Stephanie Stein
Editor
Harper Teen
Harper Kids
Senior Editor @HarperChildrens & @HarperTeen , she/her, 47% caffeine by volume. Opinions my own, and I do have a lot of them. ๐
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Mainlined all of Lupin last night & this afternoon, and it is SO EXTREMELY MY SHIT! A kind-of retelling where the source material exists in-universe and the characters are consciously riffing on it? Meta af, sign me up. Also an eternal #mswl
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Ashley Poston โจ @ashposton
Soul Mates < Soul Mates Who Are Separated by Space & Time and One Dies To Be Reincarnated Hundreds of Years Later While The Other Has Existed For So Long/Chose To Lose Their Memories Because It Was So Painful Are Reunited And Clash So It Becomes Rivals To Lovers As They RememberExtreme #mswl. Ashley is singing my song!
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10) Surprise me! No, really. I'm looking to acquire widely this year and I want the thing I did not already know I was looking for. Send it my way! โจ
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9) I am always a sucker for stories with what one agent friend spot-on named "a gimmick": epistolary novels, frame stories, timeline shenanigans, mixed formats, text messages, etc. Yes, I am that girl who wrote her college thesis on frame stories.
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8) Yes, I do graphic novels! In addition to cozy fantasy, looking for MG fantasy/adventure more broadly and for moody, literary-feeling YA coming-of-age stories (the queerer the better).
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7) An outrageously, wryly funny historical romp or rom-com.
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6) Competitions, tournaments, puzzles, and mysteries! Give me those sweet aha! moments and high stakes.
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(I would straight-up sell my soul for a YA in the vein of Song of Achilles or Circe. Just sayin'.)
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5) Savvy, inventive retellings, from Baba Yaga to the Thousand and One Nights to Oscar Wilde, and beyond
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4.3) Cozy MG fantasy that feels both literary and commercial. Think Studio Ghibli, Halloweentown, a touch of Anne Ursu. (I am also extremely looking for this in graphic novels!)
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4.2) Historical or contemporary fantasy with a sharp, fresh, feminist twist on old folklore. Looking for my Holly Black or YA Alix Harrow ๐
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4.1) Commercial MG fantasy/adventure that could launch a 5-book series. I am ready to pick some fights with editor friends at RR Presents and Scholastic! ๐
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4) Who's the next big thing in YA or MG fantasy? I want to help them get there, and I want them in my inbox. โค๏ธ Specifically:
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3) High-concept YA contemporary or contemporary-with-a-twist, especially if it comes with an irreverent, self-referentially funny voice. Sarcastic or endearingly self-deprecating humor to the front of the line. I love a protagonist who feels like a co-conspirator.
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2) Whoever brings me a queer YA read-alike to Casey McQuiston's Red, White, & Royal Blue and/or One Last Stop will win my heart forever (and more to the point, a lot of money ๐)
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1) ROMANTIC AF fantasy (give! me! pining!) (also enemies to lovers, sword lesbians, star-crossed high stakes, we-can't-touch-'cause-we're-cursed, etc; love me a good fantasy-with-kissing tropefest)
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Officially wrapped on 2020 submissions! Agents, here's my #mswl for this year.
Before I start: I will always be looking to foreground queer and BIPOC voices, and on the hunt for killer hooks I can't even finish pitching without someone mashing the preorder button.
Let's go!
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Oddly specific Halloween #mswl: in the mood for... a YA ghost romance? ๐ค Some kind of historical or time-travel shenanigans a plus but not required.
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Agent friends, I've been hungry for a smart, incisive, fresh retelling--think A STUDY IN CHARLOTTE. If you've got something like that in YA or MG, send it my way! #MSWL
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Babu Prit (Preeti Chhibber) @runwithskizzers
I've been chasing the feeling of watching Hot Priest ask Fleabag what she's doing when she talks to us since I watched #Fleabag season 2 and nothing has come close pic.twitter.com/viyEjQvCo6This will always be an #MSWL for me. The playfulness with form, the setting up of expectations only to blow them out to a new level, the sharp use of direct address through the fourth wall: this moment took this show from good to masterclass.