• Realistic fiction (with some exception: for example, if you wrote a queer romance set in the real world a la Red, White, and Royal Blue, send it to me; I also may be interested in realistic fiction centered around a sports team, dancers, figure skaters, professional racing, or martial arts— as long as it's grounded and actually teaches me something about the sport/art while I’m reading)

• Horror (I am open to reading horror if it checks other boxes on my wishlist, but any such submission that does not come with a list of content warnings will not reach my desk. Don't send me a standard slasher novel. Get jiggy with it, give Michael Myers magic or something.)

• Period pieces, especially if romance is the main plot (an exception to this is something taking place in the ancient world; if you have an obsession with Ancient Greece, China, Gaul, Egypt, whatever, there is a good chance I will be interested)

• Police stories

• Heteronormative narratives or the romanticization of creepy/toxic behaviour in romance— stalking, abuse, step-brother romance, blackmailing, cheating, over-possessiveness, accidental pregnancies, men who won’t say no until they get a date, aggressive men with no emotional intelligence, women needing a man to be happy/successful/fulfilled, jealousy that’s really paranoia, extreme dependency, no boundaries, pointless miscommunication, magic penis, kissing someone to shut them up and stop an argument, men with no emotions, “passion” that’s really just fighting (basically, if it happens in Twilight or 50 Shades, I don’t want to read it)

• Stories where women are invisible or not a part of the cast (unless it is a very specific setting that makes that realistic, and dissects some of the ideas of masculinity)

• ANYTHING where you used generative A.I. in the creative process. Art, editing, story ideas— whatever. Do not send it to me. I will not like it or you. Creative spaces are for humans, not machines.

• Nonfiction (unless it's REALLY autistic. You wrote a book on some very specific aspect of an ancient culture? I'll give it a look. You're an astrophysicist who wants to explain space phenomena to normal people for 500 pages? I'm there. If you send me a manuscript about the gender conceptions of different cultures throughout the world and history, I will literally drool.) (I would also consider nonfiction meant to help people with disabilities and neurodivergencies, like cleaning or organizing tips for ADHD)

• Gratuitous violence or grimdark-the-world-ends-and-everything-sucks kinds of stories. I want the main characters to, in some way, come through the dark parts. (An exception to this is something akin to the Star Wars film Rogue One that has a bittersweet ending because their sacrifice MEANT something.)

• Heavily Christian-based fiction (not a hard and fast rule, but if you query me, be prepared to receive a rejection).

• Anything with fat jokes or other body image jokes where those jokes are not condemned. If your character struggles with their body image, that's fine, but if your character is the one MAKING fat/body image jokes and doesn't get some kind of comeuppance where they reevaluate their views, I'm not interested.

• “Autistic” characters that are really just caricatures of something you know nothing about. Don't send me a book with Sheldon from Big Bang Theory or any portrayal of autism as narrow or dehumanising.

• Mafia romance

• Pandemic stories

• Anything like medical romance with terminally ill characters (by which I mean Fault in Our Stars by John Green or Five Feet Apart by Rachel Lippincott)

• ANYTHING that resembles Twilight. If you're gonna do vampires or werewolves or other magical creatures, please do it well. Stephenie Meyer doesn't know it, but she's one of my worst enemies.

• I absolutely WILL NOT publish anything with queerphobic, transphobic, racist, or antisemitic (this does not just mean anti-Jewish; it refers to all people who speak Semitic languages— Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic) beliefs

• Stories that are not Own Voices. If you're not BIPOC, have BIPOC characters, please. But do not write about what it's like to be BIPOC. Make your worlds diverse, but don't claim to speak for a group you are not a part of.

• “Fated mate” or “the alpha's mate” or anything like that. Don't get grody with werewolves in my inbox.

• DO NOT send me stories with suicide, rape, sexual abuse or assault, or incest. If I happen upon any of these things while I'm reading through a query, I will immediately delete your submission. If you have a book that fits my other interests and you'd still like to submit, shoot me an email telling me that, and give me some context for whatever boundary of mine you think your work would cross. I may still be willing to read and publish your book if you approach it with respect and ask me before sending it.

