Gabby Colangelo

Gabby is an editorial assistant at Ballantine Bantam Dell acquiring commercial and upmarket genre fiction. She’s always on the hunt for romance, mystery/thriller, horror, SFF crossovers, and cozies of any variety.  Before working in publishing, Gabby worked for several nonprofits bringing books to prisons, and is always excited to work with queer and system-impacted writers on both fiction and nonfiction projects.

Gabby loves a sharp voice, an unusual premise, and a grounded speculative twist. In horror, she loves a maximalist sensibility that offers a surprising look at social or cultural issues (and is not afraid of blood and guts). She is on the hunt for books that present a unique ‘promise of the premise’ (i.e. a fun cross-genre hook) and then follows through to stick a cathartic, heart-in-mouth landing. Her dream books are weird, gay, and earnestly invested in the idea that we can build a better world by caring deeply for each other.

Super-specific manifestations:

• Page-turning mysteries that complicate our idea of the “bad guy/good guy” system, where the criminal legal system is a complex player instead of a ‘solution’ or the way we solve a crime.
• Cozies!!! Especially SFF cozies, cozy horror, and cozy mysteries (and any combination of the above). I like my cozies warm-hearted, funny, and full of plot–but with a warmth and pathos of narration that make it clear that the danger isn’t the point. I am especially on the hunt for fantasy and sci-fi that is cozy in its huge-heartedness but snappy and irreverent in voice–think Sarah Beth Durst, T. Kingfisher, John Wiswell.
• Romance, especially queer romance, or romance that feels queer in its interest in relational power dynamics. My main pet peeve in romance is an ex that takes up more time on the page than the main love story. I am dying for love stories that feel grand, rich, and lived in, where we get to see two people invent their own love on the page. My white whale is an X-files style skeptic/believer romance where the aliens turn out to be real. (Bonus points if it’s sapphic.)
• Lit-RPG with genre crossover elements, especially romance and horror elements. Give me DUNGEON CRAWLER CARL but with kissing.
• Horror that takes to task a particular historical or social event/period. One of my favorite novels of all time is Mariana Enriquez’s OUR SHARE OF NIGHT, I love Chuck Tingle (CAMP DAMASCUS, LUCKY DAY), I love Gerardo Semano Cordova (MONSTRILIO), I love Rachel Harrison (BLACK SHEEP). Give me plot, give me relationships, give me maximalism. My ideal horror novels unsettle me but also make me cry. 
• Urban fantasy or fantasy that you could describe as our world, but with magic. (Or, portal fantasy with a mystery at the center like PIRANESI.) Give me a quest and the relationships we build along the way, give me anything that reads like THE RAVEN CYCLE but for an adult or new adult audience.
• Any fiction, genre or otherwise, by trans authors, but especially trans horror and trans romance. I loved Samantha Joseph’s CARRYING and Jane Schoenbrun’s PUBLIC ACCESS AFTERWORLD.

Things that are less my vibe:

• Cop/military thrillers
• Dark romance with dubious consent / nonconsent
• Second world fantasy without a secondary genre twist. For example, I LOVE Robert Jackson Bennett’s TAINTED CUP series, because the elaborate second world fantasy is grounded against a really propulsive mystery plot. I am less drawn to high fantasy or second-world fantasy that lacks this crossover element.
• Romantasy (although, I am very open to tongue-in-cheek queer romances with fantasy settings–send me the next BROMANTASY or anything comped to Freya Marske).

Submission Guidelines

I only accept agented submissions.