Larissa Melo Pienkowski

Since joining Jill Grinberg Literary Management in 2020, I’ve been lucky enough to work with a brilliant group of authors, representing both children’s and adult fiction and nonfiction. As a queer, mixed-race, neurodivergent Latina who grew up hungry for stories that mirrored my own and those around me, I’m focused on championing BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, disabled, neurodivergent, international, and other historically excluded authors across genre. I believe books are a critical tool in the fight for justice and liberation, and I’m passionate about bringing books into the world that challenge the status quo and make people feel seen.

It might be hard to believe given the length, but the list below is not exhaustive! I’m always excited to fall in love with something new and unexpected, so if you have a project that falls outside of these parameters but you think we could be a good fit, please feel free to query me. 🙂

Adult Fiction

I love character-driven adult genre fiction, genre subversion, and what some editors have called “literary plus,” meaning fiction that pays particular attention to line-level writing but is driven by genre elements. Across the board, I’m most compelled by an original, well-developed voice; nuanced characters whose propulsive, clearly defined desires and motivations bring them to life; and most importantly, books that make me feel.

Specific tastes:

• Friendship, chosen family, and unconventional love stories that trace the evolution of relationship dynamics over the course of decades (Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, The Ensemble by Aja Gabel)

• • I’d love to see a book like this set in South and Central America, Brazil in particular (The Air You Breathe by Frances de Pontes Peebles, Cantoras by Caro de Robertis)

• Fresh, compelling twists on heists, cons, and scams with high personal stakes and a unique premise (Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li)
• Thrillers centered around underrepresented spies, assassins, and other clandestine characters, where the tone is wry and the plot is fun and fast-paced enough that I’m excited but not terrified to turn the page (Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn, Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide by Rupert Holmes)
• Cozy murder mysteries, capers, and romps (Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto, the Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman)
• Queer BIPOC reframings of “classics” (The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo)
• BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ protagonists reckoning with entry into primarily white, cis, heterosexual spaces, especially art spaces (Babel, or the Necessity of Violence by R.F. Kuang, Your Love Is Not Good by Johanna Hedva, Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou)
• Eerie horror that puts a close lens on a real-life societal ill and will give me goosebumps but not nightmares (The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalia Harris)
• Non-Western, BIPOC-led grounded fantasy, which for me means fantasy primarily set in our world, perhaps with magical systems tied to non-Western cultures and folklore (Babel, or the Necessity of Violence by R.F. Kuang, Bitter Medicine by Mia Tsai, Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki)
• Feminist, anticolonial pursuits of revenge, justice, and power (She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan, She Would Be King by Wayétu Moore, You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrique)
• Original, high-heat contemporary and historical romance and rom-coms where the chemistry is undeniable, the overarching plot is as important as the romance, and you could cut the tension with a knife (Honey & Spice by Bolu Babalola)

• • More fat protagonists finding love and happiness, please!!

• Coming-of-age stories for people in their twenties and thirties (Yerba Buena by Nina LaCour, Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers)
• Historical fiction with genre elements—think fantasy, Gothic, romance, mystery, etc.—and underexplored identities, experiences, and themes (Weyward by Emilia Hart, A Botanist’s Guide to Parties and Poisons by Kate Khavari)

• • I’d especially like to see more historical fiction set in recent decades that centers around underrepresented communities (The Prettiest Star by Carter Sickels, and again, Cantoras by Caro de Robertis)

• Books about books, no matter the genre (The Last Heir to Blackwood Library by Hester Fox, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin, The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks)

Adult Nonfiction

I gravitate to nonfiction with many of the same qualities as above, with a focus on voicey, engaging cultural commentary/criticism and reflections on justice, power, art, culture, beauty, the body politic, and society at large. I also love well-researched microhistories written by authors with authority on the subject—the more niche the better!

