Charlotte Wenger
Prospect Agency
My Manuscript Wish List®
I represent authors, illustrators, and author-illustrators of children’s books—board books through graphic novels and middle-grade, but especially picture books—as well as select YA fiction and adult nonfiction (biographies and memoirs).
I’m always seeking stories from diverse voices – those that have been historically marginalized and/or underrepresented in publishing, including BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, people living in and/or from marginalized/underrepresented cultures and countries, neurodiverse persons, disabled persons, and more. (https://diversebooks.org/why-we-need-diverse-books-is-no-longer-using-the-term-ownvoices/)
I’m on the lookout for what hasn’t been done yet – stories that haven’t been told and voices that haven’t been heard.
Picture Books:
- I’m especially looking for author-illustrators
- Global stories
- Social awareness and justice
- Stories featuring a craft/hobby
- Nontraditional/underrepresented families
- Narrative nonfiction
- Story structures that surprise and delight me
- Stories that tug on my heart – but aren’t saccharine or didactic
- Stories that make me laugh out loud
I’m very picky about rhyme unless it feels authentic to the tone and audience age range of the story.
Graphic Novels for Beginning Readers through Middle-Grade
- Prefer author-illustrated, but also open to GN illustrators and script-only GNs
- Fiction and nonfiction
- Spunky characters
- Imaginative, unexpected adventures
Middle-Grade:
- Sibling and family stories, especially those with nontraditional or underrepresented family structures
- Novels in verse
- Magical realism and contemporary fantasy (not high fantasy)
- Mystery and puzzles, but NOT horror
Select YA fiction and adult nonfiction
I’m not the best fit if your manuscript is:
- Horror
- Military/war-centric
- Violence / gore
- Saccharine
- Tooth Fairy or dentist stories
Fun facts about me:
A few of my favorite things…
- Dogs
- Singer-songwriters (Sara Bareilles, Brandi Carlile, Carole King)
- Musical theatre (In undergrad, double-majored in English and theatre)
- The beach
- Reading with my toddler
Submission Guidelines
Please use the submission form on our agency website: https://www.prospectagency.com/submit.html. All fields required unless indicated otherwise.
What to Submit
For picture books, we request a query letter and the full manuscript or a sketch dummy with sample final (if an author-illustrator). Illustrators should provide a URL link to their portfolio. For middle-grade, young adult, and adult texts, we request a query letter, three chapters and a brief synopsis.
Your query letter should include your name, the date, contact information and a brief description of the work. Include only relevant personal information: previous publications, writing education, etc. For previously published authors, please also give a brief overview of your career thus far and your goals for the future.
Because we request more than just a query letter, we spend a lot of time with every submission. We consider character development, plot, voice, and most importantly, the writing. Please make sure the work you submit is edited, proofread, and at a mature stage of development. We do not accept re-submissions, edited or otherwise.
Electronic Submission Guidelines
- We accept Word (.docx, .doc), PDF (.pdf), HTML (.html, .htm), and Text (.rtf, .txt) formats.
- Important: submit all material in a single document. Be sure to include a synopsis and query letter with your email and contact information at the beginning of the manuscript body (3 chapters or first 30 pages). If you are submitting a picture book, please include the entire picture book.
- Please submit no more than one (1) manuscript at any given time. Submitting multiple manuscripts to this agency will invalidate your submission. This includes submitting to more than one agent.
- We welcome new manuscripts; however, unless requested, we do not accept revisions. Do not resubmit declined manuscripts (to any agent), revised or otherwise.
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Vital Info
Favorite sub-genres:
#Dis, #ownvoices, #wndb, Activism, Author-Illustrator, Author-Illustrators, BIPOC, Beginning Readers, Children's, Children's Nonfiction, Children's and Young Adult Fiction and Nonfiction, Clever picture book, Commercial MG, Contemporary YA, Contemporary Young Adult, Disability, Diversity, Engaged Activism, Environment, Fantasy Grounded in Reality, Feminist, Fiction Picture Books, Found Families, Funny MG, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels (for all ages), Humor, Illustrated, Illustrated/Gift, Illustration (for all ages), Illustrator, Illustrators, Illustrators and Author/Illustrators, Immigrant Experiences, Immigrant Voices, Intersectionality, Issue-Driven, LGBTQ+, Literary MG, Literary Middle Grade, Lyrical picture book, MG, MG Action Adventure, MG Fantasy, MG Nonfiction, MG adventure, MG contemporary, MG mystery, Magical Realism, Marginalized Voices, Mental Health, Middle Grade, Middle Grade Adventure, Middle Grade Contemporary, Middle Grade Fantasy, Middle Grade Graphic Novels, Middle Grade Humor, Middle Grade Mystery, Middle grade magical realism, Minority Voices, Modern Retellings of Fairy Tales, Mothers and Daughters, Multicultural, Multigenerational, Muslim, Mysteries, Narrative Nonfiction, Nature, Neurodiversity, Nonfiction Picture Books, Novels in Verse, Outdoors, Own Voices, Picture Book, Picture book non-fiction, Relationships, SEL, STEAM, STEM, Social Emotional Learning, Social Issues, Social Justice, Sports, Strong Females, Transformative Justice, Underrepresented Voices, Verse, YA/MG graphic novel, action-packed graphic novels, award-winners!, board books, chapter books, character-focused fiction, character-focused stories, children's diversity, children's graphic novels, commercial middle grade, contemporary MG, contemporary middle grade, craft, diverse, diverse and own voices, diverse heroines, diverse voices, faith-based stories, family stories, fiction and non-fiction picture books, found family, friendship, friendship stories, immigration, invisible disability, mental illness, middle grade non-fiction, migration, music, mystery, narrative non-fiction, picture books, queer, quirky, read-alouds, sequential art, sports stories, thoughtful graphic novels, visible disability, whimsical
I’d like the next…
What Can a Mess Make? by Bee Johnson
The Boy and the Elephant by Freya Blackwood
Cookie Time by Jessie Sima
A Pinecone! by Helen Yoon
Mr. S by Monica Arnaldo
Unsettled by Reem Faruqi
Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson
My favorites include…
Books:
- I Wish You Knew by Jackie Azua Kramer, illus. by Magdalena Mora
- Ten Ways to Hear the Snow by Cathy Camper, illus. by Kenard Pak
- I Sang You Down from the Stars by Tasha Spillett-Sumner, illus. by Michaela Goade
- In a Jar, written and illus. by Deborah Marcero
- The Box Turtle, written and illus. by Vanessa Roeder
- A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass
- The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang
- We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
- Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
- A Study in Charlotte series by Brittany Cavallaro
- Feed by M.T. Anderson
TV Shows:
- Making It
- Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist
- Queer Eye
- The Good Place
- Younger
- The Great British Baking Show
- Parks & Rec
- Veronica Mars
- West Wing
- Friday Night Lights
