Claire Elliot
FinePrint Literary Management
My Manuscript Wish List®
Claire Elliot is a Junior Agent at FinePrint. She also works as an assistant under Lauren Bieker and Peter Rubie. Before coming to FinePrint in 2024, Claire was an intern at Folio Literary Management.
// I intend to open to queries on JUNE 29th, 2026 and will remain open for 2 weeks, closing JULY 10th.
At that time, I will be particularly looking for:
- non-fiction. Looking for field specialists writing pop science books or strange histories. (no memoir or manifesto).
- paranormal romance with meat. Romance yes, but also with major political intrigue/layered family drama/a murder or mystery or heist, etc. Think a paranormal romance hyphenated with another genre. Something fun but also intense.
- historical novels from unexpected times/about unexpected people. I am particularly interested in stories that are well set in a time and place, but aren’t so married to real events that the narrative suffers. This kind of story telling is much easier to do with (for instance) a made-up beer brewer who gets himself into trouble than with Famous Prince™. So for this reason, I’m also particularly keen for historical novels featuring regular people, where the reader gets to play around in that world. I’m also very open to historical novels with a touch (or more) of speculative elements/magic. Additionally, I am open to historical magical-realism/Fabuloso/alter-realism, which takes for granted alternate versions of reality perhaps in-tune with the time/place of the book’s setting. Eg: a book set in a 15th century Chinese monastery, that has ghosts and bodhisattvas running around.Hard nos: English nobility, WW1 fiction, or WW2 fiction.
See my full MSWL and what other genres I represent below:
In Fiction, Claire reads YA, NA, and Adult, and is interested in fantasy, historical, thriller, and mystery. She loves a romantic or political subplot (even if the subplot is very small), and an immersive and messed up setting. Claire is interested in characters who were not born heroes, but choose to be, and in stories that have symbolic resonance. Claire is especially interested in fantasy set in non-western inspired worlds (especially Southeast Asia) and in historical fiction set in these areas as well, about real or made-up figures. (I am dreaming of seeing a novel about Anagarika Dharmapala, Mary Foster, and Maria Banta “The Countess”).
In Non-Fiction, Claire is interested in Pop-science books that use data to tell clear stories (if you would comp your book to Emily Negoski, I want to see it!) Claire is also interested in narrative non-fiction that walks the line between long-form journalism and ethnography; she’s looking for the next Still Life With Bones, Friday Night Lights, or The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down. Finally, Claire is looking for new and unexpected histories that are timeless, but touch on present-ist issues, (Eg: A global history of student protest movements and activism; a medical and social history of STIs (STDs); a book on religious pluralism and inter-religious cooperation.) Yes, let’s talk about your dissertation-to-book project.
While Claire is interested in books that touch on the topics of religion and politics, she is not in theology or manifestos.
Things Claire would like to see
- Books that center friendships/friendships falling apart
- Books with character-like settings
- Books with new/lesser known monsters
- Close POV (Even if it’s multi POV, I like to be in the character’s brain as I read.)
- Girls with the *audacity* and all the (misplaced?) confidence. (eg: Celaena Sardothien).
Things Claire is not taking at the moment:
- Memoir
- Trauma stories
- Romantasy that is romance-first (eg: Kingdom of the Wicked.).
- Christian fiction/romance
- Military Fiction
You can follow Claire on Instagram and Threads at @all.things.elliot
When Claire is open to queries, you can query her at https://QueryTracker.net/query/ClaireElliot
Submission Guidelines
My query manager form asks for,
- A query letter
- A one-sentence pitch
- and 20 pages, copy and pasted, or for non-fiction, a book proposal copy and pasted.
It can be written in any order, but be sure that your Query Letter contains:
- metadata (title, word count, genres)
- a blurb;
- comps;
- a bio (particularly important for non-fiction);
- a list of your social media if relevant.
For your One-Sentence-Pitch, do NOT describe the book’s themes, give editorial comments, or list comps or tropes here. Tell me about the manifest contents of the book.
- DO NOT “An allegorical novel about the damage of capitalist structures and criminal voyerisom.”
- DO “In a dystopian future where a boy and girl from each province are forced by the government to fight to the death on live television, a teen named Katniss volunteers to save her sister and, in struggling to save herself and the boy from her province who she might be falling in love with, becomes the face of a revolution.”
- DO NOT “Game of Thrones meets Cinderella with a dash of magic in this steamy Romantasy novel that will take your breath away and knock your socks off!”
- DO “Arrogant assassin Celaena Sardothien agrees to participate in a deadly competition for a chance to escape her life-sentence in prison, but soon finds her path entangled with a beautiful prince, a mysterious captain of the guard, and a cryptic ghost; there’s more here than a test of her skills, and she’ll have to manage magic, prophecy, and dangerous alliances in her fight for freedom and revenge.”
