We thank you for your interest!
As we continue to add agents to our team, a friendly reminder to follow submission guidelines for not only the agent but also for the agency. Additionally, if you have not received a rejection on a submission please follow up with that agent before submitting again to another agent.
Fiction:
Essie White, Founder/Literary Agent
Essie White is CLOSED to submissions at this time.
Victoria Selvaggio, Owner/Literary Agent
Victoria Selvaggio is CLOSED to submissions at this time.
Heather Cashman, Senior Literary Agent/Agent Mentor
Heather Cashman is OPEN to submissions at this time.
Heather Cashman will consider PB, MG, YA, and Adult fiction and nonfiction.
I love books that are intersectional, are genre blends, have layered hooks, and teach us something. I’m most excited to find books that do things I never knew books could do. I’m nomadic at heart and love going places I’ve never been, whether it’s a real setting or an imaginary world, history or historical fiction. Show me a new way to think, a person I didn’t know about before, or a way to gain new insight into someone else’s mind.
However, I’m not a good fit for abuse stories or anything graphic or gratuitous. Please, no body horror or gore.
PICTURE BOOKS
I love timeless picture books, especially ones that have a new format or approach. I’m looking for unexplored topics, new perspectives, exceptional writing, and true-to-life characters. They must be kid-facing, non-didactic, and empowering. I love writing that’s authentic and award-worthy.
I also love fun, quirky, and funny picture books!
I’m generally not a good fit for anthropomorphic characters (exceptions for Flat Stanley), clowns, circuses, or zoos—unless the animals are breaking out of them.
MIDDLE GRADE & YOUNG ADULT
Any genre accepted, but I lean heavily toward commercial hooks with a literary quality to the writing.
I adore unique characters, smart characters who make mistakes but learn and overcome their primary flaw, and I always enjoy a little romance as the A or B plot, however, I lean into the B plot romance more (romance is not required).
I love plots that create tension and surprise me with unexpected twists.
I fall head over heels for settings that are vivid and atmospheric. (Sky’s End by my client Marc J Gregson)
Age appropriate voice is a must.
And for me, enjoying a book generally means there are strong thematic elements. Lastly, I appreciate it when heavier themes are balanced with humor and thoughtful turns of phrase. Make me feel!
I’m not the best fit for YA horror unless there’s a strong socio-political element. I also don’t like sentient aliens.
ADULT
Overall, I want the books I represent to be excellent literature.
I’m up for upmarket fiction, commercial/literary fiction, book-club fiction, magical realism, romantic comedies/women’s fiction crossover, historical, mysteries that are fun and light with a genre blend, science fiction (whether five-minutes-in-the-future or epic), fantasy, and romantasy.
In everything, I’m looking for the following attributes:
A unique premise or high-concept hook. (Red Rising by Pierce Brown or Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells or Color, Taste, Texture by my client Matthew Broberg-Moffitt)
The setting and characters and plot all need to speak to a theme. (The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, Sun of Blood and Ruin by my client Mariely Lares)
Unique formats that are transportive. (The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett, White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi, The Lovers Dictionary by David Levithan, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke)
Characters should be real and relatable but also teach you something. (Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk, Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder, The Overstory by Richard Powers)
I love people with moral dilemmas or impossible choices that people in book clubs love to debate. (Amnesty by Aravind Adiga)
A clear, definitive voice. (Trust by Hernan Diaz, The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride)
Whether it’s fiction or non-fiction, I love a fascinating, compelling story with a mixture of warmth, humor, emotional bonds that I’ll remember forever, and a world and characters I want to return to time and time again.
For all books, I'm looking for layered hooks, commercial ideas with literary underpinnings, and would love some humor to balance out serious topics--or just humor.
Lisa Amstutz is OPEN to submissions in the following categories: adult nonfiction, picture books, illustrations, and middle grade (see Query Manager for details). If you are submitting, please familiarize yourself with her guidelines.
Lisa only accepts queries through the link below and does not consider more than one project at a time.
