John Cusick

Folio Jr. / Folio Literary Management

My Manuscript Wish List®

I represent a diverse list award winners and New York Times bestsellers. My focus is middle grade and young adult novels, as well as genre fiction (sci-fi, fantasy, thriller, horror) in the YA-adult crossover space.

I’m seeking unique voices in middle-grade, young adult, and young adult/adult-crossover fiction. I want stories that move readers, moments that make me look up and say “Wow, yes. I’ve felt that.”

I want compelling page-turners that create life-long readers, stories that will inspire fandoms, characters readers will cosplay as, obsess over, and never forget. I want #ownvoices stories of all styles and genres, and am particularly interested in sci-fi, fantasy, and genre fiction from under-represented voices. I love the strange, iconoclastic, and unusual. Send me the books kids will sneak / steal / borrow in secret. Those intimate, dangerous, life-saving stories.

I love proactive protagonists, kids and teens chasing a dream or a hero who swings in with a song in her heart and a knife in her teeth.

Fun facts about me:

John is doing query and partial manuscript critiques with The Manuscript Academy. #MSWLMA

Submission Guidelines

Submissions should be emailed to John@FolioLit.com

Please email your query along with the first 2500 words of your manuscript, with the word QUERY in the subject line, to john@foliolit.com. I try to respond to all queries, however if you do not hear from me within thirty days, please consider it a pass.