Annalise Errico

Ladderbird Literary Agency

My Manuscript Wish List®

Annalise is a graduate of Lesley University where she earned a B.A. in Creative writing with a double minor in Literature and Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies. She is excited about uplifting stories by authors with marginalized voices and intersectional identities, ultimately making room for the diverse voices that have long since been ignored and suppressed in the literary world and beyond. When she isn’t agenting, Annalise spends an excessive amount of time snuggling with her cat, Mittens, and writing romance novels that are more swoony than strictly necessary.

Annalise is looking for more queer, BIPOC representation across the board, especially in romances that give Happily Ever Afters to complex and palpable characters.

Fiction

Adult

Romance:

Romance is Annalise’s genre of choice, especially when they center on queer and BIPOC protagonists and love interests, such as Talia Hibbert’s “Take a Hint, Dani Brown”. Annalise wants to see queer/BIPOC historical fiction (think a queer “A League of Extraordinary Women” or Cat Sebastian); queer/BIPOC baking rom-coms; queer/BIPOC holiday romances; books that tackle the intersection of romance and mental health like “The Charm Offensive” (the topic of fame is a plus!); and anything that’s warm and cozy. Romances about bisexual women sit particularly close to Annalise’s heart. HEAs or HFNs are a must (per rules of the genre, and Annalise’s adoration). Her favorite tropes are enemies-to-lovers; serious-and-sunshine; and second-chance romance. She does not accept erotica or romances featuring unhealthy or abusive relationships to any degree.

Mysteries/Thrillers:

Annalise is looking for queer/BIPOC thrillers that function as social commentary such as Alyssa Cole’s “When No One Is Watching” and queer/BIPOC historical mysteries like Nekesa Afia’s “Dead Dead Girls”. She loves novels with interesting formats such as compilations of files and articles (think “Night Film” by Marisha Pessl). She is always intrigued by complex who-dun-its. It is hard to sell Annalise on thrillers that feature violence against women as their main plot. She is not a good fit for supernatural, ungrounded thrillers; thrillers that border too close to horror; gore-heavy thrillers; or thrillers that use the “bury your gays” and/or “fridging” trope. Annalise is looking for thrillers that feature a mystery of some kind: queer/BIPOC Agatha Christie is her dream mystery/thriller. She loves dark academia with a historical mystery. She is not looking for medical or apocalyptic thrillers.

Commercial/Women’s/Contemporary Fiction:

Annalise wants character-driven contemporary fiction that has enough plot movement to keep the reader invested (no character studies, please!). She likes books that use alternative formats (like “Daisy Jones & The Six” by Taylor Jenkins Reid) and question the boundaries of typical contemporary fiction. Books with social commentary about queer/BIPOC characters finding their way in life — think “Luster” and “Such a Fun Age” —are also a good fit for Annalise. She loves books that focus in on fictional celebrities or reflect upon fame such as “The Comeback” by Ella Berman and “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Books with happy endings are a plus. Annalise also wants fiction featuring change as a thematic focal point with unabashed self-love and romance, like Claire Christian’s “It’s Been A Pleasure, Noni Blake”.

New Adult

Annalise wants New Adult romance and contemporary fiction that focuses on found family and a during- or post-college bildungsroman plot. She would especially like to see fiction set immediately post-college that follows the queer/BIPOC protagonist’s trials and tribulations in the “real world” or warm and nerdy new adult like “Fangirl”. It is hard to sell Annalise on a new adult book that doesn’t feature romance in some facet. Any genre mentioned on this page, Annalise would love to see in a New Adult space.

Young Adult

Annalise is focusing on representing YA manuscripts that sit squarely in the upper-YA/new adult crossover space. This means that character ages should reflect the manuscript’s content. The ideal character ages for this space is approximately 17 to 21.

Historical:

Annalise wants YA historical fiction that focuses in on a lost perspective such as Stacey Lee’s “The Downstairs Girl”. While it doesn’t have to be a foremost plot, she wants romance in her historical novels. As with all things, having a queer component is going to make work more appealing.

Fantasy:

Annalise wants upper YA/new adult low-key fantasies that don’t break the mental bank, like “The House in the Cerulean Sea”. She also loves grounded, perhaps supernatural, fantasies dosed with romance such as “The Ex Hex”. She loves the idea of a cottagecore fantasy. While the cozier the better, she is also looking for fantasies that are firmly historical and grounded like “The Last Magician” or “These Violent Delights”. She would also love a dark academia fantasy like “Vicious”, but if Eli and Victor fell in love. Witchy fantasies that focus on queer women of color (think “When We Were Magic” by Sarah Gailey) are also a good fit for Annalise. She is not a good fit for dragon/creature, fae, or epic/high fantasy of any kind.

Mystery/Thriller:

She is looking for mysteries and thrillers that have elements of YA contemporary such as bildungsroman plots and romance (especially LGBTQIA+) but doesn’t stray too far into high-school drama (think “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder” by Holly Jackson or “Truly Devious” by Maureen Johnson). Like Adult mysteries/thrillers, she does not want anything that ventures too far into horror. She would like to see any of the aforementioned adult mystery/thriller concepts in a YA-appropriate setting.

Contemporary:

Annalise is looking for quirky and offbeat books that focus in on ride-or-die women-centric friendships. She also wants queer, BIPOC rom-coms like “I Wish You All the Best” by Mason Deaver that have found family elements and are shamelessly romantic. She loves romances that feature large families that are realistic and honest (think Morgan Matson). An ideal contemporary for Annalise would be set during the MC’s senior year of high school/first year of college. She does not want stereotypical high-school drama (no mean girls, please!) or tropes like cheating, nor does she want YA Romeo and Juliet retellings in any way, shape, or form.

What she is NOT looking for:

Picture Books

Middle Grade

Literary Fiction

Horror

Graphic Novels

Science Fiction

Apocalyptic/pandemic-related Fiction

or Poetry at this time.