Sarah Gerton

I joined The Caldwell Agency in January 2026 with over 10 years of literary agency experience, having previously held roles at Curtis Brown, Ltd. and New Leaf Literary & Media. At TCA, I’m focused on adult speculative fiction and hybrid authors, and also serve as the team’s audio manager.

I am currently closed to queries. But when I reopen, I’d love to see:

Across genres, I’m looking for distinct narrative voices, unforgettable character dynamics, centering of marginalized perspectives, and stories that will make me laugh! More detail about what I enjoy in each category is below, but some things that will always catch my eye regardless of genre:

• Genre-blending—do you have a horror romance? Zombie fantasy? Dystopian with magic? I want to see it.
• Characters with interesting jobs (bonus points for a workplace setting)
• Smaller, more personal stakes (think, “I need to save my house” versus “I need to save the world”)
• Working-class characters
• Memorable sidekicks, like the gargoyle in THE KNIGHT AND THE MOTH
• Shorter books that still feel immersive
• And my #1 wishlist item: a sense of humor! Whether it’s zany escapades like Kimberly Lemmings’ books, darkly comedic narration like Christopher Buehlman, or genre-aware meta humor like E.B. Asher—if a book makes me laugh, I’ll probably love it.

Fantasy + Romantasy

Fantasy is my genre home base—from high fantasy to urban fantasy, paranormal to cozy. Whether it’s a second-world fantasy or a magical version of our own world, I want the setting to feel real and tangible, the stakes personal.

• I appreciate nuanced yet accessible worldbuilding. To be honest, I’m rarely going to read a glossary or character list before starting a book. If you have one just for fun, that’s great, but the text itself should convey enough information for readers to follow the story without referring to ancillary materials.
• I love a cozy vibe, but need there to be some real stakes and/or an edge of darkness to pull me in—think EMILY WILDE’S ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF FAERIES. I also enjoy dark stories with warm, affectionate narrative voices, like T. Kingfisher’s A SORCERESS COMES TO CALL.
• Also of interest are speculative reimaginings of literary classics, like THE CHOSEN AND THE BEAUTIFUL by Nghi Vo or HELL’S HEART by Alexis Hall.

In romantasy, in addition to the above, I’d love to see:

• Sweeping love stories that feel fated, like STRANGE THE DREAMER
• Stories like OUTLANDER, where the love story is integral to the plot but is not the only plot
• Angst and pining
• Queer romances where characters are involved in the queer community (whatever that looks like in the world of the story!)
• Interesting takes on polyamory and kink
• Stories that reflect the messy reality of sex—give me characters having safer sex; learning each others’ bodies over time rather than things being earthshattering from the get-go; being silly and laughing in bed.

Horror

Horror is another big area of interest! Some elements I’d love to see in horror:

• Historical settings like RING SHOUT, BETWEEN TWO FIRES, LONE WOMEN
• Zombies, especially if you have a fresh spin on them!
• Creature features in book form—I love when the antagonists’s only motivation is that it’s hungry.
• Campy, fun, genre-aware horror like BURY YOUR GAYS
• Horror with a puzzle element like LOOKING GLASS SOUND by Catriona Ward

If you have a project that evokes the following movies and shows, I’d love to see it:

• Sinners
• It Follows
• Midnight Mass
• Jaws
• The Thing
• Train to Busan
• Nope

Sci-fi and dystopian

Sci-fi is a harder sell for me than fantasy, but I’d be open to sci-fi that feels small-scale and cozy (think: Becky Chambers’ books). I’m also interested in dystopian stories that posit that a better world is possible, while not being naive about the work it will take to get there.

Not for me

I don’t have many hard no’s, but some things that are less likely to be a fit:

• Hard sci-fi
• Violent dark romance
• In horror, I’m not as drawn to body horror, slashers, or psychological horror.
• I’m generally not a fit for romance without any speculative elements, but would make an exception for high-heat historical romance starring working-class characters (think: Beverly Jenkins, KJ Charles).

Submission Guidelines

QueryManager page to come!