She currently represents nonfiction for all ages (preschool–adult), picture book and middle grade fiction, and picture book author/illustrators. She loves books with heart; science, agricultural, and environmental topics; new insights on history, culture, or the arts; compelling characters and settings; humor; lyrical texts; and multicultural themes.
Lisa is not a good fit for dark or dystopian themes or graphic content. She is not acquiring YA or adult fiction at this time, but will consider books by existing clients.
Michelle Hauck, Literary Agent
Michelle Hauck is OPEN only to submissions for the specific genres of Adult Mystery (no true crime), Horror, Fantasy, Romantasy, and Science Fiction; and Young Adult Thriller, Horror, Mystery, Romantasy and Contemporary Romance. Sorry no Middle Grade this time or Young Adult Fantasy/Science Fiction. She will be closing to submissions April 8.
Please allow two months for a query response and four months for a response on a full request.
Michelle is back open to all her usual categories and genres, which now includes all subgenres of Adult Mystery (Note: heavy crime/ more thriller focused are not a good fit.) For this query window, she will be looking for:
Adult Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror (of all subgenres, but especially secondary world fantasy, cozy fantasy, romantasy, and/or by marginalized voices), Adult Mystery (especially cozy mystery with a Contemporary time period and/or by marginalized voices)
Young Adult and Middle Grade of all genres, but especially: Fantasy, MG Humor/Adventure, YA Thriller, YA Romance (a plus for LGBTQ+), YA/MG Mystery. This does not include early readers or chapter books.
Graphic Novels for all age groups.
Sheila Fernley, Associate Literary Agent
Sheila Fernley is CLOSED to submissions at this time.
Sheila accepts submissions from authors and author/illustrators. She is interested in fiction and nonfiction for children and young adults, ages 4-18. She loves books with heart and/or humor, underrepresented voices, compelling and memorable characters and settings, lyrical language, layered hooks and fresh commercial ideas, cultural and multicultural themes with universal meaning.
She is not a good fit for adult fiction and nonfiction, horror, dark themes, violent content, dragons, science fiction, rhyming picture books, or board books.
Sheila requests that authors only query her with one manuscript at a time.
Please allow approximately two months for a query response and four months for a response for a full manuscript request.
Sheila only accepts queries through the Query Manager system (no snail mail or email submissions, please).
Jenna Satterthwaite, Associate Literary Agent
Jenna Satterthwaite is OPEN to submissions at this time.
While Jenna is open to most genres, in particular, she would love to find the following.
In Adult Fiction, she’s especially looking for:
Psychological and domestic suspense full of twists
Think: Lucy Foley, Vera Kurian, Andrea Bartz, May Cobb, Eliza Jane Brazier, Laurie Elizabeth Flynn, Jeneva Rose, Jessica Strawser
Murder mystery, cozy or traditional, contemporary or historical, serious or humorous, hijinks welcome and big family drama very welcome
Think: Louise Penny, Finlay Donovan Is Killing It, Lucy Foley, Tana French, Before She Disappeared, Dial A for Aunties, Rhys Bowen, Knives Out, Only Murders in the Building
Fantasy - cozy with low stakes, high/epic, portal and romantasy
Think: Legends & Lattes, The Ten Thousand Doors of January, Every Heart a Doorway, Sarah J Maass, Leigh Bardugo
Rom-coms and romance - in particular I’m interested in POC voices in romance, body-positive romance, LGBTQ+ romance, and adventure romance (think The Lost City). If you can give me a strong hook, an ‘impossible’ situation, and real, quirky characters I can root for, I’m sold.
Think: Tia Williams, Emily Henry, Angie Hockman
Women’s fiction: give me that heartfelt beach read. Bonus points for sister relationships, complex family dynamics, intergenerational tensions, and upmarket writing.
Sci fi - I don’t want my sci-fi cold; give me human connection, make me cry, give me that high concept worldbuilding and heartache that lasts for a week.
Think: This Is How You Lose the Time War
Speculative - give me speculative twists on rom-coms, thrillers, mysteries, etc. Give me time loops, robots, parallel worlds, fantastical creatures, etc. Give me a story rooted in the present that has that one, addictive speculative twist.
