Literary Representation
Literary Representation
Query Inbox Status
• Accepting submissions.
(Please note I will be temporarily closed to submissions starting Friday, December 14. The P.S. Literary query inbox will re-open on January 6, 2025.)
I have read all query letters submitted before November 1st. Requests for additional material were sent out for the projects I’d like to continue reading.
This information was last updated on November 26, 2024.
As a Senior Literary Agent at P.S. Literary Agency, I’m currently accepting pitches for upmarket and literary fiction, nonfiction book proposals, and graphic novels.
I’m also interested in select middle grade, YA, and illustrated picture books. Please review my full wish list below for more details about the projects I’d like to consider for literary representation.
I welcome and encourage submissions from BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and disabled creators.
For more information about P.S. Literary Agency and complete submission guidelines visit www.psliterary.com.
Manuscript
Wish List
Select a category for wish list details.
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I’m eager to add more literary and upmarket fiction writers to my client list. The novels I’m looking for are both beautifully written and have a compelling sales hook.
Some stories I’m particularly interested in reading:
upmarket fiction with genre elements—fantasy, magical realism, retellings of fairy tales and folktakes, and horror (ex: Of Bees and Mist by Eric Setiawan, The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter, Wicked by Gregory Maguire, Uprooted by Naomi Novik, The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker, Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh, and anything by Helen Oyeyemi);
upmarket contemporary fiction exploring modern life, queer themes, friendship, nostalgia, existential dread—anything with “cool girl" or "sad girl" novel vibes (ex: Bunny by Mona Awad, My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh, The New Me by Halle Butler, The Girls by Emma Cline, Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney)
novels that explore mental health topics (ex: Juliet the Maniac by Juliet Escoria, The Virgin Suicides by Jeffery Eugenides, Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen, A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby, and Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk);
books that experiment with narrative structure (ex: Night Film by Marisha Pessl, Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, and The Collected Works of Billy the Kid by Michael Ondaatje).
stylish mysteries and thrillers (ex: Knives Out (film), Kingsman: The Secret Service (film), The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler, and the James Bond series by Ian Fleming);
Other favourites of mine include Bone and Bread by Saleema Nawaz, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon, A Beautiful Truth by Colin McAdam, and anything by Akwaeke Emezi.
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My favourite TV shows are a great representation of the manuscript submissions I'd like to receive:• in-depth explorations of complicated relationships (The Affair, Love Life)
• crime/mystery/thriller stories (The Undoing, White Collar, Search Party, Killing Eve)
• new adulthood (Girls, Insecure, The Sex Lives of College Girls)
• 20th century historical (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Mad Men, Pose)
• genre (Yellowjackets, Fringe, True Blood, The Last of Us, Orphan Black, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, American Horror Story, Severance)
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At this time I am not interested in science fiction or WW1/WW2 historical fiction.
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I love nonfiction projects about art, the environment, pop culture, psychology, science, cultural history, and occult topics. I expect a nonfiction book proposal to offer a new perspective on an entertaining topic.
My favourite nonfiction reads include:
explorations of mental health topics (ex: Hello I Want to Die Please Fix Me by Anna Mehler Paperny and Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig);
occult books (ex: Becoming Dangerous edited by Katie West, Witches of America by Alex Mar, and Taschen’s The Library of Esoterica series);
illustrated and photography gift books (ex: Literary Witches by Taisia Kitaiskaia and Katy Horan, Accidentally Wes Anderson by Wally Koval, and What We See in the Stars by Kelsey Oseid);
essay collections (ex: One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter by Scaachi Koul, This Will Be My Undoing by Morgan Jerkins, The 2000s Made Me Gay by Grace Perry, Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino, I Like to Watch by Emily Nussbaum, and Wannabe: Reckonings with the Pop Culture That Shapes Me by Aisha Harris);
single-topic personal development books (ex: All the Gold Stars: Reimagining Ambition and the Ways We Strive by Rainesford Stauffer, The Perfectionist's Guide to Losing Control: A Path to Peace and Power by Katherine Morgan Schafler, Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age by Katherine May, How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell, and Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey).
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I represent creators of graphic novels, graphic memoirs, and graphic nonfiction for all age categories. I am currently only looking at graphic novel submissions created by author/illustrators (a sole creator writing and illustrating the book).
I want to see graphic novels with pages and panels that make use of the visual format to tell a unique story.
Some of my favourite graphic works include: Spinning by Tillie Walden, the Heartstopper series by Alice Oseman, The Runaway Princess by Johan Troïanowski, Constantly by gg, Operatic by Kyo Maclear and Byron Eggenschwiler, Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell, Lighter Than My Shadow by Katie Green, The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees by Don Brown, Acquicorn Cove by Katie O’Neill, Through the Woods by Emily Carroll, and the A Quick & Easy Guide series published by Limerence Press.
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I am currently looking at submissions for YA novels that embrace magical realism, or stories that blend genres to create something new and unusual.
Some examples of weird and wonderful YA books I adore: Wilder Girls by Rory Power, They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera, and The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton.
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I am currently accepting middle grade fantasy submissions.
Some of my favourites include: The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill, When You Trap a Tiger by Kat Keller, The Land of Stories series by Chris Colfer, The School for Good and Evil series by Soman Chainani, and Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee.
I'm also interested in animal stories (ex: Pax by Sara Pennypacker, Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel, Bunnicula by Deborah and James Howe, and Santa Paws by Nicholas Edwards).
Things I’m not looking for in the middle grade space: gross-out humour, pirates, time travel, portal fantasies, superheroes, and chapter books.
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I’m only accepting submissions for illustrated picture books created by a single author/illustrator.
I like picture books that take big topics and feelings and make them child-friendly. And, of course, have stunning and diverse art. I also love poetic language (not to be mistaken for rhyming text—rhyme is not for me).
Some of my picture book favourites include: Lubna and Pebble by Wendy Meddoir and Daniel Egneus, Birdsong by Julie Flett, Virginia Wolf by Kyo Maclear and Isabelle Arsenault, Leo: A Ghost Story by Mac Barnett and Christian Robinson, This is Sadie by Sara O’Leary and Julie Morstad, Sometimes I Feel Like a Fox by Danielle Daniel, and Black Gold by Laura Obuobi and London Ladd.
My client Cat Min’s picture books (Shy Willow, The Little Toymaker, and The Shadow and the Ghost) are the perfect examples of my taste in picture books, both in story and art.
Submission Guidelines
Pitch Requirements
Include the following information in your query letter: book title, category/genre, word count, brief pitch/overview, and an author bio. Also mention prior publishing experience (published books, previously agented, etc.) if applicable.
For graphic novel submissions: please include the estimated page count instead of word count.
Sample Pages
Please include sample pages in the body of the email. Do not send attachments unless specifically requested (otherwise your query letter could be flagged as spam and go unseen).
Follow the guidelines that best apply to your work:
Fiction: first 10 pages of the manuscript
Nonfiction: the table of contents (if applicable) and first 10 pages of a sample chapter
Picture books: full manuscript and link to sample pages and/or online portfolio
Other illustrated projects: link to sample pages and/or online portfolio
Contact Details
Address your query letter to me (Maria) and send it to query@psliterary.com.
You should receive an auto-response confirming receipt of your submission.
Please do not query multiple agents at P.S. Literary Agency simultaneously.
A note on response times:
I do my best to respond within 4-6 weeks of receiving your query letter.
If I have requested your manuscript, proposal, or pitch package and you have not received a response after 3 months, you are welcome to send a nudge for an update on where your submission is in my reading queue.