Hannah VanVels
@hannahvanvels
Literary Agent
📚 Literary Agent @belcastr | Editor | Writer | #RevPit | Devoted German shepherd & cat mom | Amateur baker | Sparkling water enthusiast | she/her ✏️
55 MSWL
55 AskAgent
65 Queries
3 Tips

🌟Isolated settings such as islands, carnivals, and boarding schools and novels with a survival component
🌟Characters growing up in unconventional or nontraditional settings
🌟Revenge stories with unreliable narrators
🌟Strong sibling relationships and misfit friends

Hannah VanVels
@hannahvanvels
Literary Agent
📚 Literary Agent @belcastr | Editor | Writer | #RevPit | Devoted German shepherd & cat mom | Amateur baker | Sparkling water enthusiast | she/her ✏️
55 MSWL
55 AskAgent
65 Queries
3 Tips

🌟Evergreen themes: body positivity, self-love, coming-of-age, girls supporting girls, friendship and friendship breakups, sex positivity
🌟Ghosts, creepy crawlies, witches, and things that go bump in the night

Emmy Nordstrom Higdon
@_saskeah
Literary Agent
📚 lit agent @WCA_LitAgency 📖 advisor @TheFOLD_ ✍ faculty @MSWLMA 🐕‍🦺 recovering PhD 🌈 they/them; Sal: Dr. ♿ clients #SpineSquad 📘
178 MSWL
12 Queries
71 Tips

Two specific #MSWL items that will be on my list when I reopen to queries:
1, survivors of family "reunification" programs (like Building Family Bridges), fictionalized or NF accounts
2, fiction that explores the unique friendships between gay men and lesbians

Alex Aceves
@alexaace
Editor
mexico city girl in bkln. likes the 🍷 not the 🏷. lets other pens dwell on guilt&misery. associate editor @HolidayHouseBks , writer by night. opinions my own.
15 MSWL

4. books about the dynamics of friendship groups—I’d love something YA or MG with the feel of NOW & THEN, but more diverse (Celia Pérez’ STRANGE BIRDS does this really well, eg)

Penny Moore
@literarypenny
Literary Agent
Senior Agent at @AevitasCreative .🇰🇷혼혈. Cat Mom. Opinions are my own. Here’s a resource if you need it: literaryagentsofcolor.com
126 MSWL
80 Tips

In middle grade, I’m always hungry for action, adventure, magic, and humor. It can be fantasy or contemporary, or a little bit of both. Give me your fresh takes on magical school settings or just fun friendship stories filled with hijinks. #MSWL

Ashley Lopez
@a_la_ash
Literary Agent
Agent @waxmanlit . Co-Founder @PigeonPagesNYC . Literature and Canine enthusiast. She/Her.
6 MSWL
Replying to @WaxmanLit

Happy #MSWL Day! I’d love to see…

Generally fic that gets a little weird and makes me feel things (see Lisa Taddeo’s ANIMAL, Jessamine Chan’s THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD MOTHERS)

A YA crossover witchy or obsessive girlhood friendship

An unusual & chaotic contemp workplace romance

Kristie Choi
@minjipatterson
Editor
Editor @ Atheneum (S&S) | 🌈 bi/pan genderfluid (she/they); neurospicy; 최민지, Korean-Am; plant witch meets punky morbid grandma/cat daddy; opinions my own.
24 MSWL

MG: stories highlighting the beauty of kids going through difficult things and complicated family dynamics; experiences of first love and crushes esp of queer kids discovering themselves; misfits finding connection, friendship, and the stirrings of desire.

Elizabeth Lee
@EleeReads
Editor
☁️ Editor at Penguin Workshop, an imprint of @penguinteen and @penguinkids ☁️ Opera singer & stress baker ☁️ Author as @elshenwrites She/her #WNDB #POCinPub
31 MSWL

MG:
- contemporary, slice-of-life stories with an abundance of middle school drama
- light fantasy adventures and folktales
- sister stories, friendship breakups, first crushes

Tanera Simons
@tanera_simons
Literary Agent
Literary Agent at Darley Anderson📚 📖 All views my own.
11 MSWL

Speaking of toxic, I raced through SUCCESSION and love how it confronts our obsession with wealth while exploring the rot it creates within family/friends/relationships (8/12)

