Cecilia Lyra

Always and forever on my #MSWL

Please and thank you! #MSWL

Thank you for reading my wish-list. I’ll continue to update this thread throughout 2023. To everyone who queries me: please accept my heartfelt gratitude and appreciation for giving me a chance to read your work.

I am forever grateful (I’m talking pinch-myself-every-morning level of gratitude!) for the privilege of working with storytellers.

Please refer to the PSLA website for submission guidelines, including our response policy. While I love connecting with the #WritingCommunity on social media, this is not the place to query me.

As long as your work does not fall under a category/genre I don’t rep (see above), I would eagerly welcome your query. It’s impossible to list everything I’m looking for and, besides, I enjoy being surprised by reading something I wouldn’t have thought I’d love, but that I do!

I am *not* the right agent for the nonfiction categories of true crime, sports, and music.
I am also *not* a good fit for stories with passive protagonists.
I do *not* rep children’s books, YA, poetry, screenplays, graphic novels, or novellas.

I do not require a content note in a query, though it is appreciated and welcome. In terms of personal triggers, the only thing that I can’t handle is animal suffering/cruelty, so if that's in your story please flag the exact page(s) (I'll work around it).

…BIPOC, LGBTQ2S+, disabled or chronically ill, and neurodivergent authors: I would love to hear from you. I’d love to get more submissions from fellow Latinx writers. Feminist stories will always have a special place in my 💜. To offend misogynists: my mission and pleasure.

I am passionate about representing under or misrepresented voices and stories that contribute to a larger cultural conversation whether explicitly (e.g., a nonfiction title on social justice) or subtly (a comedy of manners about a mixed-raced Latinx family)…

FOR ALL SUBMISSIONS: I fall in love with stellar writing on the level of the line, voice, and rhythm. The number #1 reason why I pass on a query is because the writing is not where it needs to be given the competitive traditional publishing market.

I am a fan of books that expose what’s hiding in plain sight, whether it’s an untold story, the unseen side of things we think we know everything about, and/or projects that unlock unexpected and enlightening patterns/connections.

Examples of topics in NF: tipping culture; hysteria (diseases historically associated with women); spirituality in the age of atheism; occupational segregation; climate change; public trust; exploration between personal desensitization and wealth.

The human brain is an endless source of fascination. I am hungry for nonfiction proposals with a neuroscience bent, particularly titles exploring the nexus between neuroscience and other fields, e.g., neuropsychology, neurosociology, neuropharmacology, neuronutrition, etc.

My taste in nonfiction is eclectic: no title is too serious or too accessible. I am hungry for original, expert-driven argumentative nonfiction that offers a clear paradigm shift to the reader (e.g., reader will pick up the book thinking X and will leave the book thinking Y).

NONFICTION: I am open to most categories, across the spectrum, including psychology, history, current affairs, science, politics, narrative journalism, nature and the environment, wellness, spirituality, business and economics, mathematics, parenting, lifestyle, and pop culture.

MEMOIR: exists at the intersection of fic and nonfic, i.e., good memoir reads like a novel. (See reviews of your fave memoir and be surprised at how many ppl didn’t know it was a real story!) I welcome both proposals with sample chapters or full manuscripts from memoirists.

Some of my fave tropes/set-ups: outsider protagonist; assuming another identity; relationships formed against the backdrop of competitive industries; con artists, caught-between-two-worlds, dysfunctional families; and taboo relationships.

I can’t get enough of: family sagas, female friendships, edgy psychological suspense, closed-setting novels, anti-heroines, smart romances, comedy of manners, found family, genre-blend romcoms, and change-one-thing-in-our-world speculative fiction.

FICTION: I am open to ALL genres. I gravitate toward books by women, for women, whether commercial, upmarket, or literary. My taste is eclectic: I adore feel good stories filled with levity and humor *and* dark novels that unsettle and disturb.