Think: The Rehearsals, Groundhog’s Day, Bone Gap, Stranger Things
Upmarket and book club fiction
Think: Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, Britt Marie Was Here, Great Kitchens of the Midwest, Taylor Jenkins Reid
In Adult Non-Fiction, Jenna is selective. She’s especially looking for:
Voicey memoir (solid platform is a huge plus)
The next big ex-evangelical voice, and both feminist and LGBTQ+ voices in the Christian context
Think: Rachel Held Evans, Matthew Vines, or Beth Allison Barr’s The Making of Biblical Womanhood
Spiritual deconstruction / reconstruction
Think: Kate Bowler’s Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I’ve Loved
Self-help from an “expert” millennial or Gen Z voice on topics such as divorce, sexuality, pregnancy, parenting
Books highlighting alternative approaches to death (living funerals, death doulas, at-home body care, etc.)
In Young Adult, she’s especially looking for:
Fantasy, cozy or epic, contemporary or infused with sci-fi
Think: Iron Widow, Only a Monster, Where Dreams Descend, Caraval, Sarah J. Maass, Girl of Fire and Thorns, Leigh Bardugo, Brigid Kemmerer’s A Curse So Dark and Lonely
Sci-fi that makes me feel as much as it makes me think; bonus if you can make me cry
Think: The Ones We’re Meant to Find
Thriller/suspense and mystery
Think: One of Us Is Lying, Come Find Me
Speculative
Think: The Grace Year
Atmospheric horror or extravagantly satirical horror
Think: House of Hollow, Wilder Girls, Bodies Bodies Bodies
In Middle Grade, she’s looking for:
Graphic Novel - mostly interested in author-illustrators; fantasy or contemporary. If my ten-year-old would love it, we’re on to something!
Think: Amulet, Smile, Drama
Fantasy with series potential
Think: Chris Colfer, The School for Good and Evil, Wings of Fire
Contemporary stories that explore the multicultural / multilingual experience
Horror
In Picture Books, she’s only looking for author/illustrators and the following very specific projects:
Books that explore neurodiversity, in particular, high sensitivity/sensory processing
If you have What Happens on Wednesdays but set in Chicago, please send that my way!
Books that celebrate the joy, grittiness and diversity of urban living
Books highlighting the multicultural experience (bilingual books English/Spanish), especially from the point of view of a refugee child
She is not currently looking for:
Picture books (unless it’s a referral/request or fits the above)
Chapter books
Hardcore/gory horror
Erotica
Military Science Fiction
Anything with child abuse or gruesome child death described in detail on the page (okay to refer to it as part of a character’s backstory, but I can’t take it on the page; exceptions made if you are Tana French) … my heart can’t take it!
Poetry or screen plays
Jenna only accepts queries through the Query Manager system. Please be prepared to include a query letter and the first 30 pages of your manuscript.
Nonfiction:
Essie White, Founder/Literary Agent
Essie White is CLOSED to submissions at this time.
Victoria Selvaggio, Owner/Literary Agent
Victoria Selvaggio is CLOSED to submissions at this time.
Heather Cashman, Senior Literary Agent/Agent Mentor
Heather Cashman is OPEN to submissions at this time.
Heather Cashman will consider PB, MG, YA, and Adult fiction and nonfiction.
The world is so vast, and there are so many facets to the lives of people from the past, present, and future, and I would love to find books that explore currently untapped spaces while also inspiring us to seize the opportunities in our own lives and teaching us something new.
PICTURE BOOKS
I tend toward STEM picture books but love anything that’s written well. I enjoy lyrical writing and also love informational fiction that teaches children while also being fun and entertaining.
MIDDLE GRADE & YOUNG ADULT
Engaging, current, relevant, today’s MG and YA NF needs to be layered with information that’s presented in a way that’s easily digestible with an intriguing voice.
Proposals accepted with at least two sample chapters.
ADULT
As with fiction, I always love a unique premise written by an author with a robust platform who is an authority on what they’re writing about.
A couple of nonfiction books I’ve loved recently: The Creative Act by Rick Rubin, Atomic Habits by James Clear)
Proposals accepted with at least two sample chapters.
Lisa Amstutz is OPEN to submissions in the following category: adult nonfiction (see Query Manager for details). If you are submitting, please familiarize yourself with her guidelines.
Lisa only accepts queries through the link below and does not consider more than one project at a time.
She currently represents nonfiction for all ages (preschool–adult), picture book and middle grade fiction, and picture book author/illustrators. She loves books with heart; science, agricultural, and environmental topics; new insights on history, culture, or the arts; compelling characters and settings; humor; lyrical texts; and multicultural themes.
Lisa is not a good fit for dark or dystopian themes or graphic content. She is not acquiring YA or adult fiction at this time, but will consider books by existing clients.
Michelle Hauck, Literary Agent
Michelle Hauck is OPEN only to submissions for the specific genres of Adult Mystery (no true crime), Horror, Fantasy, Romantasy, and Science Fiction; and Young Adult Thriller, Horror, Mystery, Romantasy and Contemporary Romance. Sorry no Middle Grade this time or Young Adult Fantasy/Science Fiction. Michelle will be closing to submissions April 8.
Please allow two months for a query response and four months for a response on a full request.
Michelle is back open to all her usual categories and genres, which now includes all subgenres of Adult Mystery (Note: heavy crime/ more thriller focused are not a good fit.) For this query window, she will be looking for:
Adult Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror (of all subgenres, but especially secondary world fantasy, cozy fantasy, romantasy, and/or by marginalized voices), Adult Mystery (especially cozy mystery with a Contemporary time period and/or by marginalized voices)
Young Adult and Middle Grade of all genres, but especially: Fantasy, MG Humor/Adventure, YA Thriller, YA Romance (a plus for LGBTQ+), YA/MG Mystery. This does not include early readers or chapter books.
Graphic Novels for all age groups.
Sheila Fernley, Associate Literary Agent
Sheila Fernley is CLOSED to submissions at this time.
Sheila accepts submissions from authors and author/illustrators. She is interested in fiction and nonfiction for children and young adults, ages 4-18. She loves books with heart and/or humor, underrepresented voices, compelling and memorable characters and settings, lyrical language, layered hooks and fresh commercial ideas, cultural and multicultural themes with universal meaning.
She is not a good fit for adult fiction and nonfiction, horror, dark themes, violent content, dragons, science fiction, rhyming picture books, or board books.
Sheila requests that authors only query her with one manuscript at a time.
Please allow approximately two months for a query response and four months for a response for a full manuscript request.
Sheila only accepts queries through the Query Manager system (no snail mail or email submissions, please).
Jenna Satterthwaite, Associate Literary Agent
Jenna Satterthwaite is OPEN to submissions at this time.
While Jenna is open to most genres, in particular, she would love to find the following.
In Adult Fiction, she’s especially looking for:
Psychological and domestic suspense full of twists
Think: Lucy Foley, Vera Kurian, Andrea Bartz, May Cobb, Eliza Jane Brazier, Laurie Elizabeth Flynn, Jeneva Rose, Jessica Strawser
Murder mystery, cozy or traditional, contemporary or historical, serious or humorous, hijinks welcome and big family drama very welcome
Think: Louise Penny, Finlay Donovan Is Killing It, Lucy Foley, Tana French, Before She Disappeared, Dial A for Aunties, Rhys Bowen, Knives Out, Only Murders in the Building
Fantasy - cozy with low stakes, high/epic, portal and romantasy
Think: Legends & Lattes, The Ten Thousand Doors of January, Every Heart a Doorway, Sarah J Maass, Leigh Bardugo
Rom-coms and romance - in particular I’m interested in POC voices in romance, body-positive romance, LGBTQ+ romance, and adventure romance (think The Lost City). If you can give me a strong hook, an ‘impossible’ situation, and real, quirky characters I can root for, I’m sold.
Think: Tia Williams, Emily Henry, Angie Hockman
Women’s fiction: give me that heartfelt beach read. Bonus points for sister relationships, complex family dynamics, intergenerational tensions, and upmarket writing.
