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While we& #39;re all locked up reading and writing / glued to social media, I thought I might do a thread about the kinds of submissions I& #39;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& #39;s beautiful variation! My inbox is still not showing me this, so at JULA we& #39;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& #39;m still not seeing enough comedy by women. I continue to wax about it, but @sharnajackson& #39;s HIGH RISE MYSTERY is the perfect example of a funny, clever adventure with all the life and representation that I& #39;m looking for.
I& #39;d also love some comedy-horror in middle-grade. I don& #39;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& #39;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& #39;d love to see it.
YA / crossover is the big one, and there I& #39;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.