• Stories for all ages with a reluctant hero

• Found family or stories that grapple with what a family is

• Stories that grapple with preconceived notions like gender or morality

• Dragons or fairies or other magical creatures

• Stories that make you root for the villain

• Genre-mashing or multi-genre books

• Royalty or nobility with sword fights and magic and drama and war

• Dark academia (ESPECIALLY if it's a magic school like Simon Snow or Harry Potter)

• Queer characters PLEASE

• Disabilities that aren't brushed aside or forgotten for plot (ESPECIALLY if you have characters with hypermobile EDS, dyslexia, autism, or ADHD)

• Diverse casts

• Own voices

• Disabilities/chronic illnesses reimagined in fantastical settings— think Cursed Cocktails by S.L. Rowland and Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

• Grounded, rule-based magic systems

• Muslim characters (done respectfully)

• Immersive worldbuilding

• Sarcastic characters and narrators— snark, dry wit, banter. GIVE IT TO ME

• Stories with Gothic elements

• Coming of age stories

• Characters discovering or deciding who they are

• Eco-fiction

• Retelling or reframings of well-known fairytales (ESPECIALLY if you make it queer, or integrate disabilities into the story)

• Messy feelings 

• Main characters who screw up

• Revolutions

• Rebelling against/questioning authority

• Humanity at their best/worst. Show me people banding together in times of disaster. Countries and cultures united when everything is falling apart. Give me community.

• SPIES

• Characters with unique hobbies

• Specifically aromatic or asexual (or both) characters who are not seen as “broken” and who don't “find the right person” and settle down. (Queer-platonic relationships are different.)

• Religious trauma (on the part of the author or the character; GIVE ME YOUR BIBLICAL METAPHORS FOR LOVE AND VIOLENCE AND QUEERNESS)

• Latinx representation.

• Brotherhood or sisterhood stories (ESPECIALLY with large casts)

• BIPOC speculative fiction

• Vivid culture (whether real or invented)

• Stories about building community

• Arthurian/Merlinian retellings— especially if you make them queer.

• Robin-Hood-grain stories (any setting: I am absolutely obsessed with Leverage)

• Feral characters

• Dystopia

• CULTURE. Give me fashion, recipes, holidays, art styles, myths and legends. Bury me in vivid settings and history.

• Strong, uplifting friendships

• Pirates. Pirates, pirates, pirates. Please I want to read about pirates so bad.

• Spooky vibes without full-on horror

• Explorations of toxic relationships— friends, family, romance. Whatever.

• Science fantasy PLEASE give me castles and princes and swords juxtaposed with social media and guns and electric fences

• Kaiju-based stories like Kaijudo or Pacific Rim. Give me mechs and giant aliens with neon blue blood who wage war against humanity.

• Slowburn

• Enemies to lovers (done WELL. I will be very picky about this.)

• Space operas

• Plus-sized protagonists or love interests

• Characters choosing to remain good through it all, even though they have to claw their way out of the dark

• A fantasy setting that isn't just “medieval Europe a little bit to the left”. Have fun with it.

• Queerplatonic relationships

• Oooh superheroes. I LOVE superheroes.

• Be gay, do crime

• Stories that introduce readers to underrepresented cultures, communities, and traditions

• Moments that make me laugh out loud

• Detective stories in sci-fi or fantasy settings (NOT police. Magical law enforcement is on thin ice, but private detectives are always welcome.)

• Mythology— real or imagined

• Cozy fantasies

• Zombies in a fantasy setting?

• Social commentary

• Series (I LOVE an epic saga)

• An intense sense of place

• AUDACITY

• Pets/wild animals that feel almost like people

• Explorations of repressed trauma

• People learning to heal and trust despite everything they've gone through

• Children's books that deconstruct societal ideas like gender

• Redemption or corruption arcs

• Select adult titles

  • So much of adult fiction is boring and functional and doesn't push boundaries. It takes itself too seriously, and I miss the whimsy and belief in magic that children's literature has. Is your book your built different? I’ll give it a look.

  • Look through my general interests. You think your book is a good fit? Send it to me.

  • I am willing to read and/or represent something with spice, but I want a plot and grounded characters. Make me care, make it feel natural. A book about two people getting it on? Not for me. A book about two people fighting a war against the ancient shadow monsters (and also getting it on)? I'm listening.

  • I will only represent speculative fiction (or sports/racing/arts kind of realistic fiction; refer to my “I am not the best fit for” section to see exceptions)

At this time, I am NOT open to graphic novels or picture books.

• The Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo

• The Ranger's Apprentice universe by John Flanagan

• Heart of Iron by Ashley Poston

• Seafire by Natalie C. Parker

• Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

• The Simon Snow series by Rainbow Rowell

• The Martian by Andy Weir

• A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket

• The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

• The Ascendance Series by Jennifer A. Nielsen

• Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan

• 39 Clues (multiple authors)

• The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins

• Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas