THINGS I REP: Fiction only. Middle Grade and Young Adult in all genres. In Adult: Single-Title and Category Romance in all iterations, Suspense/Thrillers, Women’s Fiction, SFF, Speculative Fiction and Dystopian Fiction. In Christian fiction: Women’s Fiction, Single-Title Romance in all iterations, Category Romance for Love Inspired and Love Inspired Suspense, Adventure, Anything Frank Peretti-esque. Of note: I am not the best fit for realistic historicals, though a fantasy with a historical setting is up my alley, or dual timeline/time slip would be good.
THINGS I DO NOT REP: Picture books, Illustrators, Non-Fiction, Memoir, Chapter Books, Super Young Kidlit, Graphic Novels, Erotica. I also do not represent Christian kidlit, so no middle grade or young adult novels written for a Christian audience. I’m probably not the best fit for Amish Christian Fiction either.
My manuscript wish list: I am pretty quirky when it comes to my list, but I do have a few things I like more than others. I hope I can help guide you in whether I’m a good fit to query: I’m open to MG, YA and adult and work in both the general and inspirational (ie, Christian fiction) markets. You can always check my #MSWL on Twitter for most up-to-date wishes, but otherwise, this is big-picture what I’m looking for and what I’m not looking for:
Some dream projects I’d love to rep:
- I am always looking for high-concept projects with a literary flair. These are projects with a very catchy, very simply grasped (think one or two sentence) pitch (ie high concept). The literary flair part means that the story has some emotional heft to it. They might have something to say, or make you feel something, while you excitedly watch the plot play out.
- Contemporary YA that is funny. Maybe a rom-com.
- Adult satire.
- Books that can be comped to old movie favorites. Take two of your old faves and give me a book!
- Adult science fiction set on a generation ship, or a generation ship arriving at a new planet.
- Adult science fiction written by a diverse creator. Like an African-inspired space-faring society. That would be a dream.
- I’d really love to see middle grade projects by Black authors that center Black kids/teens that spin (ie make new & unique) old school & current favs like Babysitters Club, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Harry Potter, Matilda, Peter Pan, a modern Narnia, Treasure Island + more
Middle Grade:
- I love everything middle grade!
- Joyful middle grade featuring POC characters, written by diverse creators
- Bold unexplored settings
- Middle grade fantasy with a commercial hook but literary writing.
- Hooky, really high-concept middle grade
- Hooky, really high-concept middle grade adventure great for an imprint like Rick Riordan Presents.
- Dark Fantasy or Horror (but not gross-out)
- Magical Realism or paranormal
- MG with a futuristic or technological element
- Coming-of-age
- Dealing with grief
- First love
- MG concepts explored in fresh, complex ways (like first love in the apocalypse)
- STEM-positive
- Would love to see books for upper middle grade girls that aren’t all about the romance, yet aren’t childish either.
- Would also love to see Hallmark-esque pre-teen romance like Carols and Crushes by Natalie Blitt.
- Anything adventurous and thrilling for boys like “Hatchet”
- Anything quirky
Young Adult:
- I’m open to all YA: Contemporary, fantasy, sci-fi, speculative, horror, romance, issue books (though I have a few already on my list so not my top choice), etc.
- Vampires (but not same old same old vampires please. Someone inspire me)
- All the contemporary fantasy right now.
- Contemporary with a speculative element
- YA suspense/thrillers
- All the horror right now, or horror-bordering
- I’d like to see some funny horror (like Warm Bodies)
- Anything with an edge
- Fun teen romance like To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
- Vibrant Teen rom-coms
- Dystopian or failing Utopia/Utopian worlds (fresh government or control system in place or none at all)
- Near-future dystopian where the world is not cleaned up and pretty. I want a sense of the horror but without tons of gore.
- Bold unexplored settings
Adult
- Romance (including sweet and inspirational romance. No erotica). I prefer contemporary but can be swayed by a spectacular historical. Just needs to be really hooky for me to latch onto a historical.
- SFF: Fantasy, science fiction, speculative fiction, paranormal, urban fantasy, first contact, portal fantasy, space opera, etc.
- Women’s fiction. (Big fan of southern settings and suspense elements in women’s fiction)
- I’d love to see more diverse creators writing from their personal perspective in any genre.
- Would love an adult sci-fi in space, but from the perspective of “if African culture dominated space.” I want all that beauty surveying the cosmos.
- Inspirational/Christian fiction. Mostly looking for romance and women’s fiction. I am NOT looking for YA or MG Christian fiction.
- Tropey fun romance, rom-coms, romantic suspense, category Christian romance
- Romance with a time component (past/present timelines)
- Adventure fiction for the Christian market.
What I don’t rep:
- I do not rep picture books
- I do not rep really young kidlit
- I do not rep memoir
- I do not rep screen plays
- I do not rep non-fiction
- I do not rep erotica.
- Chapter books are a hard sell for me, as well as young adult and middle grade Christian fiction. I am NOT currently looking for MG or YA Christian fiction.
What I typically DO NOT see as a good fit for my list (ie, try another agent at my firm if they rep this, or try another firm with these kinds of projects):
- animal protagonists
- very young middle grade
- SUPER high-heat romance
- historical romance (unless it is SUPER hooky)
- Christian historical romance
How to Query Me:
First rule of querying: DO NOT EMAIL ME YOUR QUERY (this includes my email or the Spencerhill submission email). It will be erased without response. Only referrals may email me a query.
Second rule of querying: USE QUERY MANAGER: I only accept unsolicited queries via our Query Manager web site at http://QueryManager.com/Ali. It will be reviewed by me or our submissions manager!
Have pen. Will fly. 