Saturday, June 27, 2015

#pg70pit Agents' Combined Manuscript Wish List

Want to know what the agents participating in the  #pg70pit Contest are looking for?

Me too! After all, as a co-host, my job is to try and select the entries that have the best chance of finding the agent that's dying to sign that very manuscript. So I did a little research on #MSWL, and bios. And this is what I found.

Below is a combined Manuscript Wish List (MSWL) for the 27 agents partcipating in #pg70pit, divided by age category. In other words, a taste of what the agents are interested in seeing. The lists are long, but hopefully somewhat helpful! Enjoy!


Red text = Recurring themes that many agents mentioned

After the contest is over, I *might* be persuaded to post these divided up by agent. But it will take a bit of doing, so you'll have to convince me ;)

Who are the agents? Click here.

General #MSWL:
  • #WNDB: MCs of color
  • #WNDB: Stories set in other cultures, Caribbean, Asia, Cuba, Latina, Portugal 
  • #WNDB: Different abilities/disabilities, religions
  • #WNDB: LGBTQ // QUILTBAG
  • Books that beg for a playlist
  • Bonus points for: Michigan settings, small town settings, stories involving rescue dogs, Doctor Who-esque, dolphins, dinosaurs, pirates, unusual subcultures
  • Cinematic feel
  • Contemporary
  • Diversity not only in race & gender identity, but also body types, abilities, religion. Intersectional.
  • Female protagonists that are "strong," but not in terms of physical strength.
    Instead of fighters, MCs with intelligence, emotional strength etc
  • Focus on friendship issues: falling-outs, break-ups etc
  • Non-US settings
  • Retellings: beyond fairytales, folktales, other retellings, alternate POVs (ie antagonists)
  • STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics)- heavy books,
    .... especially with female MCs
  • Thrillers
  • Voice-driven: poetic, literary

Middle Grade:

  • #WNDB - POCs as protags, different religions
  • Adventure stories, adventures but with a literary voice
  • Animal stories: Classic feel (ala Watership Down), or with animal not as protagonist, books with rescue dogs, books with dolphins, books with dinosaurs
  • Alternate History
  • Contemporary, contemporary, contemporary!!
  • Contemporary with very light fantasy or sci-fi elements, contemporary Sweet Valley Twins, funny/light-hearted, realistic but with a quirky plot
  • Coming-of-age
  • Crossover appeal to older age brackets
  • Dark, honest, dealing-with-adult issues
  • Fantasy: High fantasy with a fresh take, or fantasy that feels historical/real, big, unique worlds, heroic stories, unicorns, dragons and daredevil princesses
  • Historicals
  • Horror ala Goosebumps
  • Humor
  • Literary
  • Mysteries
  • Non-US Settings: Asia, Portugal
  • Protags who are: Spunky/brainy, funny/confident, Hermione-esque, Alanna-esque, Arya or Sansa Stark-esque, who are artists, who are into STEM, into sports
  • Retellings of non-fairytales
  • Sports themes: especially soccer or football
  • Stories that "teach" about an unusual subject: non-English language, obscure field of research
  • Steampunk or something similar
  • Voice that's smart but accessible
  • Voice that reads Victorian/Edwardian (ala E. Nesbit)


Young Adult:
  • #WNDB - Protags of Color please // LGBT // Dealing with mental health issues
  • Cinematic feel
  • Contemporary, Contemporary, Contemporary!
  • Contemporary Retellings: Shakespeare retellings, Breakfast Club reimagining, 
  • Contemporary: Voice driven novels from unusual perspectives, or that is hard-hitting, punky, or fangirly/geeky/cosplay/comic-con, or sporty
  • Contemporary with very light sci-fi or fantasy elements
  • Contemporary drama ala Gossip Girl
  • Edgy: Dark,  gritty hard-hitting, no romance, over-the-edge, teen sex workers, love interests with criminal records, stories about blackmail/revenge porn
  • Fantasy that feels "real"
  • Fantasy: High fantasy with fabulous world-building, Multi-cultural fantasy, fantasy with queer protags, fantasy in the vein of Red Queen & Darkest Part of the Forest, fantasy with an Arya or Sansa or Alanna protagonist, a Fantasy where you hang out with the "normal" kids -- the Hufflepuffs not the Harrys.
  • Female protagonists who are "strong" but not necessarily in the physical sense. They're not fighters
  • Female protags occupying stereotypically male roles/interests, lady knights
  • Focus on friendship/sisters. Girls supporting girls. Friend breakups. Books that aren't about romance.
  • Funny coming-of-age, full of heart, or quirky comedy ala Romy & Michele's HS Reunion
  • Geekery
  • Genre-bending / mashups
  • Historical: roaring 20's, Mad Men, hist-fic from unusual eras (e.g. Cold War), 1980s, Ancient China
  • Historical Fantasy, ala Great and Terrible Beauty, Moulin Rogue
  • Horror, Horror, Horror!
  • Horror set in Asia, gothic horror, historical horror, post-apoc horror, ghost stories, urban legends, twisted fairytale, horror dripping with blood/gore, also horror without much blood/gore, horror ala Turn of the Screw, atmopsheric horror ala Bates Motel
  • Issue stories that are stripped down, rather than self-indulgent. Humor okay.
  • Magical Realism
  • Mystery ala Veronica Mars, with a snappy protagonist, chick-lit detective story, a cozy but not cute mystery
  • Noir
  • Non-US Settings: Asia, Ireland, Middle East
  • Platonic Relationships
  • Protagonists ala Veronica Mars, Hermione Granger, Arya, Sansa, protags that are artists, protagonists that are geeky, or cunning/clever, lady knights, expats, protags who like STEM
  • Retellings: of non-fairytales, horror-fairytales, Romeo & Juliet in the Middle East, fairytales from the antagonist's perspective
  • Romance: Light-hearted with a super-sweet love story, romance ala Katie McGarry
  • Science Fiction: that's light on the sci-fi, sci-fi with aliens, SFF set in Asia, sci-fi that tackles moral questions, big/epic/adventure sci-fi
  • Shapeshifters of unusual varieties only
  • Sports stories, sporty girls ala Any Way You Slice It
  • Thrillers, Thrillers, Thrillers, THRILLERS! ;)
  • Thrillers: Psychological thrillers or high stakes mysteries, literary thrillers, thrillers with magic ala the Prestige, MCs who can "profile" ala Criminal Minds, light-hearted ala Catch Me If You Can, a heist story, creepy thrillers, revenge based thrillers
  • Unreliable Narrators

