Norma Perez-Hernandez
@normajeanesays
Assistant Editor
assistant editor | writer | sometimes actor | founding member, @LatinxinPub and @PocPub | BTS! BTS! | rep: @jcastillobooks | messaging and data rates may apply
60 MSWL
25 AskAgent

Norma @normajeanesays

Hello, literary agents! It’s been awhile since I’ve done this, so here’s a thread of #MSWL requests, aka the submissions I want to see in my inbox:

First off, work by BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and/or disabled authors are always welcome in the genres I edit, which includes romance yes, but also mystery and thrillers, upmarket fiction, fiction with fantasy/sci-fi/ speculative elements that are mainstream crossovers, and nonfiction.

Nivia Evans
@NiviaEvans
Editor
Senior Editor at Orbit/Redhook. PW Star Watch Superstar 2020. Openly Black. I read things...all the time.
40 MSWL

I'm in the mood for some upmarket spec fic based on the Egyptian myths. I would also love to see an angsty, romantic, political, intense high fantasy series centered on Osiris and Isis. #mswl

Rachel Stark
@syntactics
Editor
Editor of graphic novels, novels & IP @DisneyBooks ▫️ House Stark; more of an Arya than a Tony ▫️ Opinions my own; pic @JarrettWilliams 's ▫️ gender’s a lie🤷‍♀️
147 MSWL
6 Tips

🌟YA thrillers, psychological horror, supernatural, & speculative fiction that radically represents & explores queer, female, and BIPOC rage & revenge
▫️ Think: Iron Widow, Sadie, Nimona, or, for a film example, Jennifer’s Body #MSWL

Rachel Stark
@syntactics
Editor
Editor of graphic novels, novels & IP @DisneyBooks ▫️ House Stark; more of an Arya than a Tony ▫️ Opinions my own; pic @JarrettWilliams 's ▫️ gender’s a lie🤷‍♀️
147 MSWL
6 Tips

Here's what I'm looking for in NOVELS:
🌟High-concept YA fantasy and speculative fiction, especially that which uses the conventions of its genre to critique, subvert, or illuminate a truth about our world
▫️Think: Raybearer, Graceling, Dread Nation, The Witch King #MSWL

Alex Arnold
@alexyarnold
Editor
Senior Editor of fiction & nonfiction for small kids, big kids, & teens @quirkbooks . Former child who hasn't forgotten a thing.
46 MSWL

I'm not your ideal editor for high fantasy worlds, but I do love grounded fantasy, magical realism, retellings, time travel, and speculative twists in both MG & YA

Kim Lindman
@kim_lindman
Literary Agent
lit agent + smm @StonesongNYC repping cookbooks, nonfiction + select fiction! (send me yours ⬇️) tweets about books/food/life/#adopteevoices *opinions mine*
59 MSWL
9 Tips

novels with contemporary settings need to contain at least one of the following elements: mystery, suspense, thriller, horror, or any kind of speculative something

Roz Foster
@RozFoster
Literary Agent
Literary agent. Frances Goldin Literary Agency. Fiction: email query & first 15 pages to rf@goldinlit.com Nonfiction: email query and proposal.
12 MSWL
1 Queries
7 Tips

Seeking literary & commercial crime/mystery, thriller & speculative/scifi. Unique hooks & new, diverse views in these classic genres. Linguistic & storytelling mastery, high personal stakes, psychological depth.❤️Tana French, Hervé Le Tellier, Octavia Butler, Kazuo Ishiguro #MSWL

Trisha de Guzman
@trishadeg
Editor
🇵🇭 Filipino immigrant ✨ Editor at Farrar Straus Giroux Books For Young Readers ✨ wannabe outdoorsman @mackidsbooks @fiercereads #WNDB #POCinPub
36 MSWL

I have a soft spot for grounded stories with touches of speculative fiction, cheeky, self-aware humor, and elevated horror.

I am *not* the right editor for mss that contain sexual violence, stalking, or predatory behavior, or picture books with animal characters.

Trisha de Guzman
@trishadeg
Editor
🇵🇭 Filipino immigrant ✨ Editor at Farrar Straus Giroux Books For Young Readers ✨ wannabe outdoorsman @mackidsbooks @fiercereads #WNDB #POCinPub
36 MSWL

YOUNG ADULT:
--QTPOC romance with banter, emotionally complex, flawed characters, and ✨ intersectionality ✨
--High-concept speculative fiction examining current issues (esp horror & magical realism)
--Sweeping historical fiction about untold movements, events, or individuals

Samantha Fabien
@samanthashnh
Literary Agent
✞ 🇭🇹 literary agent @rootliterary || pan🌈 || i’m the ultimate hype woman™️ for great people & great books—she/her✨📚🌗
59 MSWL
1 AskAgent

Miscellaneous things I’d love in my inbox? 📥

• horror pied piper reimagining!
• queer Dorian Gray
• queer MG 💚
• sex-positive, body positive YA rom-coms
• BIPOC witches, seers, and mediums
• BIPOC in and writing crime fiction & speculative fic
• isolated thrillers

5/

Samantha Fabien
@samanthashnh
Literary Agent
✞ 🇭🇹 literary agent @rootliterary || pan🌈 || i’m the ultimate hype woman™️ for great people & great books—she/her✨📚🌗
59 MSWL
1 AskAgent

In speculative fiction (light sci-fi, horror, fantasy), I need worlds that I can settle into easily.