Sci fi - I don’t want my sci-fi cold; give me human connection, make me cry, give me that high concept worldbuilding and heartache that lasts for a week.
Think: This Is How You Lose the Time War
Speculative - give me speculative twists on rom-coms, thrillers, mysteries, etc. Give me time loops, robots, parallel worlds, fantastical creatures, etc. Give me a story rooted in the present that has that one, addictive speculative twist.
Think: The Rehearsals, Groundhog’s Day, Bone Gap, Stranger Things
Upmarket and book club fiction
Think: Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, Britt Marie Was Here, Great Kitchens of the Midwest, Taylor Jenkins Reid
In Adult Non-Fiction, Jenna is selective. She’s especially looking for:
Voicey memoir (solid platform is a huge plus)
The next big ex-evangelical voice, and both feminist and LGBTQ+ voices in the Christian context
Think: Rachel Held Evans, Matthew Vines, or Beth Allison Barr’s The Making of Biblical Womanhood
Spiritual deconstruction / reconstruction
Think: Kate Bowler’s Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I’ve Loved
Self-help from an “expert” millennial or Gen Z voice on topics such as divorce, sexuality, pregnancy, parenting
Books highlighting alternative approaches to death (living funerals, death doulas, at-home body care, etc.)
In Young Adult, she’s especially looking for:
Fantasy, cozy or epic, contemporary or infused with sci-fi
Think: Iron Widow, Only a Monster, Where Dreams Descend, Caraval, Sarah J. Maass, Girl of Fire and Thorns, Leigh Bardugo, Brigid Kemmerer’s A Curse So Dark and Lonely
Sci-fi that makes me feel as much as it makes me think; bonus if you can make me cry
Think: The Ones We’re Meant to Find
Thriller/suspense and mystery
Think: One of Us Is Lying, Come Find Me
Speculative
Think: The Grace Year
Atmospheric horror or extravagantly satirical horror
Think: House of Hollow, Wilder Girls, Bodies Bodies Bodies
In Middle Grade, she’s looking for:
Graphic Novel - mostly interested in author-illustrators; fantasy or contemporary. If my ten-year-old would love it, we’re on to something!
Think: Amulet, Smile, Drama
Fantasy with series potential
Think: Chris Colfer, The School for Good and Evil, Wings of Fire
Contemporary stories that explore the multicultural / multilingual experience
Horror
In Picture Books, she’s only looking for author/illustrators and the following very specific projects:
Books that explore neurodiversity, in particular, high sensitivity/sensory processing
If you have What Happens on Wednesdays but set in Chicago, please send that my way!
Books that celebrate the joy, grittiness and diversity of urban living
Books highlighting the multicultural experience (bilingual books English/Spanish), especially from the point of view of a refugee child
She is not currently looking for:
Picture books (unless it’s a referral/request or fits the above)
Chapter books
Hardcore/gory horror
Erotica
Military Science Fiction
Anything with child abuse or gruesome child death described in detail on the page (okay to refer to it as part of a character’s backstory, but I can’t take it on the page; exceptions made if you are Tana French) … my heart can’t take it!
Poetry or screen plays
Jenna only accepts queries through the Query Manager system. Please be prepared to include a query letter and the first 30 pages of your manuscript.
For all submissions:
Please send only ONE project/proposal or manuscript (if requested) at a time. If we desire to read more work, we will request it. If we want to read the full manuscript of any submitted piece, we will request that as well. Please do not send additional work to us if we have passed on your original submission, unless requested to do so and/or if agent’s guidelines note different instructions.
Please submit to ONE agent at a time. If one agent passes you are welcome to query another agent but please advise if you’ve received a rejection for the project you are submitting.
All material should include a query letter with appropriate contact information.
For Illustrators:
We love art, almost as much as we love literature. If you would like us to consider your work, please send us an appropriate query including information about yourself, and your work, as well as a link to an online portfolio. No attachments please, though, unless requested.
Opting for snail mail?
If opting to mail material, please never send an original of anything. Due to the amount of submissions we receive, we are unable to return material.
Make a note of our new PO Box:
Storm Literary Agency
PO Box 640
Twinsburg, OH 44087
USA
