Sarah N. Fisk is a literary agent with The Tobias Literary Agency.

Sarah is a former mechanical engineer who made the switch to publishing in 2011. They have worked in the publishing industry as an editorial assistant, author’s assistant, publicist, and art director. Sarah is a former Pitch Wars mentor, board member, and Agent Liaison. They host the podcast Queries, Qualms, & Quirks and have a passion for spreadsheets.

They love books that challenge societal norms, especially gender norms. They have a personal interest in stories featuring queer characters or characters with disability, neurodiversity, chronic illness, or mental health challenges. Great or complicated sibling relationships are their kryptonite. They also enjoy intriguing villains, mysteries woven into other genres, characters they can’t get out of their head, and smart heroines.

Basics:

• Young Adult (all fiction genres)
• Middle Grade (all fiction genres)
• Adult Romance
• Adult Science Fiction, Fantasy, and everything under the speculative fiction umbrella except hard, genre horror
• Select Adult nonfiction

Particular Areas of Interest:

• atmospheric fantasies or contemporary stories that feel like atmospheric fantasies
• speculative mysteries or mysteries woven into other genres
• books that challenge societal norms, especially gender norms
• personal interest in stories featuring queer characters
• personal interest in characters with disability, neurodiversity, chronic illness, or mental health challenges
• great or complicated sibling relationships (think: siblings who will kill for each other or kill each other (or both!))
• authentic small town, southern, or midwestern settings
• intriguing villains
• characters I can’t get out of my head
• smart heroines
• con artists who are not cis men
• books that are compulsively readable
• social justice issues woven into commercial plots
• themes: anticapitalist, pro-labor, conservationism, anti-disaster capitalism, etc

For Adult Sci-fi and fantasy:

• I especially love grounded fantasy and near-future sci-fi.
• I am particularly looking for books with a strong hook and plot, but also very strong writing (aka upmarket SFF)
• No Military Sci-Fi, please
• Not for me: anything that comps Game of Thrones, Goblin Emperor, or a Memory Called Empire

For Adult Romance

• Pretty much all subgenres that are traditionally published
  • but historical needs to have a high concept, a nice hook, and/or a great voice for me
• I prefer romance books with a medium or high heat level, or a lot of sexual tension
• No pregnancy or baby-based storylines, please (it’s not triggering, I’m just not interested!)
• Romance has a happy romantic ending, by definition

For nonfiction

• Primarily interested in books with a social justice angle, progressive thought leadership OR
• Books that provide a new perspective on culture, food, current affairs, finance, food, history, science, nature, or relationships.
• Author platform is very important
• Especially interested in disabled or neurodiverse creators, especially those writing from an intersectional lens
• If the book could’ve been an older You’re Wrong About episode, I’d like to see it
• Other areas of interest: scam/fraud, capitalism, labor interests, chronic illness, environmental/climate change, cryptids, non-murder mysteries, relationship equity, or books that make me FASCINATED with a topic I previously didn’t care about (a la THE JOY OF SWEAT)
• Nos: parenting, religion, memoirs without one of the first two bullet points.

Not for me:

• Hardcore genre horror (horror elements are ok! Horror in MG is great)
• I am not interested in stories that center around who gets to rule an empire
• I cannot read stories that center around sexual assault or have on-the-page rape scenes
• Graphic Novels
• Portal fantasies unless it’s really unique
• Stories set in recent historical times (80s, 90s, aughts) need to have a solid reason for the time period for me
• Any adult genres not listed above (i.e. non-speculative books need to be genre romance. other adult genres that “have a romance” are not for me.)
• Disabled characters who serve solely as an able-bodied main character’s catalyst.
• If the main motivation is related to being a parent, it’s probably not for me.
• Romances between a minor and a non-minor that are not critiqued on-the-page

Trinica Sampson-Vera is a literary agent with New Leaf Literary & Media.

Trinica is accepting children’s and adult fiction and nonfiction. Across age groups, she loves adventurous, character-driven stories with largely emotional stakes. Trinica is passionate about championing diverse and marginalized voices.

She is seeking:

• Speculative fiction (especially horror, cozy-to-high fantasy, hopepunk, and near future science fiction)
• Romance and romcoms (especially featuring sapphic/queer relationships)
• NA campus stories (especially dark academia)
• Caribbean (especially Trinidad & Tobago) characters/settings
• Reality TV premises
• Unreliable narrators
• Stories that support women’s wrongs
• Found family (give me the intensity of the Fast & the Furious franchise)
• Messy, doomed, heartbreakingly passionate tragic romances featuring people who make each other worse (I want the intensity of the relationship between Will/Hannibal, iykyk)
• Retellings – I prefer retellings that are “inspired by” rather than faithful retellings. I love to be surprised by a twist or a new way of imagining an old story.