Adult Fiction:
  • Book club fiction: focus on friendships, contemporary fiction about love, friendship, family & overcoming adversity
  • Bookish settings: bookstores, libraries, manuscript archives
  • Cinematic stories
  • Characters: First generation Americans, 
  • Cozy mysteries: bonus points for a "Storage Wars" like team of characters, with humor
  • Dark/Edgy: Women behaving badly, Affairs, Serial killers (but not a crime novel), dark ballet
  • Fantasy: Epic, steampunk/gaslamp, fantasy that almost reads historical, fresh take on high fantasy, a Fantasy with Ferris Bueller as the MC, a Fantasy where you hang out with the "normal" people -- the Hufflepuffs not the Harrys.
  • Historical Fiction: anything set in roaring 20s, anything Mad-Men-esque, Anne Boleyn, 1980s
  • Issue driven stories
  • Horror: Psychological, medical
  • Light, quirky: Detective chick-lit, rom-coms
  • Literary: Love stories, tear-jerkers, Literary suspense
  • Magical Realism: magic realism with a literary voice
  • Non-US settings!!! Asia, Caribbean (w/local perspective), Ireland, Middle East,  a dark ballet set in Russia
  • Romance: Romantic comedy, steamy/swoony/spicy romance, a modern You've Got Mail, historical/regency, sci-fi romance
  • Science Fiction:  Sci-Fi that reads literary, Sci-fi that doesnt read like sci-fi, light-hearted sci-fi, non-western sci-fi, older protags, sci-fi with aliens, sci-fi that tackles moral questions, big/epic/adventure sci-fi, SFF humor re-invented (not derivative of Pratchett or Adams), sci-fi Oceans Eleven, Pushing Daisies, or Fiddler on the Roof. The Outsiders in Space. Sci-fi with a Stranger Than Fiction tone.
  • Steampunk ... or the next steampunk
  • Thrillers: suspense with a noir aesthetic, a thriller Girl w/Dragon Tattoo, but set in the Middle East, literary thriller ala Night Film, a thriller with magic/illusion ala the Prestige, crime fiction ala Thelma and Louise meets Broad City
  • Transgressive Fiction
  • Urban Fantasy that feels classic, but fresh, with new creatures
  • Voice: Literary, or Irreverent yet serious ala Doctor Who
  • Westerns
  • Women's Crime Fiction of the quirky variety
Related Resources: #MSWL Twitter Hashtag || MSWL Archives || MSWL Paragraph 
   ... and don't forget to check agent's bios / agency profiles!

See anything that sounds like your manuscript? Run and get your entry ready for #pg70pit! Submissions open soon!!!


6 comments:

  1. Oh goodness!!! Who's the one who's seeking Roaring Twenties stories?? :-)

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  2. Bree Ogden is the one who's mentioned she likes Historical Fiction set in the Roaring Twenties! :D

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  3. This is a spectacular idea, but if jumping in at page 70 and the author has done it right, how will the agents have any idea that the manuscript hits the MSWL?

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  4. Rob --

    Lara explains it best on her blog, so check it out here: https://writelarawrite.wordpress.com/70pit/

    Its called the McLuhan Test and basically it works because page 70 is far enough into the book that things are moving along, and it may even give a better idea of the voice and narrative style of the book than the first pages (which can tend to be overworked).

    I think if the author is "doing it right" as you mention, an agent perusing page 70 will have a very clear taste of genre, character, and most importantly: whether or not they fall in love with the writing/voice.

    Voice is key. Plotting problems can be fixed. What a lot of agents want is to fall in love with is the writing and the characters, and that should be exactly what they'll get a taste of on page 70.

    That said, the Age Category, Genre, and a seven-word description of the main character will also be part of the #pg70pit entry. So the agent will have that to go off of as well. Enough to know whether or not to request a query & pages at least!

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  5. Awesome sauce! Thanks for compiling this, Carissa! And a big shout out to a fellow ASU grad :D

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  6. What a wonderful job you've done pulling this together!

    ReplyDelete

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