Tanera Simons
@tanera_simons
Literary Agent
Literary Agent at Darley Anderson📚 📖 All views my own.
11 MSWL

G+F is such a joyous triumph of celebrating female friendships, untraditional families, older protagonists, and life after love (6/12)

Tanera Simons
@tanera_simons
Literary Agent
Literary Agent at Darley Anderson📚 📖 All views my own.
11 MSWL

Friendship and family dynamics endlessly fascinate me, from the juicy drama of DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES to the more wholesome GRACE AND FRANKIE (5/12)

Saskia Leach
@saskialeach_
Literary Assistant
📖 Agent’s Assistant at @KNLitAgency and Secretary of the AAA Bridge Committee 💬 "You chose looks. I chose books." 📚 #RespectRomFic
14 MSWL
2 AskAgent
10 Queries

#amwriting & #amquerying writers, I'm looking for contemporary cosy crime in an unconventional setting, a character-driven WW2 story with female espionage (think Heather Morris), and a Lucy Foley-esque locked room psychological thriller that revolves around toxic friendship #mswl

Meg Gaertner
@MEGaertner
Editor
Senior editor @fluxbooks + @jollyfishpress . YA fantasy/sci-fi writer. Swing dancer. Music lover. Philosophizer. Tweets are my own. she/her. meggaertner.com
37 MSWL

In any YA genre:
-LGBTQIA+ representation
-neurodiversity
-racial or cultural diversity
-male lead characters who subvert toxic masculinity
-found families and diverse ensemble casts
-strong friendships / platonic love stories
-protagonists as changemakers and activists
#mswl

Daniele Hunter
@DanieleDHunter
Literary Agent
Junior Agent, @mcintoshandotis , KidLit!! Queer, disabled. Wife/cat lady; she/her. Ambidextrous optimist. #WeNeedDiverseBooks #BrainTumorSurvivor #Endometriosis
57 MSWL

I also love stories featuring relationships—the good, the bad, and everything in between: friendship and found family, “friend break-up”, complicated family dynamics. And I adore romance (especially LGBTQIA+!), but prefer it as a subplot.

Christa Heschke
@ChristaHeschke
Literary Agent
Children's Literary Agent, @McIntoshandOtis , movie-fanatic, dreamer, kid-at-heart, #GoPackGo , Western NY born and bred.
79 MSWL
13 Tips

Specifics I'd love to see:

-Light, humorous fantasy without end-of-the-world stakes

-Enemies-to-lovers

-Stories with band geeks, artists-any kind front and center

-Friend break-ups

-A platonic male/female friendship that is the core of the story and is never romantic

Christa Heschke
@ChristaHeschke
Literary Agent
Children's Literary Agent, @McIntoshandOtis , movie-fanatic, dreamer, kid-at-heart, #GoPackGo , Western NY born and bred.
79 MSWL
13 Tips

PB – Stories with environmental tie-ins (I’m especially drawn to stories about protecting oceans and the animals that live there). I also am a fan of unlikely friendship stories, especially with two very different animals—I really enjoy the ones that are true stories especially!

Alexandra Weiss
@akaweiss
Literary Agent
Associate agent at Azantian Literary. Book lover, space enthusiast, dream chaser. (Closed to queries!) She/her. 💖💜💙 Profile pic: @KaneIcarusLynch
63 MSWL
2 Tips

Things I DO love/DO want to see: unconventional magic systems, astronomy, page-turning thrillers, queer love, passionate characters w/ uncommon hobbies, enemies-to-lovers, friendship breakups, teen sleuths, stories not set in the US, body positivity, zombies

#MSWL

Bibi Lewis
@Bibi_Lewis
Literary Agent
Agent at the Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency. Lifelong New Yorker and forever bookworm. she/her
82 MSWL
10 Tips

I would also love to see more Upmarket and Commercial/Women’s fiction (think compulsive book club fiction). I know this can be a broad category, but I am particularly drawn to books that play with power structures, friendship dynamics and odd familial structures. #MSWL

Laurel Symonds
@LaurelSymonds
Literary Agent
Literary agent at @ktliterary (closed to queries). I tweet about books and desserts in equal measure. My dog is the best office assistant ever. She/her
39 MSWL
1 Tips

- Feel good stories that center female friendship + group dynamics a la Babysitters Club or teen-versions of League of Their Own + Call the Midwife
- Witches
(6/7 #MSWL)