Ernie Chiara

Ernie Chiara is a Senior Agent at Fuse Literary, representing bestselling, award-winning, and critically-acclaimed authors. From hands-on editorial to career coaching to rights management, he believes in open communication, positive collaboration, and maintaining a long-term vision to help his clients achieve successful, sustainable writing careers.

Ernie specializes in adult & young adult fantasy, adult & young adult science fiction, speculative upmarket & literary fiction, and BIPOC mystery, thriller, and crime fiction. He is looking for character-driven stories with richly layered worldbuilding and original settings. Stories with intricate, immersive plotting and propulsive pacing. And he’d love to see more stories that blend genres in ways that might surprise him.

Feel free to check out his full MSWL at ErnieChiara.com/MSWL and his client list at ErnieChiara.com/Clients.

“In every genre I represent, there are some common threads that tie together what I’m looking for. Strong writing with a distinct voice is a must for me. That’s sometimes hard to pin down, but when I see it, it jumps off the page and makes me want to keep reading. I also look for complex, multi-dimensional characters who feel real to me—I want to care deeply about what happens to them. I look for immersive, deeply woven, extraordinarily original stories with propulsive plots and richly layered worldbuilding, and I tend to gravitate toward stories that blend genres in ways I may not have seen before.”

I’d love to see more projects by writers from Black, Indigenous, Latine/x, Asian, AAPI, SWANA, and African communities and their far-reaching diasporas, as well as the LGBTQIA+, trans and nonbinary, and disabled and neurodiverse communities.”

Adult & YA Fantasy:

I enjoy all types of fantasy—whether it’s a thought provoking contemporary story with a high-concept magical hook and a keen sense of wonder, an historical fantasy with a fresh twist and prose that leans toward literary, a retelling with a unique take on a concept that hasn’t been overdone, or an epic fantasy with immersive worldbuilding and a unique cultural perspective. I prefer stories with an underpinning of social upheaval, an anti-colonialist or anti-patriarchal message, with protagonists that are harbingers of change whose stories shed light on the greater forces at work. I’d love to see unique worldbuilding with characters and settings based on cultures and histories that are traditionally underrepresented in the genre.

Adult & YA Sci-Fi:

In sci-fi, I love everything from contemporary speculative to cli-fi and eco-fiction to silkpunk and solarpunk, to science fantasy to africanfuturism to space opera. I gravitate towards ambitious stories with a voice that jumps off the page—stories that push the envelope with a strong character focus, creative structures, and fresh concepts that make me sit up and take notice. I enjoy well-told, genre-blurring stories with a strong cultural lens that ask hard questions about sociopolitical change, about power imbalances and privilege, and about the impact of ideas and technologies on society. I’m drawn to unconventional upmarket voices and love to see diverse perspectives and unique takes on established tropes.

Adult Literary & Upmarket Speculative

I’m very selective in literary and upmarket fiction. I’m looking for diverse, inclusive adult literary with stunning prose and a touch of the inexplicable, upmarket/literary speculative fiction, upmarket/literary contemporary fantasy, and authentic magical realism with roots in the Latine/x and post-colonial tradition. Bonus points for stories rooted in multi-generational secrets or those that explore folklores or cultural mythologies.

Adult BIPOC Mystery/Crime/Thriller

I’m very selective in the Crime fiction space as well. For now, I’m seeking only BIPOC voices in Mystery, Thrillers, and Crime fiction.

Submission Guidelines

To query Ernie, please submit your query letter and the first twenty pages of your completed manuscript through the online form at QueryManager.com/ErnieChiara.

Guidelines & Details