Sophie Sheumaker
BookEnds Literary Agency
My Manuscript Wish List®
Middle Grade | YA | Adult | Illustrators
Across the board seeking works by historically underrepresented voices and stories with the sort of casual diversity that is representative of the world in which we live
Middle Grade
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- Adventure-filled or cozy fantasy. In this space, I really love fantasy that feels like a fairy-tale but isn’t necessarily a Disney-eque retelling (think The Girl Who Drank the Moon/The Phantom Tollbooth/The Princess Bride). I’ve always enjoyed a third person narrator that feels like a character even when they aren’t actually a part of the story and I’m very drawn into any middle grade that highlights friendships and is driven by the wild, ever-changing, ever-learning emotions of early adolescence
- Quiet magic that’s woven subtly throughout a story
- Big families, big communities that feel like characters, and all of the complications that come with that—Encanto, a MG Gilmore Girls, Ponyo
- Middle grade that can be reread as an adult and still feel relevant and enjoyable. Middle grade that doesn’t speak down to the reader or treat the reader like they’re a child
YA/Adult
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- If you can translate any of the above into a YA/Adult setting, I would love to see it
- Fantasy, Romance, Light sci-fi, Speculative, Horror
- Fantasy can run the gamut from cozy with a soft magic system (Maiga Doocy’s Sorcery and Small Magics) to high-fantasy with an intricately woven magic system. For the second, I love a deeply immersive setting with a well thought out world (think Godkiller, The Jasmine Throne).
- I am particularly interested in queer romance, especially sapphic romance. Witty dialogue and banter are my go-to (Emily Henry/Talia Hibbert), scenes that make me kick my feet and giggle and have to put my book down to gather my thoughts. A hooky beach read with the melodrama of a K-drama. Contemporary/fantasy/romantasy, tried and true tropes in your typical straight romance done through a queer lens. I also love a surprising magical/speculative twist (One Last Stop). Niche wants: Lesbian vampires, sapphic hockey players, sapphic F1
- I am not seeking hard sci-fi (no space opera and no apocalyptic or dystopian future). I am seeking genre-bending sci-fi driven by emotions (Ted Chiang) and influenced by our current events and environmental activism (Shaun Tan)
- Grounded speculative fiction with high-concept plots
- Romance in horror (NOT romanticizing abuse, think more an all-consuming love within a horror setting). Themes of revenge and feminism and female rage. Not opposed to body horror. Dark female friendships definitely welcome here
- Characters with richly developed relationships that are central to the story, especially female friendships and stories of sisterhood
- Quirky, off-beat storytelling that can deliver serious messaging without taking itself too seriously
Submission Guidelines
Queries only accepted via QueryManger
Vital Info
Favorite sub-genres:
#ownvoices, #wndb, AAPI Fantasy, AAPI Horror, AAPI Sci-Fi, Accessible Literary Fiction, Adult, Adult Horror, Adult Rom Com, Adult Romantasy, Adult SFF, Adventure, African Diaspora, African Fantasy, African Sci-Fi, Asian American Literature, Asian Diaspora, Asian Fantasy, Asian Sci-Fi, Author-Illustrator, BIPOC, BIPOC Fantasy, BIPOC Horror, BIPOC Mystery, BIPOC Sci-Fi, Book Club, Books about books, Category Romance, Character -Driven History, Character-Driven Horror, Character-driven SciFi, Chick Lit, Chicklit, Commercial MG, Commercial Women's Fiction, Commercial YA, Commercial adult fiction, Commercial and Literary, Complicated Relationships, Contemporary Fantasy, Contemporary Romance, Cozy Fantasy, Cross-genre, Dark Female Friendships, Disability, Diverse Protagonists, Diversity, Epic Fantasy, Fabulism, Fairytale Retellings, Fantasy Grounded in Reality, Fantasy Romance, Fantasy YA, Female Friendships, Feminism, Feminist, Feminist Horror, Feminist SF/F, Folklore, Funny MG, Gothic, Gothic Fantasy, Gothic Horror, Grounded, High Concept, High Fantasy, High-Concept Literary Commercial Fiction, High-concept YA/MG, Historical Fantasy, Historical Fantasy; Fantasy Grounded In Reality, Illustrated, Illustrator, Illustrators, Illustrators and Author/Illustrators, Immigrant Voices, Indigenous Futurism, LGBT YA, LGBTQ Romance, LGBTQ+, LGBTQ+ Fantasy, LGBTQ+ Sci-Fi, LGBTQ+ rom coms, LGBTQIA, LGBTQIAP, Latine Diaspora, Latinx Fantasy, Latinx Horror, Latinx Sci-Fi, Latinx stories, Literary Crossover, Literary Fantasy, Literary Fiction, Literary Horror, Literary MG, Low Fantasy, MG, MG Action Adventure, MG Fantasy, MG Horror, MG adventure, MG mystery, Magic, Magic Realism, Magical Realism, Magical Realism YA, Marginalized Voices, Mental Health, Modern Retellings of Fairy Tales, Modernized Mythologies, Mothers and Daughters, Multiple POV, Multiple Timelines, Muslim, Mysteries, Near future, Near-future SF, Neurodiversity, New Adult, Paranormal, Paranormal Horror, Paranormal Romance, Paranormal Thriller, RomCom, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Romantic Drama, Romantic Thriller, Same-Sex Romance, Speculative, Speculative Fiction, Speculative Middle Grade, Time Travel, Time Travel Romance, Underrepresented Voices, Upmarket Commercial Fiction, YA Fantasy, YA Historical Fantasy, YA Rom-Coms, YA RomCom, YA Romance, YA Romantasy, YA Science Fiction, YA fantasy/light sci-fi, YA horror, YA rom com, Young Adult, Zombies, alternate history, beach reads, body horror, book club fiction, character-focused fiction, character-focused stories, commercial, commercial middle grade, commerical, commerical women's fiction, crossover, crossover adult, crossover appeal, dark academia, dark fantasy, diasporic, diverse, diverse and own voices, diverse heroines, diverse voices, enemies to lovers, epic, fairy tales, fantastical, feminine narratives, folklore history, found family, friendship, friendship stories, fun SF/F, gender, gothic romance, high concept fiction, horror, inclusive sf/f, indigenous futurisms, invisible disability, light Sci-Fi, light fantasy, literary, love stories, near-future science fiction, non-Western fantasy, non-Western historical fiction, non-western settings, queer, queer horror, queer narratives, romantacy, romantasy, romantic New Adult, romantic fantasy, romantic suspense/mystery, science fantasy, science fiction, spooky mg, whimsical, who did this to you
I’d like the next…
My favorites include…
Lisa Frankenstein, Bottoms, Our Flag Means Death, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Charmed, Buffy, The Holiday, Love Rosie, The Girl Who Drank the Moon, The Princess Bride, Cinderella (2015 or Brandy), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Interview with the Vampire (show!), What We Do in the Shadows
