4 Agents Seeking LGBTQ Fiction and Nonfiction
Updated 8/14/21
Always check the agency website and agent bio before submitting. Agents can switch agencies or close their lists, and submission requirements can change.
You can find a full list of agents actively seeking new clients here: Agents Seeking Clients
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Emmy Nordstrom Higdon of Westwood Creative Artists
"I am a PhD student at McMaster University, a bookseller at Another Story independent book shop, a blogger at Books Beyond Binaries, and a member of the planning team for the Festival of Literary Diversity. I am a queer, trans, non-binary colonizer originally from Newfoundland, now based in Tkaronto (Toronto, Ontario). I keep busy with research projects, spending time with my family (including adopted dogs and cats), embroidery, vegan cooking, and… obviously, a lot of reading."
What they are seeking: "Authors of literary, upmarket, and commercial fiction, and narrative nonfiction, for adults and older young adults. I specialize in LGBTQ2S+ literature. I am not currently accepting middle grade or children's literature queries. While atmospheric stories with lots of plot twists are my favourites, I'm eager to read literary fiction, feminist thrillers, book club, millennial, dark fantasy, paranormal horror, contemporary Gothic, and magical realism."
Non-Fiction: Adult and YA: "On the non-fiction side, my interests include memoir, deep dive journalistic accounts, investigative true crime, activism, essay collections, and progressive political and social commentary."
How to submit: Send all queries to: submissions@wcaltd.com. Please include the word “query” in the subject line of your email.
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Kiana Nguyen of Donald Maass
"Newly minted Assistant Literary Agent at Donald Maass Literary Agency. I focus primarily on YA Contemporary, but would love to work with low/high Fantasy (not-western/European based) and Sci-fi. I am HUNGRY for queer and POC voices, especially if the narrative is as much driven by the main character(s) as by a high-concept plot. Think THUG, ONE OF US IS LYING, THIS IS WHERE IT ENDS. Recent Fantasy: FOREST OF A THOUSAND LANTERNS, THE FIVE DAUGHTERS OF THE MOON, WINTERSONG.
I am looking for queer gang ensemble casts in any YA genre/sub-genre that kick ass physically, mentally, at the arcade or in a high-stakes heist. Some of my favorite badass teams right now are in The Flash, Wynona Earp, The Craft (obviously), The Diviners by Libba Bray, Feral Youth edited by Shaun David Hutchinson. They all have their strengths, weaknesses, and quirks and each are wholly unique in their own ways. Also, COVENS.
I'm looking for an achingly bittersweet queer love story with thriller or genre spin like FAR FROM YOU and THEY BOTH DIE AT THE END. I want my heart broken with all things dark and twisty.
Give me the girls with skinned knees and boys weak with jealousy and queer kids who couldn't be good if they tried. All the gray morality and friendships they would kill to keep. Nothing cookie-cutter for me! I am also looking for Adult SFF, thrillers (specifically domestic suspense), and romance. Think Nicky Drayden, THE GIRL BEFORE (Rena Olsen), and Rebekah Weatherspoon."
How to submit: Submissions should be emailed to query.knguyen@maassagency.com
Begin your subject line with QUERY: title of the manuscript (e.g. QUERY: The Count of Monte Cristo). Include:
Jessica Alvarez of Bookends
Ayla Zuraw-Friedland of the David Black Agency
Here are four agents interested in LGBTQ fiction and nonfiction. Emmy Nordstrom is looking for literary, upmarket, and commercial fiction, and narrative nonfiction, for adults and older young adults, and on the non-fiction side: memoir, deep dive journalistic accounts, investigative true crime, activism, essay collections, and progressive political and social commentary. Kiana Nguyen focuses primarily on YA Contemporary, but would love to work with low/high Fantasy (not-western/European based) and Sci-fi. Jessica Alvarez is looking for romance, rom coms, upmarket fiction, women's fiction, mysteries, thrillers, and suspense as well as a wide range of prescriptive and narrative nonfiction. Ayla Zuraw-Friedland is interested in literary fiction and nonfiction that inspects queer experiences and narratives.
Always check the agency website and agent bio before submitting. Agents can switch agencies or close their lists, and submission requirements can change.
You can find a full list of agents actively seeking new clients here: Agents Seeking Clients
_____________________
"I am a PhD student at McMaster University, a bookseller at Another Story independent book shop, a blogger at Books Beyond Binaries, and a member of the planning team for the Festival of Literary Diversity. I am a queer, trans, non-binary colonizer originally from Newfoundland, now based in Tkaronto (Toronto, Ontario). I keep busy with research projects, spending time with my family (including adopted dogs and cats), embroidery, vegan cooking, and… obviously, a lot of reading."
