Kate Sederstrom

Bloomsbury Children's Books

My Manuscript Wish List®

I’m eagerly looking to acquire across all age categories, picture book though YA, and consider myself genre agnostic. My taste skews more toward the literary, but I’m all for a swift, twisty plot and a commercial hook, too.

In picture books, I’m drawn to stories with humor and heart – books that make the reader say, “aww!”, and then flip back to the beginning to read again. I love books with distinctive and quirky characters, like in TINY T REX AND THE IMPOSSIBLE HUG and the Bear and Spider series. I’m particularly interested in acquiring books that explore a childhood milestone – like losing a first tooth, scraping a first knee, and making a first friend. Themes of emotional intelligence and mindfulness are appealing, too.

I seek out novels that have an immersive voice, unexpected twists, and poweful emotional draws. I want books that ask and explore big questions. If you need dragons to do that, use dragons. If you need a parallel universe, go for it. Genre doesn’t matter much to me, as long as its approached toughtfully.

In middle grade, I’m looking for contemporary stories that explore middle school friendship dynamics, fads, and family from a unique / high concept entry point. I’d love to see stories that feature characters with unconventional family structures; for example, I’d love a middle grade that features a child in foster care, but where the narrative isn’t about their experience in foster care.

In YA, I generally gravitate toward the darker stuff, but there still should be a glimmer of hope. Right now, I’m particularly interested in acquiring YA fantasy. I like voice-driven stories with enticing hooks, inventive narrative structures, and stories that touch upon social, cultural, and emotional issues with tact, poignancy, and often a dash of quirk. I’m particularly interested in both middle grade and YA that deals with themes of toxic masculinity, empathy, and protagonists who experience a tug-of-war between good and evil.

I have a particular interest in graphic novels, both middle grade and YA.

I’m actively seeking stories that are told from an underrepresented and / or unique perspective, especially stories by #ownvoices authors.

Fun facts about me:

I’m in a co-dependent relationship with my cat, Neville, whose personality is quite similar to his namesake character’s.

I’ve been known to eat an entire watermelon in a single sitting.

I was the world’s worst waitress all throughout college.

I really love clogs.

My favorite color is yellow, which people often find odd, but like, what is there to dislike about the color of sunshine?

Submission Guidelines

Agented submissions only. 

Guidelines & Details

Vital Info

kate.sederstrom@bloomsbury.com

@@sederstka

Linkedin

Editor

Fiction:

Children's, Graphic Novel, Middle Grade, Picture Books, Young Adult

Non-Fiction:

Illustrated, Memoir

I’d like the next…

  • YA contemporary retelling of a Shakespeare play — something with teenage themes, like Hamlet, Twelfth Night, or Romeo and Juliet (but only when read as a comedy)
  • YA Breaking Bad
  • YA workplace romance
  • High concept LGBTQ+ rom-com
  • Anything set in the Caribbean or with a Caribbean protagonist
  • Native American voices
  • Picture book or MG about urban gardening and / or urban communities
  • Contemporary set in the rural American South
  • A twist on the classic western
  • A noir thriller featuring a female Philip Marlowe character
  • Ripped-from-the-headlines YA

My favorites include…

Favorite Books

  • I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
  • Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith
  • Scythe and Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman
  • Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
  • The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang
  • Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman
  • The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik by David Arnold
  • Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
  • Far from the Tree by Robin Benway
  • All the Wind in the World by Samantha Mabry
  • Homegoing Yaa Gyasi
  • My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Friedrick Backman
  • The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis
  • The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
  • The Wild Robot and The Wild Robot Returns by Peter Brown
  • The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
  • Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
  • Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson
  • Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli
  • Little Fox in the Forest by Stephanie Graegin
  • Tiny T. Rex and the Impossible Hug by Jonathan Stutzman and Jay Fleck
  • The Day the Crayons Quit by Andrew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers
  • The Hat trio by Jon Klassen
  • Dreamers by Yuyi Morales
  • They All Saw a Cat by Brendan Wenzel
  • Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal
  • Harry Potter (duh)

Favorite TV shows

  • Avatar: the Last Airbender (not the whitewashed movie)
  • Barry (!!!)
  • Breaking Bad
  • Fleabag
  • Sex Education
  • Westworld (until it got bad)
  • The Office
  • Grace & Frankie
  • Big Little Lies
  • Sharp Objects
  • Flight of the Concords
  • High Maintenance
  • Veep 
  • Succession

Favorite Movies

  • Zootopia (I am Officer Judy Hopps)
  • To All the Boys I Loved Before
  • 10 Things I Hate About You
  • How to Train Your Dragon
  • The Hate U Give (just being honest, here)
  • Thoroughbreds
  • Amelie
  • No Country for Old Men
  • The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
  • Oh Brother Where Art Thou 
  • Inglorious Bastards 
  • The Beginners
  • Hook 
  • Before Sunrise and Before Sunset 
  • Gattaca
  • Kiki’s Delivery Service
  • Totoro
  • True Grit