Manuscript Wish List
Please note that I cannot accept unagented queries.
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As an editor at Disney-Hyperion, I primarily acquire novels for young adults and middle graders (8+), along with the occasional graphic novel.
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As a company Disney is very franchise-minded, and that quality is shared by every book on our list. Thus, I’m always looking for big bets with high-concept commercial hooks, expert plotting and pacing, and the potential to become lead titles that spin off into other forms of media.
My personal taste leans toward upmarket prose paired with a strong sales hook that can be summed up in an intriguing line or two. And as an outspoken advocate for greater diversity, equity, and inclusion in media, I am particularly keen to invest in the work of writers and illustrators who have historically been excluded in American media.
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In all formats and for all age groups, I am particularly drawn toward:
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Original, unforgettable characters with the potential to become beloved household names
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Sharp and original humor that shows a deep understanding of its readers—whether goofy, over-the-top antics for middle graders or well-observed sarcasm for teens
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Books that slide adeptly between humor and poignancy—if a book can make me laugh on one page and cry on the next, it wins my whole heart
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Expansive, unique, and cinematic worlds—whether fantastical or a segment of the real world that’s underrepresented in fiction and/or feels fresh through the creator’s eyes
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Nuanced stories about rebellion against unjust systems, building solidarity and mutual support, questioning or challenging power, or imagining a world better than our own
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Authentic, own-voices representations of characters with marginalized and intersectional identities in stories of adventure, romance, friendship, joy, and personal growth. Especially but not exclusively:
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Protagonists with disabilities and/or neurodivergences
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Queer/LGBTQ+ protagonists—especially the less-represented members of the acronym, like trans, non-binary, asexual, aromantic, intersex, queer, and bisexual characters
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All BIPOC protagonists, but especially Black American, Indigenous (from all over the world), and Latinx protagonists
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Unique family structures depicted in a positive light—think found/friend families, guardians other than parents, multigenerational households, and loving/supportive separated families
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My interests in middle grade include:
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Contemporary stories that take a “light and bright” approach to social change, solidarity, and self-discovery
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Think: Front Desk, From the Desk of Zoe Washington, You Are Here: Connecting Flights, What Happened to Rachel Riley?
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Kid-friendly humor with substance, particularly subversive/dark humor and humor used as a tool for navigating trauma or affecting change
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Think: Simon Sort of Says (what, I like it!)​, the Dog Man series
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Beautifully written and timely stories that contextualize the present within the past, and ripped-from-the-headlines fiction exploring extraordinary real events
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Think: The Night Diary, Refugee​
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Stories about (non-anthropomorphic, non-talking) animals, human-animal bonds, nature, and survival
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Think: A Wolf Called Wander, The Eyes and the Impossible, Skandar and the Unicorn Thief, today’s My Side of the Mountain
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Original, voicey fantasy and contemporary fantasy, especially set in or inspired by non-European settings and mythologies
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Think: The Last Mapmaker, the Nevermoor series, Aru Shah and the End of Time, When You Trap a Tiger
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Horror stories—especially genuinely spine-tingling
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Think: The Small Spaces quartet, Doll Bones, Stranger Things as a middle grade novel
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Voicey, upmarket middle grade that feels like a classic the moment it's released
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Think: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon,
Rooftoppers, The Swifts, Princess Academy
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My interests in young adult include:
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Thrillers, psychological horror, supernatural, and speculative fiction that radically represents and explores queer, female, and BIPOC rage, revenge, and reclamation of power
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Think: Elatsoe, Iron Widow, Sadie, Nimona, a YA Manhunt
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High-concept fantasy, especially contemporary fantasy, and other speculative fiction, especially that which uses the conventions of its genre to critique, subvert, or illuminate a truth about our world
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Think: Raybearer, Graceling, Dread Nation, The Witch King, a YA Babel
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Cozy fantasy with a romantic subplot and mild stakes made riveting by utterly lovable characters and worlds we want to crawl into
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Think: So This Is Ever After, Howl’s Moving Castle, a YA Legends & Lattes (in an original fantasy world), a YA House in the Cerulean Sea​
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Comedy paired with a sticky concept that can be summed up in a single sentence
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Think: The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, Me & Earl & The Dying Girl, Dire Days of Willowweep Manor
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Dark contemporary or near-future stories that meaningfully critique our society
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Think: The Squid Game of YA
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Fantasy and contemporary fantasy set in non-European-inspired settings
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Think: These Violent Delights, Raybearer, Iron Widow
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Epic romance embedded within a larger story
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Think: Raybearer, the King of Scars duology, All My Rage
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Upmarket contemporary romance with substance, centering characters of traditionally marginalized identities
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Think: All My Rage, Furia, Felix Ever After
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I am not the right editor for:
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Nonfiction
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Picture books (the rare exceptions on my list tend to be IP)
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Chapter books
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Adaptations or reimaginings (unless the take is extremely novel)
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Novels in verse
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Stories in which the resolution rests in policing, arrest, or imprisonment (whether serious or comedic)
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Gratuitous or extended scenes of sexual violence, abuse, or hate-based violence
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Space-based or heavily technical sci-fi (with the exception of the rare, character-driven YA space opera, like A Spark of White Fire by Sangu Mandanna, Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, or The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells)
