Mara Hollander

Stories make us who we are, and everyone deserves a chance to write their own narrative. I’m actively seeking to represent authors from communities traditionally underrepresented in publishing, including BIPOC, LGBTQIA, people who are disabled, and people who are chronically ill.

In fiction, I’m seeking accessibly-written novels for Adult and YA audiences that rip your heart out and make you forget the world around you.

I’m open to most fiction manuscripts and nonfiction proposals and love to be surprised! But if you have it, please send me:

In fiction—

• Fantasy (including political and romantasy)
• Romance
• Thrillers/mysteries (including political)
• Horror
• Women’s fiction
• Upmarket + book club/commercial fiction

In non-fiction—

• Mental health care, substance use disorder treatment(this interest is specific to nonfiction) (please no pure memoirs)
• The American health care system (please no pure memoirs)
• Academic research for a commercial audience
• Academic research for an academic audience
• Making business better
• Sports (literally anything in sports)
• Gender + sexuality, focused on queer identities
• The role of women in _________
• Race + ethnicity
• Psychology, neuroscience, and the human brain
• Parasocial relationships
• Multilevel marketing
• Cults, schemes, and Fyre Festival-style disasters
• Politics, policy, and the future of government
• Climate change
• Science in modern life

Please don’t send me:

• Historical fiction set in Europe during WW2
• Books about the Holocaust
• Main characters who are droids/androids
• Fantasy world competitions
• Stories about AI
• Middle grade, chapter books, or picture books (I will represent existing clients, but not new clients, in these spaces)
• Books that center around child sexual abuse
• Stories centering a culture/experience that belong to a minoritized group the writer is not a part of
• Memoirs—While I’m excited to read books by chronically ill and disabled writers, I am not a good fit for memoirs. Your story is extremely important, but I’m not going to be the right advocate for your work.
• Prescriptive books about Christianity
• Astrology
• Magic and witchcraft how-tos

In all categories, I’d love to see the following hyper-specific and not-so-specific things:

• Books that are Jewish without being about Judaism. Give me Jewish main characters, Jewish families, Jewish traditions, and Jewish…easter eggs, if you will.
• Unique takes on classic tropes.
• Yearning. Between lovers, between estranged friends, between siblings, between parents and their children, for an experience. Pull at my heartstrings.
• Fat characters who are known for something other than being fat.
• Adult novels that feel YA in their pacing and use of tropes.
• Fantasy political or military stories that are super accessibly written (i.e. not LOTR, even though we all love it).
• Rebellions and revolutions. Give me anti-monarchy stories, give me anti-capitalism and anti-imperialism stories, give me stories about who has power and what that means.
• Explorations of the line between religion, magic, and science, and anything that comps to What Happened in Skinner
• Angry women characters. Angry nonbinary characters.
• Accurate sports. If your pitchers can correctly describe the grip for a curveball, or your figure skaters know the difference between a lutz and a flutz, please send me your book.
• Queer romance!
• Horror about MLMs, like LuLaRoe or Young Living
• Horror that captures the vibe of What Happened in Skinner in book form (yes, I know it’s on here twice; it’s good!)

Tropes and themes I can’t get enough of:

• Women’s Wrongs/Good For Her™
• Well-written love triangles.
  • Love triangles that end with one love interest’s death aren’t a good fit for me—make your character choose!
  • OR: I am open to love triangles that end in polyamory.
• Relationships that skirt the line between platonic and romantic.
• Hate-to-love.
• I Can Make Them Worse / I’ll Be Worse Than Them

Tropes and themes I don’t love:

• The Status Quo Was Right All Along
• Competitions, trials, and games as a plot device
• Magical boarding schools (magical college/universities are great; non-magical schooling is also great!)
• Pregnancy/secret baby
• Billionaire love interests
• Bully romance
• Fated mates (without a unique twist)
• Androids
• The Holocaust
• I’m really picky about pirates. Will Turner was my first love and it’s sort of ruined the whole thing.
• Stories centering a culture/experience that doesn’t belong to the author (i.e. a White author writing a US slavery narrative)
• Multiple personality disorder as a plot device, unless the author has MPD