- DO NOT “This is a book that teaches readers about human atrocities, and human resilience and strength in the face of oppression. This book will change how readers think about the world and inspire them to take action in their local communities.”
- DO “A history of the United States told from the perspective of indigenous people; a history of settler colonialism based on the ideology of white supremacy, the widespread practice of African slavery, and a policy of genocide and land theft.”
Include approximately 20 pages of your manuscript– you can include a bit more to round out a chapter. And if your book starts with a long prologue, you might decide to include pages starting at Ch 1 instead, if you think it’s a better representation of the book’s hook etc. In which case, (maybe you don’t want/need a prologue anyway?) make a note at the top of your pages that you’ve skipped a prologue.
Vital Info
Favorite sub-genres:
#ownvoices, AAPI Fantasy, Action-Adventure, Activism, Adult, Adult Rom Com, Adult Romantasy, Adventure, African Fantasy, Amateur Sleuth Mysteries, Art history, Asian American Literature, Asian Fantasy, BIPOC, BIPOC Fantasy, BIPOC Mystery, Character -Driven History, Chick Lit, Classic retellings with BIPOC characters, Commercial YA, Commercial adult fiction, Contemporary Fantasy, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary YA, Contemporary Young Adult, Cozy Fantasy, Cozy Mystery, Cozy mysteries, Crime & Thriller, Crime Fiction, East Asian Literature, Economics, Educational, Ensemble Casts, Epic Fantasy, Fairytale Retellings, Family Drama, Fantasy, Fantasy Romance, Fantasy YA, Female Friendships, Geek Culture, Health and Wellness, Health and healing, High Concept, High Fantasy, High-concept YA, Historical Fantasy, Historical Fantasy; Fantasy Grounded In Reality, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction YA, Historical RomCom, Historical Women's Fiction, Historical mysteries, History, Investigative Journalism, LGBT YA, LGBTQ Contemporary, LGBTQ Romance, LGBTQ+, LGBTQ+ Fantasy, LGBTQ+ Sci-Fi, LGBTQ+ rom coms, Low Fantasy, Minority Voices, Modern Retellings of Fairy Tales, Modernized Mythologies, Monsters, Muslim, Mysteries, Mystery / Crime, Mythology, New Adult, Political Thriller, Politics/Current Affairs, Pop Culture, Pop History, Pop Psychology, Pop Science, Popular Science/Psychology, Regency Romance, Relic/Artifact Action/Adventure, Retellings, Rom-com, RomCom, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Romantic Drama, Romantic Thriller, Same-Sex Romance, Social Justice, Social Sciences, Soft Fantasy, South Asian, South East Asian Literature, Speculative, Speculative Fiction, Strong Females, Thriller, Thrillers, True Crime, YA, YA Contemporary, YA Contemporary Romance, YA Contemporary Romance with layers, YA Crossover, YA Fantasy, YA Historical Fantasy, YA Rom-Coms, YA RomCom, YA Romance, YA Romantasy, YA Thrillers, YA fantasy/light sci-fi, YA rom com, YA thriller/mystery, Young Adult, animal fantasy, character-focused fiction, classic retellings, comedy, contemporary women's fiction, court intrigue, crime, crossover adult, crossover appeal, dark academia, health and fitness, high concept fiction, historical, historical mystery, historical romance, just one bed, just... all the tropes, light fantasy, love stories, non-Western fantasy, non-Western historical fiction, non-western settings, psychology, queer, rom-coms, romantacy, romantasy, romantic New Adult, romantic fantasy, romantic suspense/mystery, spy, traditional fantasy, traditional mysteries, who did this to you, witchcraft, witches
I’d like the next…
Fiction:
The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner
The Ruin of Kings, by Jenn Lyons
The City of Brass, by S. A. Chakraborty
Boudica, by Miranda Scott
The Winner’s Curse, by Marie Rutkoski
A Bachelor Establishment, by Jodi Taylor
Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon (with or without the ‘portal’ part).
Priestess of the White, by Trudi Canavan
Non-Fiction:
Friday Nigh Lights, by H. G. Bissinger
Still Life with Bones, by Alexa Hagerty
The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman
An Indigenous People’s History of the U.S., by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Come As You Are, by Emily Negoski
Burnout, by Emily and + Amelia Negoski
Rest, by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang
My favorites include…
Westworld
Supernatural
Vampire Diaries + True Blood
Bones
Criminal Minds
JoJo Rabbit
Hot Frosty
Indiana Jones