What they are seeking: "Authors of literary, upmarket, and commercial fiction, and narrative nonfiction, for adults and older young adults. I specialize in LGBTQ2S+ literature. I am not currently accepting middle grade or children's literature queries. While atmospheric stories with lots of plot twists are my favourites, I'm eager to read literary fiction, feminist thrillers, book club, millennial, dark fantasy, paranormal horror, contemporary Gothic, and magical realism."
Non-Fiction: Adult and YA: "On the non-fiction side, my interests include memoir, deep dive journalistic accounts, investigative true crime, activism, essay collections, and progressive political and social commentary."
How to submit: Send all queries to: submissions@wcaltd.com. Please include the word “query” in the subject line of your email.
_____________________
"Newly minted Assistant Literary Agent at Donald Maass Literary Agency. I focus primarily on YA Contemporary, but would love to work with low/high Fantasy (not-western/European based) and Sci-fi. I am HUNGRY for queer and POC voices, especially if the narrative is as much driven by the main character(s) as by a high-concept plot. Think THUG, ONE OF US IS LYING, THIS IS WHERE IT ENDS. Recent Fantasy: FOREST OF A THOUSAND LANTERNS, THE FIVE DAUGHTERS OF THE MOON, WINTERSONG.
I am looking for queer gang ensemble casts in any YA genre/sub-genre that kick ass physically, mentally, at the arcade or in a high-stakes heist. Some of my favorite badass teams right now are in The Flash, Wynona Earp, The Craft (obviously), The Diviners by Libba Bray, Feral Youth edited by Shaun David Hutchinson. They all have their strengths, weaknesses, and quirks and each are wholly unique in their own ways. Also, COVENS.
I'm looking for an achingly bittersweet queer love story with thriller or genre spin like FAR FROM YOU and THEY BOTH DIE AT THE END. I want my heart broken with all things dark and twisty.
Give me the girls with skinned knees and boys weak with jealousy and queer kids who couldn't be good if they tried. All the gray morality and friendships they would kill to keep. Nothing cookie-cutter for me! I am also looking for Adult SFF, thrillers (specifically domestic suspense), and romance. Think Nicky Drayden, THE GIRL BEFORE (Rena Olsen), and Rebekah Weatherspoon."
How to submit: Submissions should be emailed to query.knguyen@maassagency.com
Begin your subject line with QUERY: title of the manuscript (e.g. QUERY: The Count of Monte Cristo). Include:
- a query letter (be sure it includes both genre and word count)
- the first five pages of your manuscript
- a short synopsis (1-2 pages)
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Jessica is looking for a wide range of prescriptive and narrative nonfiction, but is particularly looking for unique, entertaining voices--think Mary Roach or Sarah Vowell. She’d like to see more self-help, pop science and true crime, and projects related to food, including cookbooks. She'd also like to see more projects relating to body image, women's issues, and LGBTQ+ topics. In terms of fiction, she wants romance of all heat levels (including inspirational and category romance), rom coms, upmarket fiction, women's fiction, mysteries, thrillers, and suspense. She's open to light and funny reads, as well as darker ones. Across the board, she's looking for books that celebrate diversity in all its forms, and would love to see projects with BIPOC and LGBTQ+ characters. In no particular order, she'd especially love to see more books featuring adoption issues, the Amish, coroners and morticians, physically and emotionally tortured heroes, and women who kick ass.
How to submit: To submit to Jessica, please go to the following link: https://querymanager.com/query/JessicaAlvarez
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Ayla Zuraw-Friedland joined the David Black Agency in 2019. Previously, she worked as an editorial assistant and assistant editor at Beacon Press in Boston, and as a development editor for encyclopedias at Oxford University Press. She received her BA in English and Creative Writing from Connecticut College in 2015, and her writing can be found in GAY the Magazine and Publishers Weekly. S
What she is seeking: She is interested in literary fiction and nonfiction that inspects queer experiences and narratives, and would love to see pitches from BIPOC and disabled writers from a diversity of backgrounds. A few of her favorite contemporary writers are Carmen Maria Machado, Kristen Arnett, Hanif Abdurraqib, Helen Oyeyemi, Daniel M. Lavery, Raven Leilani, Candice Carty-Williams, Kacen Callendar, Alexander Chee, Akwaeke Emezi, and Samantha Irby.
How to submit: As of November 2020, Ayla can be queried via her Query Manager page at: https://QueryManager.com/azurawfr
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