Melanie Figueroa
Root Literary
My Manuscript Wish List®
Melanie is looking for stories that offer escape and entertainment for every reader. She’s drawn to immersive and layered reads with a strong voice and compelling perspective. While her taste is eclectic and extensive, in general she’s looking for a fresh, breathtaking twist on the familiar and a “big” idea—something you can sum up in a one- to two-sentence pitch.
Melanie is seeking middle grade, young adult, and adult fiction spanning the commercial and literary divide. On the adult side, she’s interested in general fiction with a foot in the genre world, upmarket fiction, and book club fiction. In kid lit, she’s interested in high-concept genre fiction. Across the board, she wants stories with emotional resonance and to work with authors committed to the craft of storytelling.
Please keep in mind that Melanie’s wishlist is not meant to be prescriptive. Part of what makes this job so magical is that you often don’t know what you want until you find it. If you think you’d be a good match, give her a try. She responds to all queries and welcomes submissions from creators belonging to the LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC communities. She does not represent poetry, novellas, or screenplays.
Submission Guidelines
Please query me at querymanager.com/melaniefigueroa.
Vital Info
I’d like the next…
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin; When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead; The Wild Robot by Peter Brown; Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt; Mexican Gothic by Sylvia Moreno-Garcia
My favorites include…
Books
East of Eden by John Steinbeck, Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng, The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill, The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti, Jennifer Chan is Not Alone by Tae Keller, Luster by Raven Leilani, Miracle Creek by Angie Kim, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld, Sadie by Courtney Summers, Song for a Whale by Lynne Kelly
Movies
All I Wanna Do, Arrival, Baahubali, Barbarian, Boyhood, Captain Fantastic, CODA, The Count of Monte Cristo, District 9, Emily the Criminal, Encanto, The Equalizer series, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Ex Machina, Get Out, How to Train Your Dragon series, Interstellar, It Follows, Jurassic Park, Legally Blonde, M3GAN, Midsommar, Mona Lisa Smile, Monkey Man, Old Henry, The Others, Palm Springs, Parasite, Peninsula, Prey, A Quiet Place, Ready or Not, Riding in Cars with Boys, The Secret Garden, See for Me, Snowpiercer, Spirited Away, Turning Red, War of the Worlds
TV Shows
The Boys, Crazy Ex Girlfriend, The Dark Crystal, Euphoria, Fleabag, Gilmore Girls, The Great, Insecure, Kim’s Convenience, Little Witch Academia, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, New Girl, Queer Eye, Schitt’s Creek, Severance, Shōgun, Six Feet Under
