Maria Whelan
Mushens Entertainment
My Manuscript Wish List®
Before joining Mushens Entertainment in September 2025, Maria Whelan worked at InkWell Management in New York for over 8 years as an assistant and agent. She began her career in publishing as a Foreign Rights Assistant at Janklow & Nesbit in New York. Maria graduated from University College Dublin with a BA in English and Drama, then obtained her Master’s in Literature and Modernity from the University of Edinburgh. Maria represents both fiction and nonfiction writers, including USA TODAY bestsellers, a Lammy Finalist, a PEN/Robert W. Bingham Finalist, a Simon & Schuster Books Like Us first novel winner, NPR’s Best Books Of The Year authors, a James Beard Award winner, Barnes & Noble picks authors, and MacDowell Fellows.
I am looking for literary and upmarket fiction, speculative fiction, horror, magical realism and reimaginings of myths, fairy tales, and folklore. In the nonfiction space, I am on the hunt for cultural criticism, narrative nonfiction, big-idea nonfiction, and select cookbooks and food writing.
Kindly refrain from sending me YA, MG, New Adult, picture-books, graphic novels, military thrillers, and fantasy, sci-fi, crafts/DIY, or biographies.
Fun facts about me:
Submission Guidelines
Please only submit your work if your manuscript is complete at the time of submission.
Email su*********@*******************nt.com
Your submission email should include:
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A clear subject line eg. Fiction Submission: TITLE OF YOUR WORK
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Addressed to the specific agent you would like to consider it.
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Your cover letter in the body of the email
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An attachment of your synopsis
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A PDF or Word document of your novel containing either:
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The first three chapters
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The first 10-15,000 words
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First 50 pages
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Vital Info
Favorite sub-genres:
Adult Horror, Book Club, Climate Fiction, Complicated Relationships, Contemporary Culture, Dark Female Friendships, Dark Humor, Diverse Protagonists, Diversity, Fairytale Retellings, Female Friendships, Feminist Horror, Folklore, Found Families, Gothic, Gothic Horror, LGBTQ+, Literary Fiction, Literary Horror, Magical Realism, Marginalized Voices, Mythology, Narrative, Nature Writing, Own Voices, Paranormal, Paranormal Horror, Speculative Fiction, eco-fiction, ghost story, horror, nonfiction
I’d like the next…
My favorites include…
As far as tone and content are concerned, I think Alissa Nuttings TAMPA is phenomenal. The wicked humor, laced throughout the novel, and the daring and fresh subject matter is precisely what I am looking for, I love the fresh, truncated, and daring prose found in A GIRL IS A HALF FORMED THING by Eimear McBride. I adore the dream-like qualities and deceiving simplicity employed by Han Kang in THE VEGETARIAN. I am drawn to the strong sense of place and questions of friendship in THE BOOK OF GOOSE by Yiyun Li. The otherness and peculiarity in EILEEN by Ottessa Moshfegh stood out for me, as well as THE PISCES by Melissa Broder. I admired Katherine Heiny’s humor and pithy dialogue. The devastating subject matter and crisp language found in SMALL THINGS LIKES THESE by Claire Keegan make that book unforgettable. BIG SWISS by Jen Beagin is also a favorite, with her cutting sense of humor and raucous wit. MY ABSOLUTE DARING is another favorite of mine for Gabriel Tallent’s ability to capture a complicated father-daughter relationship, coupled with a clear sense of place. Kevin Wilson’s NOTHING TO SEE HERE sticks out to me for its playfulness, outlandishness, and deft handling of neurodivergent children. LUSTER by Raven Leilani was utterly captivating in its depiction of hunger, longing, desire, pleasure, discomfort, pain, and alienation, in such a sleek form. TENDER IS THE FLESH by Agustina Bazterrica is a book i will never forget — that last line! So powerful and rattling! FRESH WATER FOR FLOWERS by Valerie Perrin is another favourite in the thought-provoking and beauty of the language and story. THE BEESTING by Paul Murray is a brilliant family saga that I will never forget. The employment of different styles and the intricate plot is almost Joycean. I love WHAT AM I, A DEAR by Polly Barton for its deep dive into the psyche of the narrator and the grappling of limerence. I also love LAZ by Nelio Briatore; what a textured family saga!! I adored the assured prose and occasional bleakness.
I love books that are a little left of field and weird.
