Ryan Amato

Hi there! I’m an associate editor with the HarperOne Group. I joined HarperCollins in 2022 and right now am looking for projects primarily in adult narrative and pop culture nonfiction. Overall, I’m a huge champion for work that is intersectional and intercultural, especially those written by authors of diverse voices and identities.

Nonfiction

I am primarily interested in narrative nonfiction through the lens of pop culture, pop science, or mental health, and select literary memoir.

For memoirs, essay collections, or other personal narratives, I want to consider projects that feel extraordinary. I pay attention mostly to the quality of the writing and how compelling the story is—why this person, why this story? I’d love to come out of reading a memoir either having learned something, feeling changed, or being entertained throughout. Topics that interest me: overcoming grief/loss/trauma, “behind-the-scenes” looks at an industry, success stories, intersectional identities, existentialism.

Pop culture and pop science nonfiction is more broad, but as someone who is chronically online, I am a huge consumer of books, TV, film, music, short-form/long-form video, and general internet/pop culture content. How we interact with each kind of media is really fascinating to me, and especially when media entertains us or reveals something about the world (sometimes both!). I love any deep dives into both broad and niche topics. In this vein, I’d love to see more microhistories or narrative histories of communities, time periods, or culture movements.

Other broad topics that interest me: the music industry; the film/TV industry; reality TV; space travel; paranormal & ghost hunting; exploration; puzzles; video games (all platforms & franchises); grief & death; cults; witchcraft & occult.

Here are some of my favorite nonfiction projects that I would have loved to work on:

• I’M GLAD MY MOM DIED by Jennette McCurdy (2022)
• ALGOSPEAK by Adam Aleksic (2025)
• CRYING IN H MART by Michelle Zauner (2021)
• EDUCATED by Tara Westover (2018)
• ALIEN EARTHS by Lisa Kaltenegger (2024)
• MAJOR LABELS by Kelefa Sanneh (2021)
• MOOD MACHINE by Liz Pelly (2024)
• SUPER NINTENDO by Keza MacDonald (2026)

Things I am probably not a good fit for:

• Academic-leaning nonfiction
• Religious projects (excl. those with queer experiences)
• Business & leadership

Note: This is just a brief overview of what I’d like to see. Not all of my interests or considerations are captured here, so if you aren’t sure if something would be a good fit for me, share it anyway!

Agents: If we haven’t met, email me to set up a meeting. Hope to see you in my inbox!

Submission Guidelines

I am only accepting agented submissions for adult nonfiction and fiction. Any work that is unagented I am unable to consider at this time, and cannot guarantee a response.

Agents, if you can, please contact me with these details in the subject line for best organization:

• “Submission”
• Genre: Nonfiction/Fiction
• Title + Author Name

My contact details are on my Publishers Marketplace page.