My Manuscript Wish List® Items
Hello, writers!
I’m Laura Mazer, a literary agent at WSA with a passion for stories that make life more fascinating, funny, and meaningful. I’m always eager to see adult fiction and nonfiction projects that dive into lifestyle, pop culture, health and wellness, psychology, and irresistible, “giftable” concept books.
I especially have a soft spot for geeky deep dives into the hidden marvels of everyday life.
I also adore popular history, biography, and literary celebrations, especially when they spotlight untold stories about women. On the fiction side, I’m drawn to commercial and upmarket reads, with a particular affection for smart, snappy rom-coms that reflect on the real world we live in, like Curtis Sittenfeld’s Romantic Comedy.
I proudly serve on the board of The OpEd Project, a program devoted to diversifying the information we read. Before stepping into the world of book publishing, I was managing editor at a global news agency, working with some of the most influential voices of our time, including Hillary Clinton and Arianna Huffington.
Please send your work my way, and I’ll look forward to reading! See more about my MSWL below …
Laura
I’d like to represent the next …
- Iconic empowerment guide, like What Would Frida Do?: A Guide to Living Boldly by Arianna Davis
- Positive psychology, like You Only Die Once: How to Make it to the End with No Regrets by Jodi Wellman
- Commentary on gender and culture, like Shame On You: How to Be a Woman in the Age of Mortification by Melissa Petro
- Pop culture fascination, like From Cradle to Stage: Stories from the Women Who Rocked and Raised Rock Stars by Virginia Grohl/foreword by Dave Grohl
- Reality-Based Rom-Com: Sharp, grounded love stories that infuse the rom-com with wry humor and modern themes, à la Curtis Sittenfeld’s Romantic Comedy
- Health, Wellness, and Longevity, with breakthrough insights that redefine how we care for minds and bodies, like Dr. Nicole Cain’s Panic Proof
- Psychology, especially practical yet profound ideas for deeper joy, like Charles Duhigg’s Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection
- Culture & Pop Culture, with exciting dives into the magic and madness of modern society, from rock-star biographies to celebrations of cultural touchstones
- Popular History, with playful, practical revelations about the past, like Romaine Wasn’t Built in a Day: The Delightful History of Food Language
- Revised History, with newly informed stories about famous people or events (fiction or nonfiction)
Submission Guidelines
Submissions should be emailed to submissions@wsherman.com
Please send a query and complete proposal to
su*********@ws******.com
, and include “Laura Mazer” in the subject line.
Fiction:
Bookclub, Commercial, Contemporary, Domestic Thriller, Family Saga, General, Historical, Humor, Literary, Religious, Romance, Romcom, Sports, Women’s Fiction
Non-Fiction:
Art, Biography, Business, Cookbooks, Crafts/DIY, Cultural criticism, Feminism and women\'s issues, Fitness, Health, History, Humor, Illustrated, Journalism, LGBTQ, Parenting, Pop Culture, Psychology, Relationships and family, Science, Self-help, Spiritual, Sports, Tarot/Astrology, True Crime, Wellness, Witches/Witchcraft
Favorite sub-genres:
"Big Idea/Think", #ownvoices, 'big think', Accessible Literary Fiction, Adult, Adult Rom Com, Biography, Biography & Memoir, Book Club, Books about books, California, Chick Lit, Chicklit, Commercial Women's Fiction, Commercial adult fiction, Commercial and Literary, Complicated Relationships, Contemporary Culture, Contemporary Inspirational Romance, Cultural Criticism, Dark Female Friendships, Dark Humor, Dark topics with a light touch, Domestic Fiction, Drink, Essay collections, Essays, Family Drama, Female Friendships, Feminism, Feminist, Femoir, First Person, Found Families, Grounded fantasy, Health, Health and Wellness, Health and healing, Historical (as long as the period is of consequence), History, Home Arts, Humor, Illustrated, Illustrated/Gift, Inspirational, Inspirational Fiction, Intersectional Feminism, Intersectionality, Investigative Journalism, Issue-Driven, Layered Family Stories with multiple narrators, Layered Rom-Coms and Comedy of Manners with a cultural component, Leadership, Lifestyle, Literary Crossover, Literary Fiction, Marginalized Voices, Mind/Body/Spirit, Minority Voices, Modern Dating, Modern Retellings of Fairy Tales, Modernized Mythologies, Mothers and Daughters, Multicultural Romance, Narrative, Narrative Nonfiction, Nature, Nature Writing, Near future, Neurodiversity, Outdoors, Own Voices, Parenting, Personal Development, Politics/Current Affairs, Pop Culture, Pop History, Pop Psychology, Pop Science, Popular Science/Psychology, Regency Romance, Religion, Retellings, Rom-com, RomCom, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Self-help, Sexuality, Shakespeare Retellings, Smart Beach Reads, Social Issues, Social Justice, Somatics, Southern Fiction, Southern Literary, Strong Females, Tarot, Time Travel, Time Travel Romance, True Crime, Underrepresented Voices, Upmarket Commercial Fiction, Upmarket Fiction, Upmarket Nonfiction, Upmarket Women's Fiction, WWII, Wellness, Wisdom, Women's Fiction, Women's Issues, alternate history, book club fiction, campus novel, celebrity, classic retellings, comedy, coming of age, commercial, commerical, commerical women's fiction, company history, contemporary, cook book, craft, crossover adult, culinary, current affairs, dark academia, dramedy, family saga, family stories, feminine narratives, folklore history, friendship, friendship stories, gender, hagiography, health and fitness, historical, historical romance, invisible disability, just one bed, literary, locked room, love stories, music, narrative non-fiction, nonfiction, psychology, quirky, realistic fiction, rivals to lovers, rom-coms, slow burn, slow burn romance, small-town romance, soft science, two people one bed, upmarket genre fiction, upmarket/book club with female protagonist, witchcraft, witty
I’d like the next…
I’d like to represent the next …
- Iconic empowerment guide, like What Would Frida Do?: A Guide to Living Boldly by Arianna Davis
- Positive psychology, like You Only Die Once: How to Make it to the End with No Regrets by Jodi Wellman
- Commentary on gender and culture, like Shame On You: How to Be a Woman in the Age of Mortification by Melissa Petro
- Pop culture fascination, like From Cradle to Stage: Stories from the Women Who Rocked and Raised Rock Stars by Virginia Grohl/foreword by Dave Grohl
- Reality-Based Rom-Com: Sharp, grounded love stories that infuse the rom-com with wry humor and modern themes, à la Curtis Sittenfeld’s Romantic Comedy
- Health, Wellness, and Longevity, with breakthrough insights that redefine how we care for minds and bodies, like Dr. Nicole Cain’s Panic Proof
- Psychology, especially practical yet profound ideas for deeper joy, like Charles Duhigg’s Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection
- Culture & Pop Culture, with exciting dives into the magic and madness of modern society, from rock-star biographies to celebrations of cultural touchstones
- Popular History, with playful, practical revelations about the past, like Romaine Wasn’t Built in a Day: The Delightful History of Food Language
- Revised History, with newly informed stories about famous people or events (fiction or nonfiction)