Katelyn Uplinger

Katelyn has a degree in history. She got her start in publishing as a freelance editor who worked with a large range of publishing houses including Big 5 imprints. She edited everything from romance and fantasy to graphic novels. After realizing she wanted to do more to help authors she expanded her skills to literary agencies where she fell in love with agenting and eventually joined D4EO.

While Katelyn represents a variety of genres in young adult and adult, she does not want cop procedurals, FBI or CIA detectives, stories about politics or terrorists, and military or literary fiction. In historical she is not a good match for WWI, WWII stories and anything post 1920s.

Katelyn is looking for:

Fantasy: I want something fresh with intimate personal stakes. I would love some fantasy set in Eastern Europe or Asia or other places with riveting history and myths that haven’t often been covered. I love folklore but I like seeing new twists on it. I’m always craving historical fantasy. Humorous fantasy is always great as well.

Science Fiction: I love books that revolve around the human element. I love space mystery, horror, and survival. I enjoy books about the early days of colonizing a new planet or even crashing onto a new planet. I’m not a Star Wars fan, but I love Star Trek (huge Next Generation fan) and I think that sums up my tastes pretty well.

Romance: In historical romance I’d like something that has a touch of mystery, fantasy, or some other element to it. I’m also a big fan of Christmas themed romances, especially historical ones. I would love some romcoms that can make me laugh out loud. I like contemporary romance that stands out from the pack with unique elements. I would like to see some fantasy or science fiction romance.

Historical: I want historical that heavily crosses with other genres including mystery, horror, and fantasy. I’m always up for historical romance too. I tend to gravitate toward plotty, pacy historical compared to the literary, character driven side. I would love historical survival stories. Takes on lesser known tragedies or events instead of already popular ones like the Titanic. I’m dying to find a creepy historical horror.

Contemporary/Mystery/Thriller/Horror: Outside of some of the romance mentioned above, I’ve been reading a lot of young adult contemporary mysteries and thrillers lately and would love to add some to my client list. I also want realistic survival stories, but not dystopians. I don’t generally gravitate toward your usual murder mysteries and instead prefer books that carry more weight than simply solving a crime, think This is Our Story by Ashley Elston and One Was Lost by Natalie Richards. I like high stakes. I’m also looking for Black Mirror type stories that have unique takes on how we interact with technology.

Non-Fiction: When it comes to non-fiction I tend to gravitate toward accessible non-fiction that is easy to absorb even for newcomers to the topic. I enjoy reading books about history from little-known events and people to weird history. I enjoy reading about women in history and their experiences. I also enjoy science about space travel and colonization, the future, and similar topics. I like takes on pop culture or other unique experiences.

Submission Guidelines

I take submissions via Query Manager only. Please include your query and the first three chapters.

Guidelines & Details