Naomi Eisenbeiss

I’m from Houston, Texas and am half Japanese/half German. I joined Inkwell in 2018 after graduating with a double-bachelor in Political Science from Sciences Po in France and Freie University in Germany. Prior to Inkwell, I spent three years as Manager of the Shanghai International Literary Festival in China. I speak English, Japanese, German and conversational French and Mandarin.

GENERAL TASTES: My tastes range pretty broadly, but I am looking for strong voices that play with perspective and sense of place, regardless of genre! I often pitch myself as liking darkly funny stories or “weird women fiction,” anything that questions society’s norms or expectations of women.

I’m immediately attracted to plots driven by emotion and I like getting into the nitty gritty of a character. That said, I’m always looking for the silver lining or a thread of humor that adds levity–I am drawn to sarcastic, dry, and biting humor. Also, if your book takes place abroad or immerses the reader in a different world/environment, pls send it to me!

LITERARY FICTION/UPMARKET WOMEN’S: I like voices that tell a different story of life/humanity. I am deeply interested in family, motherhood and the darker, more tender parts of the human experience. Pls send books like WESTERN LANE by Chetna Maroo, CONVENIENCE STORE WOMAN by Sayaka Murata, THE MARS ROOM by Rachel Kushner, OUT STEALING HORSES by Per Petterson, THE OFFICE OF HISTORICAL CORRECTIONS by Danielle Evans, to name a few.

If your book is in the vein of BIG SWISS by Jen Beagin or FLEISHMAN IS IN TROUBLE by Taffy Brodesser-Akner or Ottesa Moshfegh, pls send! Anything weird and funny, while also being deeply thoughtful will be up my alley.

ROMANCE/ROM-COM: I would love to represent more in this genre, especially ones with great hooks, palpable tension, and bonus if you make me smile/laugh throughout! Especially into romance/rom-coms that surprise me in any way or take place in different places, so the classics with a bit of a twist or an edge. Loved ROMANTIC COMEDY by Curtis Sittenfeld–smart, so real and so cute!

BOOKCLUB: I LOVE discussing the ins-and-outs of characters and getting really engrossed in their world. If your book is one that people always bring up and want to discuss like YELLOWFACE, TOMORROW AND TOMORROW AND TOMORROW, or THE SILENT PATIENT.

NON-FICTION: I don’t represent as much NF, but I am obsessed with propulsive narrative non-fiction. David Grann is my all-time, I cannot stop gushing about him and his work (THE LOST CITY OF Z <3). I loved BAD BLOOD by John Carreyrou, page-turning investigative journalism at its finest. Patrick Radden Keefe is also a master of the genre. DOPPELGANGER by Naomi Klein was almost too smart for me, but my world is larger because of it.

THRILLER/MYSTERY: Not my bread and butter, but I am a sucker for a great thriller or mystery. If you keep the pages turning quickly and can surprise me, I’m in!! Also, I’m not really into action movies, but I love heist films and would LOVE a great heist book.

MISC: I surprised myself by being really into time travel novels of any genre. Not sure why, but pitch me if you have a great, high-concept time travel book.

NOT FOR ME: I’m probably not going to be right for your SFF manuscripts and I only represent adult projects. No MG, YA, etc. The only exception I’d make for that is for graphic novels.

Submission Guidelines

Submissions should be emailed to submissions@inkwellmanagement.com

Queries should be emailed to: submissions@inkwellmanagement.com

In the body of your email, please include a query letter and a short writing sample (1-2 chapters). E-mails with large attachments will be discarded. Pls address the e-mail to me by putting my name in the subject line.

Guidelines & Details