano in a part of the world covered in ice/snow. Reminded me of Sue’s remote airfield in Nat Geo’s Life Below Zero. Huge red building housed all life. Transient hikers come through. #MSWL isolated teen in YA!#MSWL Same feel as The Space Between Us—that isolation, but the action/romance/loss takes place at her remote location rather than the girl going to “civilization.”
Ali Herring @HerringAli · 5 Dec 2019
I had a weird dream about a girl who lives at the base of a dormant volcano in a part of the world covered in ice/snow. Reminded me of Sue’s remote airfield in Nat Geo’s Life Below Zero. Huge red building housed all life. Transient hikers come through. #MSWL isolated teen in YA!
Ali Herring @HerringAli · 21 Nov 2019
Thank you to the TikTok video my kids were watching this morning. May I please have a contemporary YA set in a boarding school. Could be bubbly, could be broody. You do you. #MSWL
Ali Herring @HerringAli · 20 Nov 2019
Kerry Johnson @candidkerry
#WritingCommunity I don’t write scary stuff but check this out 😱💀😳#amwriting twitter.com/profwaynegarci…Oh wow. That’s #MSWL material right there.
Ali Herring @HerringAli · 19 Nov 2019
Can I have a horror novel about a young girl who carries around a doll (like a modern day American girl doll type doll - not old school creepy). And wherever she goes, bad things happen—but is it the girl or the doll? #MSWL SCARE ME. MAKE ME QUESTION THINGS.
Ali Herring @HerringAli · 19 Nov 2019
Would love a YA where a Korean teenager sees her life as a mirror to her favorite Korean soap opera. Grew up watching these with my best friend, and think it could be unique set up. High humor, some romance, a whole lotta' drama, & strong plot. #MSWL
Ali Herring @HerringAli · 13 Nov 2019
Emma Theriault 🌹🕰🕯 @eltheriault
My friend lives in a house built in the early 1900s and her nearly three-year-old son has two “imaginary friends” named Francine and Harold and I don’t know how to break it to her that those are definitely ghosts.I mean, I think this would make an adorable children’s book—like a modern-day Casper the Friendly Ghost but I’d want an 8- or 9-year-old protagonist. #MSWL
Ali Herring @HerringAli · 12 Nov 2019
On the hunt for middle grade and young adult manuscripts that are really joyful and feature characters from marginalized backgrounds. #MSWL
Ali Herring @HerringAli · 4 Nov 2019
Me thinks #Biltmore House holds a lot of secrets... Would love historical fic based on its occupants & history. Perhaps something akin to Downton Abbey, something sweeping. #MSWL I wish a historian & an author would mary & write this for me—or you know, co-authoring is fine too.
Ali Herring @HerringAli · 23 Oct 2019
Someone write me Meghan Markle fanfic where all the mean people get their cumuppance. #MSWL.
Ali Herring @HerringAli · 10 Oct 2019
I want a #MG that gives me Goonies vibes. Slightly irreverent. Lots of humor and sarcasm. BIG almost over-the-top characters, yet still believable. Ensemble. #MSWL
Ali Herring @HerringAli · 25 Sep 2019
#MSWL a story set on earth in a time that’s been lost to us. Think about all the monumental buildings and structures that we wonder how the agents built. What if they existed in a technological world that was lost to us. I want a story set in that world.
Ali Herring @HerringAli · 24 Sep 2019
#MSWL I love love love love love middle grade. My sweet spot is upper #MG. Send me all the middle grade.
Ali Herring @HerringAli · 24 Sep 2019
#MSWL Contemporary inspirational and/or sweet romance (think Hallmark). Category Romance as well as longer length. Shorter word count to fit Love Inspired, Love Inspired Suspense. If writing with these or Hallmark lines in mind, look at their submission guidelines for reference.