Elisa Saphier

I am closed to submissions and will not read your query if you send me one. I’m not going to reach my goal of opening late in 2026, but hopefully by spring 2027. Inbox transparency: currently in Feb for fulls and mid March for partials and for pitch/conference requests. (I keep this current so you can always check back and see where I am. I also try to post semi-regular updates on Twitter and Blue Sky; I always respond to a query eventually.) I am currently most looking for genre manuscripts to balance out the more heavily literary list I currently have and I will be updating the below with changes and more specifics once I reopen; below is my old MSWL and it will be shifting.

I  am always most excited to find great writing and full characters, regardless of genre. I am focused on uplifting marginalized voices and want to be a part of seeing publishing become more equitable and less unbalanced of underrepresented writers. While I am mostly genre agnostic (quality of writing and everything else is much more important to me as both a reader and an agent) I gravitate more strongly toward stories of identity and self discovery in literary fiction, psychological thrillers and mysteries, memoir, and queer romance. I love to cry though a book but am not morally opposed to happy endings. In all genres I prefer standalone books over series. I am not actively looking for science fiction or fantasy, although do keep reading queries that excite me so I’ll say that in spec fic I strongly prefer  “SFF lite,” and am turned off by vampires/aliens/shapeshifters etc. I am almost never the best fit for high fantasy, although touches of magic can be okay.

I do have a significant soft spot no matter the genre for stories that reflect back our world, that challenge the status quo, that show the truth of white supremacy/patriarchy/oppression/trauma. I love character-heavy books that start conversations about race, class, gender, etc. But I do read almost anything and I’ve been a bookseller for many years and so have a good feeling for what people are looking for, even if it’s not my go-to. What I’m most looking for in my inbox, in no particular order:

Adult:
literary psychological thrillers/mystery;
queer romance (especially but not exclusively friends to lovers and forced proximity);
literary fiction;
literary memoir;
stories of marginalized people where the marginalization isn’t the story;
dark academia;
suburban malaise;
amateur theater

Young Adult:
found family;
queer coming of age;
emerging awareness of identity;
amateur theater

Middle Grade:
true to life fiction;
questioning of self and belonging;
amateur theater

A few themes/genres I am not a good fit for:
pop-culture/fashion;
praising religion (don’t be fooled if you’ve found me because my agency has lots of Christian authors, I am the anomaly there);
hard sff or horror;
World War II;
shape-shifting/vampires/zombies/etc;
picture books or really anything for kids younger than upper middle grade;
technology;
power dynamic relationships in romance;
insta-love romance;
most satire;
espionage;
mob/mafia/military;
conservative talking points

Submission Guidelines

Submissions should be emailed to elisa@macgregorliterary.com

I am currently closed to submissions! Once I am open again, send a query with your pitch, synopsis, and first few pages directly to my email. I’ll get back to you just as soon as I can! (Which won’t be as soon as I’d like.) I’m not comfortable with formality so feel free to just call me Elisa.