Esty Loveing-Downes

Esty Loveing-Downes holds a BFA in creative writing from Ringling College of Art + Design and an MFA in fiction from Queens University of Charlotte. Aside from serving as creative writing adjunct faculty at her alma mater, she was first mentored by the teams at Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency, Inc. and Tobias Literary Agency before joining the ArtHouse Literary Agency team and becoming an Associate Literary Agent.

Esty is looking for YA/NA/adult romance, grounded fantasy, other YA narratives, upmarket fiction, and literary fiction. She’s seeking manuscripts which center the adoptee experience, LGBTQIA+ narratives, anti-colonialist and anti-Church topics, and stories by and/or about BIPOC authors. She favors stories which either celebrate with noisy joy, or burn everything down and salt the earth.

In YA and adult romance, Esty is looking for grounded fantasy like DIVINE RIVALS or EMILY WILDE’S ENCYCOLPAEDIA OF FAERIES, strong leads like CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE, fae stories with romance tropes like THE CRUEL PRINCE, cozy magic like THE EX-HEX, compelling, tropey, and readable books like FUNNY STORY, character-driven journeys like THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE, or the fairy tale vibes of SPINNING SILVER.

In upmarket, Esty is looking for titles featuring women like LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY, updated classics like Ann Napolitano’s Little Women retelling, HELLO, BEAUTIFUL, and wlw knockouts with queer representation like THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO. She’s also looking for speculative fiction like THE NIGHT CIRCUS or magical realism like Carmen Maria Machado’s HER BODY AND OTHER PARTIES.

Esty would also like to see literary fiction with artful realism like THE RABBIT HUTCH and TOMORROW AND TOMORROW AND TOMORROW, the yearning of NORMAL PEOPLE, characters challenging society like OUR MISSING HEARTS, or books like THE INCENDIARIES, LUSTER, OUTLAWED, and SEVERANCE that examine marginalized characters, injustice, or religion. Characters examining systems of oppression through twisty plots in books like THE NICKEL BOYS, SALVAGE THE BONES, and INTERIOR CHINATOWN are welcome, and mythological retellings like Madeline Miller’s CIRCE, especially those set outside of Europe. This is a home for fresh retellings, fairy tales, and artful, rebellious prose. For a better look at the kind of titles Esty gravitates towards, scroll her Pinterest board here.

What She Doesn’t Want: high fantasy, strict sci-fi. horror, thrillers, mystery, erotica, police/legal procedurals, mysteries, anything ageist/ableist/racist/misogynistic, or anything where queer people die in the end.

Submission Guidelines

Submissions should be emailed to https://querymanager.com/query/ArtHouseLitSubmissions

Please submit all queries to us at https://QueryManager.com/ArtHouseLitSubmissions  

1. BOOK PITCH/SYNOPSIS – a quick overview, not a full play-by-play of the book’s plot.

2. AUTHOR BIO – with info about your platform and media reach (for nonfiction) and info about your relevant writing background (for fiction).

3. A TEASER – the first 3 chapters of your book in the body of the email. Attachments will not be opened.

FICTION:
Your manuscript must be complete before submitting, unless you’re an established, traditionally published author.

NON-FICTION:
Send in a submission once you have a complete book proposal and sample chapter. In your bio, make sure you tell me why you’re the best person to write this book.

Queries can be submitted through Query Manager only. After you submit your query through Query Manager, you will receive an automated response from us – that’s how you’ll know we’ve received your submission. If ArtHouse is interested in your project, the team will try to contact you within 60 days, requesting a partial or full manuscript, or full proposal. While we try to respond to all queries, there are times when our current workloads won’t allow for this.

Please note: You should not email our personal agency addresses for manuscript and proposal submissions. Unfortunately, we will have to block all email addresses that do not adhere to this.

Guidelines & Details