T.S. Ferguson
Azantian Literary Agency
My Manuscript Wish List®
Before joining Azantian Literary Agency, I worked for 16 years as an editor for some of the top children’s and teen book publishers in the business, including Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Harlequin Teen/Inkyard Press, and JIMMY Patterson Books. I have worked with New York Times bestselling and award-winning authors such as James Patterson, Sherman Alexie, Sara Zarr, Suzanne Selfors, Pseudonymous Bosch, Robin Talley, Amy Lukavics, Hillary Monahan (writing as Eva Darrows), and Adi Alsaid.
I’m looking for young adult and middle grade fiction across all genres and am especially attracted to the
following (in both age groups, unless otherwise specificed):
*Plot that grabs you and won’t let go
*Fresh, unique written voices/books where voice is the star
*Lyrical writing (think Laini Taylor)
*High concept hooks (if it can be described in 1-2 lines)
*Dark and edgy stories (including, but not limited, to horror)
*Atmospheric horror (where the voice/writing conveys a sense of suspense or dread or terror)
*YA horror that doesn’t hold back
*Retellings (esp. fairy tales and mythology)
*Commercial middle grade with series potential
*YA fantasy that feels new and different from what’s been done before
*Action-adventure
*Queer stories across all identities
*Stories by and about under-represented voices of all identities and intersectionalities across all genres I
represent (and identity and/or marginalized pain doesn’t have to be the focus)
*Perspectives we haven’t seen before (for ex, villain origin stories before they became “a thing”)
*Unique formats such as epistolary (think Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall, Code Name Verity,
or a YA Daisy Jones & The Six)
*Graphic novels (strong preference for authors who are also the illustrator)
*Unlikeable characters
*Characters with smart mouths, who aren’t afraid to stand up to authority, and kids who can outsmart
the adults in the room
I am not the best fit for:
*High sci-fi (books with light sci-fi elements, like Adam Silvera’s books, are OK)
*Sports-centric books
*Non-fiction
*Novels-in-verse
I’m not acquiring for the picture books or adult markets at this time.
Fun facts about me:
*I’m a queer far-left leaning liberal. Do with that what you will.
*I’m a frequent karaoke-goer. My regular crew of all publishing folks have been going mostly monthly for years (and even did digital karaoke during the quarantine).
*I’m a gamer. My main three are Mario, Zelda, and any 2D Metroids, but in general I love platformers, puzzle solving, and Metroidvanias.
*I’m both a dog and a cat person.
*I’m a(n inconsistent) runner
*I was a manga & anime fan before it was popular, then I fell off the bandwagon, now I’m back on for select titles.
Submission Guidelines
Submissions should be emailed to https://querymanager.com/query/tsferguson
Submission guidelines are on the Azantian website and my query form (both linked here). Please do not query two Azantian agents at the same time.
Vital Info
I’d like the next…
In YA:
…Tomi Adeyemi
…Natasha Ngan
…Alexis Henderson (but YA)
…big vampire novel (so glad they’re coming back!)
…Katy Rose Pool
…Joe Hill, Paul Tremblay, or Stephen Graham Jones (but again, in YA)
…Laini Taylor
…V.E. Schwab
…Every Day by David Levithan
…Something akin to Deathnote
…Julie Kagawa
In MG:
…The Clackity
…MG horror
…Suzanne Selfors
…Dan Gemeinhart
…Janae Marks
…Kelly Yang
…Jewell Parker Rhodes
…Mr. Lemoncello’s Library
…epic Middle Grade fantasy
…Spiderwick Chronicles
My favorites include…
Books:
The Wizard of Oz series by L. Frank Baum
The Thief of Always by Clive Barker
Everything in the Riordanverse
Three Dark Crowns series by Kendare Blake
Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Anything written by Will Kostakis
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins
The Witching Hour by Anne Rice
The Golden Compass (but not Subtle Knife or Amber Spyglass. Sorry!)
Comics:
Locke & Key
Saga
Rat Queens
The Wicked + The Divine
Fables
Paper Girls
Zodiac Starforce
Deathnote
Parasyte
TV:
Game of Thrones (but not that last season) and House of the Dragon
Yellowjackets
Stranger Things
My Hero Academia
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Supernatural
Veronica Mars (S1-2 & the movie)
How I Met Your Mother
Orphan Black
Movies:
Hocus Pocus
Practical Magic
The Craft
(really anything witchy)
Return to Oz
The Neverending Story
The Goonies
TiMER
The MCU
