Esty is looking for YA, romance, upmarket, and literary fiction.

She’s seeking manuscripts which center the adoptee experience, LGBTQIA+ narratives, anti-colonialist and anti-Church topics, and stories by and/or about BIPOC authors. She favors stories which either celebrate with noisy joy, or burn everything down and salt the earth.

  • In YA and adult romance: grounded fantasy like DIVINE RIVALS or EMILY WILDE’S ENCYCOLPAEDIA OF FAERIES, strong leads like CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE, fae stories with romance tropes like THE CRUEL PRINCE, cozy magic like THE EX-HEX, compelling, tropey, and readable books like FUNNY STORY, character-driven journeys like THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE, or the fairy tale vibes of SPINNING SILVER.
  • In upmarket: titles featuring women like LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY, updated classics like Ann Napolitano’s Little Women retelling, HELLO, BEAUTIFUL, and wlw knockouts with queer representation like THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO. She’s also looking for speculative fiction like THE NIGHT CIRCUS or magical realism like Carmen Maria Machado’s HER BODY AND OTHER PARTIES.
  • In literary fiction: artful realism like THE RABBIT HUTCH and TOMORROW AND TOMORROW AND TOMORROW, the yearning of NORMAL PEOPLE, characters challenging society like OUR MISSING HEARTS, or books like THE INCENDIARIES, LUSTER, OUTLAWED, and SEVERANCE that examine marginalized characters, injustice, or religion. Characters examining systems of oppression through twisty plots in books like THE NICKEL BOYS, SALVAGE THE BONES, and INTERIOR CHINATOWN are welcome, and mythological retellings like Madeline Miller’s CIRCE, especially those set outside of Europe.

What She Doesn’t Want: high fantasy, strict sci-fi. horror, thrillers, mystery, erotica, police/legal procedurals, mysteries, anything ageist/ableist/racist/misogynistic, or anything where queer people die in the end

This is a home for fresh retellings, fairy tales, and artful, rebellious prose. For a better look at the kind of titles Esty gravitates towards, scroll her Pinterest board here.