Lane Heymont
Literary Agent
Tobias Literary Agency
Literary Agent. Connoisseur of horror, schadenfreude, and caffeine. Founder of @TheTobiasAgency . Opinions are my own. (he/him)

Literary Agent
NONFICTION. Experts. All about platform. Pop culture. Science. Technology. History. Current events. Self-help (inspirational is tough for me). Memoirs are super tough because most people don’t care about your life, they have their own to live. So it better be wild! #MSWL 🧵

Literary Agent
SFF is hard for me because I grew up in it so it’s difficult to feel fresh. Look at who I represent for a feel of my tastes: THE Linda Addison (@nytebird45), Hailey Piper (@HaileyPiperSays), Cynthia Pelayo, etc. #MSWL 🧵

Literary Agent
Domestic suspense and thrillers are also up my alley. Think more drama (YELLOWJACKETS, FROM, GONE GIRL) than espionage. #MSWL 🧵

Literary Agent
ALL THE WHITE SPACES. Another historical event (alternative). Trans protagonist but it’s not about that, it’s about dudes exploring a place they shouldn’t be. We have isolation, land as an antagonist, and it felt Frankenstein-ish. Going a place you weren’t meant to be. #MSWL 🧵

Literary Agent
THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS. You fuck around and find out. I’m a animal lover and this worked for me because numbskulls violate a cultural taboo by killing a deer (think MoH’s “Deer Woman) and then find out. The whole “demon” thing feels played out so a ghost deer was new. #MSWL 🧵

Literary Agent
Cultural. LONE WOMEN focuses on little known history, Lone Women venturing off to claim land. I’m a history buff and had no idea this existed so it’s like a whole new world. Why’s it work? Isolation, the unknown, the land itself ready to kill you. Relatable fear. #MSWL 🧵

Literary Agent
Horror. Upmarket. Think Victor LaValle’s LONE WOMEN, Stephen Graham Jones’ THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS, and Aly Wilkes’ ALL THE WHITE SPACES. Why? Here’s why. #MSWL 🧵

Literary Agent
Jacqui Lipton @Jacqui_Lipton
Who wants to jump in next with a #mswl? @LaneHeymont ? (And, authors, remember you can ask any of us questions and feel free to tag any of us you want to answer.)What am I looking for? Horror, horror, HORROR. Obviously. Also, thriller, suspense, and nonfiction by experts in their fields. So let’s dive in a little more a #MSWL 🧵

Literary Agent
Lane Heymont @LaneHeymont
What am I looking for in NONFICTION? This is harder because I’m a nerd with eclectic tastes. POP SCIENCE, all the sciences. ONLY if you’re an expert. You’re an marketing executive? Cool, but don’t send me a proposal about the moon. You’re a moonologist? Send me a moon playbook!Oy. Forgot the #mswl

Literary Agent
WHITE HORSE? Missing and Murdered Indigenous People Crisis. Awful father disappears his own daughter and no bothers to investigate. Not even her friends or family. The monster? The crisis itself.
Okay, that’s it for horror. Hope it’s help.
Now onto nonfiction!

Literary Agent
THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS? No monster without those kids breaking, forgetting, discarding their tribe’s tradition. It’s modern day people scoffing at what their ancestors held holy.

Literary Agent
Sure, there were monsters but only monsters driven by humanity’s own misdeeds. There would be no horror in ALL THE WHITE SPACES without the sins and guilt those explorers brought with them. Even the fact they traveled there showed their dark desires.

Literary Agent
Forget serial killers and the Albert Fishes. Show me SOFT AND QUIET. The horror everyday people do. Examples? WHITE HORSE, ALL THE WHITE SPACES, THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS.

Literary Agent
What makes the best horror? The unknown. We don’t need monsters that go bump in the night because we are the monsters. Show me the evil darkness of humanity. What do I actually mean?

Literary Agent
Transgender, LGBTQIA horror.

Literary Agent
Some fave authors (besides my own!) are Stephen Graham Jones, Sheridan Le Fanu, Octavia Butler, Alma Katsu, Erika T. Wurth, Waubgeshig Rice, Cherie Dimaline.

Literary Agent
I’ve been feeling survival horror in the vein of ALL THE WHITE SPACES. Give me isolation, hauntings, nature vs humanity, cli-fi, upmarket. Think EVENT HORIZON without the sci-fi. IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS is another good one. Also, horror from marginalized voices: #mswl

Literary Agent
What am I looking for? HORROR and NONFICTION ! My #mswl thread:

Literary Agent
Looking for more LGBTQIA+ horror, including in the vein of Carpenter’s PRO-LIFE, so eff SCOTUS, the GOP, and TERFs. #mswl

Literary Agent
Natascha Morris @SoCalledYALife
Yay for @TheTobiasAgency #mswl day. I rep all things #kidlit and right now I am dying for a Ren Faire book or cosplay book. Passing the baton to @LaneHeymont for his MSWL twitter.com/KellyDHouse/st…Horror. All the horror. Grounded, psychological, cinematic. Also, nonfiction. Unique true crime. Pop science. Passing this to @Jacqui_Lipton ! #MSWL