Jessica Berg

I’d like the next…

What I’m especially hungry for in 2026

Horror (in all its gorgeous forms)

Not just “boo!” horror. Give me dread, obsession, unease, grief, hunger, inheritance. I’m especially drawn to:

• Gothic horror (creeping, elegant, ruinous)

• Upmarket horror with big feelings and sharp writing

• Domestic horror (the house is haunted / the marriage is haunted / the family is haunted—see where I’m going?)

• Folk horror with a sense of place so strong I can smell the air

• Horror that’s culturally specific and rooted in real history, real community, real consequences

Gothic / Dark academia (but make it more than an aesthetic)

Moody institutions, secret societies, rivalries, obsession, and the particular terror of wanting something too much. Extra interested in:

• Dark academia with grownups

• Campus/workplace settings where power dynamics actually matter

• Stories where the setting feels like it’s watching you back

Romance-forward genre fiction (that isn’t generic)

I’m looking for chemistry, consequence, and emotional pressure, especially when romance is braided into another lane:

• Romantic suspense / suspense where the love story complicates everything

• Love stories with a dark streak (the kind you read with your shoulders up)

Women’s fiction / upmarket

Give me stories about women who want things—messily, bravely, sometimes poorly—and are forced to reckon with the cost. I’m drawn to:

• Friendship novels where love and resentment live in the same room

• Family stories with a long shadow: inheritance, secrets, loyalty, estrangement, reunions that don’t magically heal anyone

• “Life transition” books that aren’t light: reinvention, midlife pivots, late-in-life desire, the moment you realize you can’t keep living the way you’ve been living
  (And yes, I love a protagonist who’s not 25.)

Book-club suspense

What I want here is:

• Domestic suspense where tension comes from relationships, not twists for twist’s sake

• Psychological suspense / literary thrillers: the dread of being known, the horror of being misread, the quiet violence of power dynamics

• A slow burn is welcome if every scene deepens pressure and you can feel the walls inching in

And if your book has a gothic edge—creeping atmosphere, old houses, buried history—but it’s still rooted in real-world emotional truth? I will absolutely look.

Historical fiction that reads urgent

I’m especially drawn to:

• Non-WWII historical that surprises me with era + setting + perspective

• Women in systems—marriage, money, law, medicine, religion, class—show me the rules and the price of breaking them

• Stories shaped by social change (immigration, labor, civil rights, cultural upheaval) where personal life and public life collide

• Big emotional arcs: love, betrayal, ambition, survival, reinvention

A premise that’s easy to grasp, a voice that feels like a person, and stakes that aren’t abstract? I want it.

Nonfiction

I’m open to nonfiction that’s doing more than telling a story or making a point. I want books that ask a big moral question. I’m drawn to work that is:

• emotionally honest (a little dirty, a little messy, but true)

• accessible (smart without trying to sound smart)

• heartfelt (not performative vulnerability—actual human stakes)

• interested in complexity (no tidy sermons, no easy villains)

If your book makes me think and makes me feel something in my chest, that’s a very good sign.

Memoir: I’m looking for “memoir-plus”

By “memoir-plus,” I mean: your life is the lens, but the book is bigger than your life. In other words, it’s not just “here’s what happened to me.” It’s:

• here’s what happened band what it reveals about money/power/motherhood/faith/addiction/desire/shame/caregiving/marriage/ambition/identity/class

• here’s what happened and here’s the larger question I couldn’t stop asking

• here’s my story, braided with reporting/history/science/culture, because the topic demands more than one angle

Select self-help / psychology

I’ll consider select psychology/self-help when:

• the author has a clear lane of authority (relevant credentials/experience and/or a built-in audience)

• the big promise is easy to understand and feels different (not a remix of familiar ideas)

• the writing is warm, specific, and human (plain language, real examples, no lecturing)

Self-help is a big market—and a very competitive one—so I’m looking for a clear why you / why this / why now.