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While we're all locked up reading and writing / glued to social media, I thought I might do a thread about the kinds of submissions I'm looking for, because it worked pretty well last time...
Always, always, #ownvoices stories from under-represented writers and characters – including neuroatypical protagonists; characters with visible and invisible disabilities; stories involving unpaid carers and young carers; the broadest definition of queer love / sex stories...
...trans characters; incidental working-class backdrops; all kinds of BAME stories...give me life in all it's beautiful variation! My inbox is still not showing me this, so at JULA we're cooking up ways of removing this barrier that still must exist for writers submitting to us.
I would so love for these stories to be funny, silly, celebratory - in all possible genres (but especially comedy or horror, FYI) and up and down the age-ranges, but especially middle-grade.
On the subject of middle-grade, I'm still not seeing enough comedy by women. I continue to wax about it, but @sharnajackson's HIGH RISE MYSTERY is the perfect example of a funny, clever adventure with all the life and representation that I'm looking for.
I'd also love some comedy-horror in middle-grade. I don't know what that looks like, but I do know I love ghosts and zombies.
I also love horror horror - YA, middle-grade, even commercial-literary adult fiction. Creepy, cinematic psychological horror with some kind of genre twist or social justice message would be an absolute dream.
Would love more graphic novels and author-illustrators for all ages, too!
I'm largely a kids and YA agent, but I do also represent adult work - especially bold non-fiction with a clear hook and (often) socially progressive aspect - feminism; socialism; environmentalism; internationalism; mental health; prison reform - I'd love to see it.
YA / crossover is the big one, and there I'm looking for new takes on big commercial / genre, as well as funny, uplifting, voice-led novels, and (always) teen books full of sex, politics and content that teenagers actually want to read but that gatekeepers are sh*t scared of...
More #ownvoices queer and trans love stories in YA would be excellent! And YA graphic novels, too.
Anything that doesn't fit any of these is great too, of course, and generally anything that is too 'weird' or bold to fit into a definable genre or category. I have all kinds of (wonderful) stories and writers on my client list already, but I can't wait to grow it. Send away!