Fun facts about me:

• I play online Survivor (like the CBS show!) and have won twice.
• My name comes from Trinidad and California, where each of my parents was born.
• I’ve cooked my way through two cookbooks and am always looking for new recipes to try!

Trinica graduated from Antioch College with a degree in Creative Writing and French. After several editorial internships during college, she moved to Austin and found an unexpected home in social services, where she worked for five years as a case manager to those experiencing chronic homelessness. Prior to beginning at New Leaf, she worked as an independent editor with Salt & Sage Books and Writing Diversely.

Brandi Bowles is a literary agent with United Talent Agency (UTA).

Brandi began representing authors in 2007, transitioning from Penguin Random House to represent a wide array of idea and platform-driven nonfiction, from memoirs and essay collections to cookbooks, comedy, pop culture, parenting, science, business, health & wellness, and narrative nonfiction.

On the fiction side, Brandi also represents authors of select children’s fiction and upmarket genre fiction, particularly those with a focus on magical realism or psychological / scientific themes. She has had the pleasure of working with thought leaders, storytellers, innovators, and cultural icons ranging from Jennifer Grey to Joshua Weissman, Phil Rosenthal, Nick DiGiovanni, Tiffani Thessen, James Murray, Symone Sanders, Kelly Williams Brown, Meghan McCain, Iliza Shlesinger, Kevin Fredericks, Emma Chamberlain, Yvonne Orji, and Jennifer Coolidge, artists such as Alex Hirsch, Brady Smith, and the Ernie Barnes estate, and writers and journalists such as Baynard Woods, Jeannine Amber, Dina Gachman, and Kelly Williams Brown.

A lifelong learner, Brandi is always looking for fresh perspectives, entertaining personal stories, and big-idea books that change the way we think about the world. Driven by a passion for storytelling, she is hands on through every stage of the process, from helping authors curate and refine ideas, write a compelling book proposal, sell and publish a bestselling book, and beyond.

Brandi is a graduate of the University of Louisville, summa cum laude, and lives with her husband and two children just outside of New York City.

Laura Crockett is a literary agent with TriadaUS Literary Agency.

I’m Laura Crockett, Senior Literary Agent and Foreign Rights Manager at TriadaUS Literary Agency. For more information about the projects I work on, feel free to check out my Publishers Marketplace page. You can also browse my book reviews on my personal blog, Scribbles & Wanderlust, which I update each year with my even more in-depth MSWL. ​I’m seeking a variety of adult fiction and young adult fiction, and diversity within those categories as well. Let’s dive in!

Adult Fiction: I love character-driven stories first and foremost, with beautiful writing, emotional investment, and interesting, unique circumstances.

With fantasy, I enjoy incredible world-building with lush settings and authentic characterization, historical fantasy, horror fantasy, gothic fantasy, dark academia, and fantasy inspired by fairytales and other cultures’ mythology (though please, not Greek or Roman). Authors like RF Kuang, SA Chakraborty, VE Schwab, KS Villoso, Erin Morgenstern, Louisa Morgan, Naomi Novik, Rebecca Ross, Alexis Henderson, Alix E. Harrow, and T Kingfisher fit the bill.

In women’s fiction, I’m looking for something heartfelt with complex moral dilemmas. I also adore historical novels that spotlight unique points/women in history and/or meatier topics. Ultimately, I want the book club, upmarket fiction that readers will pick up again and again for years to come. Authors like Kate Morton, Kate Quinn, Fiona Davis, Ariel Lawhon, and Gail Honeyman are great examples of this. I’m also a sucker for humorous, millennial-driven women’s fiction, like Abby Jimenez, Beth O’Leary, Uzma Jalaluddin, and Mhairi McFarlane, and books like Maame and The Collected Regrets of Clover.

YA Fiction: Once more, I’m very much a character-driven reader and love to invest my time with the character’s journey and growth.

In fantasy, I enjoy incredible world-building with lush settings and authentic characterization, historical fantasy, horror fantasy, gothic, dark academia, and fantasy inspired by fairytales and other cultures’ mythology (again, please, not Greek or Roman). Some of my favorites include A Magic Steeped in Poison, Six Crimson Cranes, The Lie Tree, Curious Tides, House of Hollow, and Divine Rivals.

YA contemporary realistic fiction that grabs my attention include strong female friendships, falling in love, humor, and perseverance through adversity. Books that come to mind include Happily Ever Afters, A Pho Love Story, When Dimple Met Rishi, and Dumplin’.

Will Not Take: nonfiction, memoirs, screenplays, poetry, picture books, illustrated work, graphic novels, thriller/suspense, paranormal, smut, erotica, new adult, urban fantasy