Emily S. Keyes
Keyes Agency
My Manuscript Wish List®
Emily S. Keyes is the owner and founder of Keyes Agency, LLC and formerly was an agent at Fuse Literary.
She has represented many award-winning titles mainly (but not exclusively) in the realm of children’s literature. She loves finding and nurturing new talent, as well as reading and representing projects that will get readers excited to go to the bookstore. Emily is actively searching for all kinds of children’s literature, as well as select adult projects in genre fiction—so long as it’s not “serious” literature. She is searching for authors and illustrators who will be her coworker for a long career.
Previously she worked at the L. Perkins Agency as a contracts manager and associate agent. Before that, she was a Contracts Administrator at Simon & Schuster for five years. In 2008, she graduated from New York University’s Center for Publishing. Emily lives in Brooklyn but she can usually be found spending too much time on the internet.
Submission Guidelines
Please see my QueryManager page.
Vital Info
I’d like the next…
In young adult, I would love more books about family relationships (complicated sibling relationships, dealing with parents) in contemporary YA, with a particular interest in mental illness or non-neurotypical characters. I have a lot of serious and sad stories so I’d love to see some smart, humorous voices as well. I am still really looking for a fun, fresh non-western fantasy (maybe a desert or a jungle, come on, guys!), but fantasy has become more difficult in YA these days.
In middle grade, I am always looking for more middle grade. I tend to be drawn more towards contemporary, magical realism, and horror than towards full fantasy or portal fantasy, but I will always take a look. I always want STEAM and sports for girls. I love stories about friendship breakups. I also would really like a survival story, particularly one about a girl, like “Hatchet.”
I would also really like to see more non-fiction stories in both middle grade and young adult with fresh voices and unique topics.
See more details at my tumblr here.
My favorites include…
Some recent fave books (that aren’t mine):
Young Adult
“Sorcery of Thorns” by Margaret Rogerson
“Cemetery Boys” by Aidan Thomas
“This Is My America” by Kim Johnson
“Loveboat Taipei” by Abigail Hing Wen
Middle Grade
“Efren Divided” by Ernesto Cisneros
The “Love Sugar Magic” series by Anna Meriano
The “Track” series by Jason Reynolds
Adult
“Red, White and Royal Blue” by Casey McQuiston
“The Once and Future Witches” by Alix E. Harrow
“Spinning Silver” by Naomi Novik