Specific tastes:

• Narrative nonfiction that blends memoir with beautifully crafted investigative journalism (How Far the Light Reaches by Sabrina Imbler, Sexographies by Gabriela Wiener, Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong, The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio)
• Microhistories that make poignant, meaningful connections between niche subjects and humanity—if it can be described as “a love letter to __” or be comped to an Ologies podcast episode, I want to read it (Why We Swim by Bonnie Tsui, Consider the Fork by Bee Wilson, The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson)

• • I’m always on the lookout for microhistories having to do with beauty, fragrance, poison, psychedelics/plant medicine, sex and the erotic, murder, heists/cons/scams/thefts, and topics that might be seen as taboo but have broader connections to humanity at large

• Essay collections that chronicle contemporary life through the lens of pop culture, justice, decolonization, and liberation, in the vein of Hanif Abdurraqib and Rebecca Solnit
• Multicultural cookbooks written by authors with a platform that center authentic recipes from underrepresented cuisines and/or fusions between cultures, as long as the author can speak intimately to the ways these cultures fuse together

• • A comprehensive Brazilian cookbook that explores recipes by region is high on my list, in the spirit of Mexico: The Beautiful Cookbook by Susanna Palazuelos

Middle-Grade and YA Fiction

While I’m taking on middle-grade and YA fiction extra selectively at the moment, I will absolutely keep reading if the characters’ voices jump off the page so vividly that I forget an adult wrote the book.

I’m open to middle-grade fiction across genre, especially if there’s a mysterious adventure with a ragtag group of friends at its core (The Mysterious Benedict Society, Ruby Finley vs. the Interstellar Invasion), or if it handles heavier topics in a moving way (The Line Tender, Too Bright to See). I want to see more marginalized kids experiencing joy, though I won’t shy away from original storylines centered around identity. I laugh and cry very easily, and the best middle-grade books make me do both. 🙂

In YA, I’m interested in similar elements, characters, and themes as above, but my tastes can also skew a little darker. I’m always on the lookout for queer, feminist, and anticolonial revenge/coming of rage/”good for her/them” books; original twists on dark academia; “unlikeable” protagonists; high-stakes heists, cons, and scams; LGBTQIA+ protagonists in historical YA; and enchanting non-Western folklore with texture and depth. I usually prefer the stakes to be high, but if the voice, characters, plot, and emotional depth are immersive enough, I’m open to “quieter” stories as well.

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Across the board, I am NOT a good fit for:

• stories centered around a specific identity written by authors who don’t share that identity
• apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic, technological sci-fi, or dystopian novels (unless it embraces hope in the way of A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers)
• true crime, short stories/novellas, comedy/humor, chapter books, Christian or “clean” romance, steampunk, Tolkien-esque high fantasy, or novels-in-verse
• extraterrestrials, elves, robots, fae, dragons, werewolves, zombies, or unicorns (though I do love ghosts, mermaids, bruxas, non-Western mythological creatures, and feminist interpretations of monsters)
• books with a 110K+ word count
• stories that include animal cruelty or gratuitous, visceral descriptions of hate crimes, sexual assault, or domestic violence
• pro-military, pro-police, or pro-genocide books
• anything having to do with Nazis, Zionists, or terrorists
• WWII or Civil War historical fiction (unless written from a marginalized perspective we haven’t heard from before)
• straight memoirs (narrative nonfiction is okay, per above), COVID-centered books, or diet and wellness nonfiction that is inherently fatphobic
• nonfiction centered on business, economics, or capital-P politics

Submission Guidelines

Please submit to me via info (at) jillgrinbergliterary (dot) com. Your email subject line should follow this general format: QUERY: [Title of Project] by [Your Name] / [Age Category/Genre] / ATTN: [Larissa Melo Pienkowski].

Please paste your query letter in the body of the email and attach your materials as a docx. file. You will receive an auto-response confirming your submission was received.

For all fiction submissions, please send a query letter and the first fifty (50) pages of your manuscript. For all nonfiction submissions, please send a query letter and complete proposal. Your nonfiction proposal should include an overview of the project, proposed chapter summaries, a sample chapter, comparable titles, your biography, and bibliography of any additional works. You may also include promotional ties/materials if relevant.

Any submissions explicitly generated by AI will be automatically deleted upon receipt.

***Though I read every query and wish I could respond to them all, please note that no response after 90 days is a pass.***

Guidelines & Details

Consultations