Fresh takes on classic tropes, dynamic characters, unique magic systems, atmospheric writing & undeniably high stakes ✨Think: R.F. Kuang, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Rory Power

4/

Samantha Fabien
@samanthashnh
Literary Agent
✞ 🇭🇹 literary agent @rootliterary || pan🌈 || i’m the ultimate hype woman™️ for great people & great books—she/her✨📚🌗
59 MSWL
1 AskAgent

I’d love to see more crime fiction! 🔪🖤

If it reads like a true crime doc or headline, I’m into it. 🚫 police, gov’t officials, detectives (past or present).

I also love speculative twists and psychological elements like Riley Sager, Vera Kurian, & Tiffany D. Jackson!

3/

Kiana Nguyen
@kianangu
Literary Agent
YA/Adult Fiction Agent at DMLA. Hobbit degenerate. She/her. I smile a lot/make inappropriate jokes. 🌈🦄 ALL SIGNS POINT TO YES ✨ Rep: @samanthashnh
189 MSWL
25 AskAgent
21 Tips

I loved what THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS did with using an un-tapped historical period and setting, and adding speculative/magical elements and would love to see more of that! #mswl

Ann Rose
@annmrose
Literary Agent
agent: @TheTobiasAgency & #rosebudauthor wrangler | author: ROAD TO EUGENICA & BREAKOUT | opinions are my own | she/her rep:@evascalzo layout:@ana_scribe
206 MSWL
449 AskAgent
11 Queries
127 Tips

* Positive female friendships—Give me girls supporting girls. Girls teaming up for the greater good. Girls who love their friends with their whole hearts.
* Underrepresented voices
* Fresh takes on fantasy
* Stories with a speculative twist
...

Ali Herring
@HerringAli
Literary Agent
Literary Agent, Spencerhill Associates. Twin mom+1 📚 Eclectic in life & books. I 💙 Jane Austen & SFF in equal doses. #TeamSpencerhill Ali-ens 👽 rock!
240 MSWL
1 AskAgent
11 Queries
33 Tips

#MSWL when I reopen in January, one thing (not the only thing) I'll be looking for is a lot of genre stuff that is very either funny or satirical or slightly weird, or quirky. Think genre+this. Scifi, fantasy, romance, speculative, thriller, action/adventure, horror--kid & adult.

Ernie Chiara
@erniechiara
Literary Agent
Associate Agent at @FuseLiterary ⟡ Seeking authentic stories by traditionally underpublished voices ⟡ SFWA ⟡ Founder @TBRstacklinktr.ee/erniechiara
73 MSWL

#MSWL for trans voices in speculative #A or #YA that comps @ryka_aoki's The Light from Uncommon Stars. I'm blown away not just by the voice, but by the originality of the story, the heart, the narrative scope. It's breathtaking. We need more trans joy in SFF. Send them my way.

Noah Grey Rosenzweig
@ng_rosenzweig
Literary Assistant
reading a book or dreaming about writing one. big dog guy. proud(ish) to be from NJ. tweet my own thoughts. @RossYoon & fellow @groveatlantic he/they 🏳️‍⚧️
4 MSWL

Noah Grey Rosenzweig @ng_rosenzweig

A #MSWL mini thread since I'm just dipping a toe into the querying world. 🧵

I love all fiction, with a soft spot for magical realism (think 100 YEARS, of course!). Lit fic, spec fic, and sci-fi are also high on my list. Fantasy like BLACK LEOPARD. Psych fiction that slowly unravels, like RED PILL. And not always, but sometimes, a great love story.

Kayla Lightner
@LightnerKayla
Literary Agent
Rights Manager+ Agent @ Ayesha Pande Literary. Words in @PitheadChapel , @PhoebeJournal , @anotherchimag , & elsewhere.
12 MSWL

Hi folks, a quick lunchtime #MSWL: While I absolutely love narrative nonfiction, I am positively dying to see more literary and upmarket speculative fiction (especially from BIPOC authors!!!) in my query inbox.

Sabrina Pyun
@sabrinampyun
Assistant Editor
🌺Assistant Editor @ScribnerBooks 🌱she/her🌸Foodstagram: sablikesfood💐JHU Writing Sems ‘19🍄All opinions my own🪴Now acquiring🍁
21 MSWL