Kristin Ostby
The Greenhouse Literary Agency
My Manuscript Wish List®
About me: Prior to becoming a literary agent, I moved from Michigan to New York to begin my life in publishing at Penguin Random House and rose to become a senior editor at Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. I have had the joy of editing children’s book legend Tomie dePaola; New York Times bestselling authors like Stuart Gibbs (Spy School) and US soccer star Alex Morgan (The Kicks); and award-winning creators including Daniel Miyares (Float), Robin Stevens (Murder Is Bad Manners), Jessica Lawson (Nooks & Crannies), and Heather Vogel Frederick (The Mother-Daughter Book Club). I also edited bestselling I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark by Debbie Levy and Elizabeth Baddeley. I love guiding authors and illustrators toward their best work and advocating for them in service of building successful, sustainable artistic careers. I live in Brooklyn, New York.
Top of my wish list:
- Upmarket commercial adult fiction with a literary sensibility in the categories of:
- comedy (Where’d You Go, Bernadette, Prep, Heartburn)
- mystery (Girl Waits with Gun, Thursday Murder Club, A Most Agreeable Murder)
- romance (Normal People, Americanah, The Night Circus)
- historical fiction (Year of Wonders, Homegoing, Atonement)
- YA and middle grade mystery, including contemporary mystery, mystery-comedy, whodunits, cozy mystery, paranormal or supernatural mysteries, historical mysteries, and thrillers
- Hooky, feel-good young YA and middle grade with light fantasy elements like Freaky Friday, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, or escapist fare like The Princess Diaries
In YA, I am also looking for:
- Romance with a speculative element or an unusual form/structure/timeline
- Insecure for teens, i.e., frank, funny contemporary stories about romance and friendship
- Historical romance from a BIPOC perspective
- YA of all genres with distinct settings outside of school—for example, stories that take place on vacation or in summertime, or a road trip or workplace story
In MG, I would also like:
- friendship stories a la Lisa Greenwald, Sarah Weeks, and Wendy Mass
- funny coming-of-age contemporary graphic novelists
***Please note that if your manuscript is over 95K words, it is probably not for me***
I always love:
- humor
- rich ensemble casts
- coming-of-age stories
- fish-out-of-water stories
- friendship stories
- subplots built around nuanced family dynamics, particularly parent-child or sibling relationships
- MG with an accessible, classic literary sensibility like When You Reach Me
- books with descriptions of elaborate feasts
I am also seeking illustrators who write picture books to my client list.
I am NOT accepting picture book manuscripts, graphic novel scripts, issue books, or nonfiction at this time. Greenhouse does not represent poetry collections, short story collections, screenplays, erotica, or titles for the Christian/inspirational market.
Fun facts about me:
- I have two adorable daughters, ages seven and four
- I used to ski race and still love to ski recreationally
- I was a reporter for my college newspaper
- I have an adopted twelve-year-old spaniel mix named after the lead singer of Vampire Weekend
- I❤️NY
Vital Info
I’d like the next…
YA:
- The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynne Barnes
- The Diviners by Libba Bray
- I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston
- Pretty Dead Queens by Alexa Donne
- Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angelina Boulley
- Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
- The Davenports by Krystal Marquis
- Anything by Nina LaCour
MG:
- From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks
- Witchlings by Claribel Ortega
- The Swifts by Beth Lincoln
- Enola Holmes by Nancy Springer
- Spy School by Stuart Gibbs
- Redwall by Brian Jacques
Chapter Books:
- Dory Fantasmagory by Abby Hanlon
- Juana and Lucas by Juana Medina
Picture Books:
- Olivia by Ian Falconer
My favorites include…
TV:
- Bluey
- Sex Lives of College Girls
- White Lotus
- Only Murders in the Building
- What We Do in the Shadows
- Reservation Dogs
- Never Have I Ever
- Broad City
- Key and Peele
- Detroiters
- I Think You Should Leave
- Fleabag
- Daria
- Gilmore Girls
- Veronica Mars
- Anything written/created by Sharon Horgan
Movies:
- Knives Out
- Lady Bird
- The Royal Tenenbaums
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- Lost in Translation
- Almost Famous
- When Harry Met Sally
- Wall-E
Kidlit:
- Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
- Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
- When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
- Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo
- The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne Valente
- The Witches by Roald Dahl
- Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
- A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
- Hello Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall
- Gaston by Kelly diPucchio and Christian Robinson
- Flora and Flamingo by Molly Idle
- You Will Be My Friend! by Peter Brown
- The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton
Adult Novels:
- Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
- Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote
- To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
- Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple
- Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld
- Atonement by Ian McEwan
- Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
I also love a good comedy special, and last year I really enjoyed:
- Cinnamon in the Wind by Kate Berlant
- Look at You by Taylor Tomlinson
- The Twist…? She’s Gorgeous by Catherine Cohen
- Good Clean Filth by Nikki Glaser
