Kate McKean
Howard Morhaim Literary Agency
My Manuscript Wish List®
In all genres, I’m looking for authors from under-represented groups.
In general, I represent authors writing for children in the areas of horror, romance, LGBTQ issues, contemporary fiction, magical realism, fantasy, and science fiction. In non-fiction, for adults or children/teens, I represent books by authors with demonstrable platforms in the areas of pop-culture, memoir, sports, food writing, humor, design, creativity, and craft.
For adults I am primarily interested in contemporary romance, contemporary women’s fiction, literary fiction, historical fiction set in the 20th Century, fantasy, magical realism, science fiction. I love books about space.
I DO NOT represent thrillers or mysteries for adults, poetry, or screenplays. I do not gravitate to stories that feature dragons, angels/demons, cops, lawyers, FBI agents, or amateur sleuths. If the plot of your novel features AI as a malevolent or benevolent force, or any force at all, I am not interested in it.
I don’t like farce or satire in fiction. Give me sincerity over sarcasm.
I am hungry for:
Non-fiction for kids. Please send me your biography, history, science, technology, creativity, memoir, or narrative non-fiction for middle grade or YA readers. Please, no gross-out middle grade (i.e. The Best Farts in History, or the like).
Graphic Novels: Anything and everything, all ages, adult and children’s
Middle grade of all stripes, except wacky, zany, gross out middle grade. If you’re writing the MG version of Rick & Morty or Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy I DO NOT want it.
Adult contemporary fiction with a strong plot and hook. I prefer a story where the main characters have agency and take an active role in the story, rather than have the story happen to them.
Check out my newsletter at agentsandbooks.com to learn more about me and my tastes–and publishing, too!
Fun facts about me:
I am the author of WRITE THROUGH IT: An Insider’s Guide to Publishing and the Creative Life (Simon Element, 2025) and a picture book due out by Sourcebooks in 2026. I even have my own literary agent (Michael Bourret) so I know how hard this whole querying thing is!
Contrary to popular misconception, I’m not from Mississippi. I just went to school there for 18 months. I’m from Florida-ish. (We moved around a lot as a kid.)
Star Trek: TNG is my comfort watch.
Submission Guidelines
Submissions should be emailed to https://QueryManager.com/katemckean
Please submit your query via Query Manager at https://QueryManager.com/katemckean.
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
Vital Info
Favorite sub-genres:
1800s+ historical, AAPI Fantasy, AAPI Horror, AAPI Sci-Fi, Accessible Literary Fiction, Adult, Adult Horror, Adult Rom Com, Adult Romantasy, Adult SFF, African Fantasy, African Sci-Fi, Africanfuturism, Asian American Literature, Asian Diaspora, Asian Fantasy, Asian Horror, Asian Sci-Fi, Author-Illustrator, Author-Illustrators, BIPOC, BIPOC Fantasy, BIPOC Horror, BIPOC Sci-Fi, Book Club, Books about books, Character -Driven History, Character-driven SciFi, Children's Nonfiction, Children's and Young Adult Fiction and Nonfiction, Clever picture book, Commercial MG, Commercial Women's Fiction, Commercial YA, Commercial adult fiction, Commercial and Literary, Contemporary Fantasy, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary YA, Contemporary Young Adult, Cozy Fantasy, Dark Female Friendships, Diaspora Narratives, Disability, Diverse Protagonists, Diversity, Domestic Fiction, East Asian Literature, Fantasy, Fantasy Grounded in Reality, Fantasy Romance, Fantasy YA, Female Friendships, Feminism, Feminist Horror, Feminist SF/F, Fiction Picture Books, Gothic Fantasy, Gothic Horror, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels (for all ages), Grounded fantasy, Hauntings, Historical Fantasy, Historical Fantasy; Fantasy Grounded In Reality, Historical Fiction, Historical RomCom, Historical Women's Fiction, Illustrators, Illustrators and Author/Illustrators, Immigrant Voices, Indigenous Futurism, LGBT YA, LGBTQ Contemporary, LGBTQ Romance, LGBTQ+, LGBTQ+ Fantasy, LGBTQ+ Sci-Fi, LGBTQ+ rom coms, LGBTQIA, LGBTQIAP, Latinx Fantasy, Latinx Horror, Latinx Sci-Fi, Literary Crossover, Literary Fantasy, Literary Fiction, Literary Horror, Literary Science Fiction, Literary YA, MG, MG Fantasy, MG Horror, MG contemporary, MG mystery, MG/YA, Magical Realism, Marginalized Voices, Middle Grade, Middle Grade Contemporary, Middle Grade Fantasy, Middle Grade Graphic Novels, Middle Grade Horror, Middle Grade Mystery, Middle grade magical realism, Mothers and Daughters, Multicultural Romance, Narrative, Narrative Nonfiction, Nonfiction Picture Books, POC, Paranormal Horror, Paranormal Romance, Picture Book, Picture book non-fiction, Pop Culture, Regency Romance, Rom-com, Romance, Romantic Drama, Same-Sex Romance, SciFi Romance, Science Fiction YA, South East Asian Literature, Southern Fiction, Southern Gothic, Southern Literary, Space Opera, Speculative, Speculative Fiction, Speculative Middle Grade, Sports, Steamy RomComs, Upmarket Commercial Fiction, Upmarket Fiction, Upmarket Women's Fiction, Upmarket YA, Women's Fiction, YA Contemporary, YA Contemporary Romance, YA Fantasy, YA Historical Fantasy, YA Rom-Coms, YA Romance, YA Romantasy, YA SF/F, YA Sci-fi, YA Science Fiction, YA fantasy/light sci-fi, YA horror, YA/MG graphic novel, Young Adult, afrofuturism, aliens, book club fiction, children's diversity, children's graphic novels, commercial middle grade, commerical women's fiction, contemporary, contemporary MG, contemporary middle grade, contemporary women's fiction, craft, dark academia, dark fantasy, diverse, diverse heroines, diverse voices, fantasy of manners, fiction and non-fiction picture books, fun SF/F, generation ships, gothic romance, historical, historical romance, horror, indigenous futurisms, light Sci-Fi, light fantasy, literary, middle grade non-fiction, narrative non-fiction, non-Western fantasy, non-Western historical fiction, non-western settings, novella, picture books, queer, queer horror, queer narratives, rom-coms, romantasy, romantic fantasy, sci-fi, science fantasy, science fiction, science fiction horror, southern, space adventure, space horror, stories that don't fit neatly into a genre, thoughtful graphic novels, upmarket genre fiction, upmarket/book club with female protagonist, visible disability, weird fiction
I’d like the next…
TOMORROW AND TOMORROW AND TOMORROW by Gabrielle Zevin
MUTUAL INTEREST by Olivia Wolfgang-Smith
GIDEON THE NINTH by Tamsyn Muir
THE CALCULATING STARS by Mary Robinette Kowal
LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY by Bonnie Garmus
My favorites include…
Feed, by M.T. Anderson
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, by E. Lockhart
The Women, by Mary McCarthy
The Best of Everything, by Rona Jaffe
The Mothers, by Brit Bennett
The Age of Light by Whitney Scharer
Seek You, by Kristen Radtke
Movies/TV:
Good Will Hunting
Contact
Steel Magnolia
Apollo 13
Star Trek: TNG
Twin Peaks
Mad Men
