Ali Herring

I am pretty quirky when it comes to my list, but I do have a few things I like more than others. I hope I can help guide you in whether I’m a good fit to query: I’m open to MG, YA and adult and work in both the general and inspirational markets. You can always check my #MSWL for most up-to-date wishes, but otherwise, this is big-picture what I’m looking for and what I’m not looking for:

Some dream projects I’d love to rep RIGHT NOW (as of Dec 2020):

• Box Car Kids for the next generation (set in Space maybe; set on a highly technological future earth).
• Middle grade that is SUPER funny.
• Contemporary YA that is funny. Maybe a rom-com.
• Books that can be comped to old movie favorites. Like take two of your old faves and give me a book!
• Adult science fiction set on a generation ship, or a generation ship arriving at a new planet.
• Adult science fiction *written by a diverse creator.* Like an African-inspired space-faring society. That would be a dream.

Middle Grade:

• I love everything middle grade!
• Joyful middle grade featuring POC characters, written by diverse creators
• Bold unexplored settings
• Middle grade fantasy with a commercial hook but literary writing.
• Hooky, really high-concept middle grade, great for Jimmy Patterson or Rick Riordan Presents.
• Dark Fantasy or Horror (but not gross-out)
• Magical Realism or paranormal
• MG with a futuristic or technological element
• Issue books
• Coming-of-age
• Dealing with grief
• First love
• MG concepts explored in fresh, complex ways (like first love in the apocalypse)
• STEM-positive
• Would love to see books for upper middle grade girls that aren’t all about the romance, yet aren’t childish either.
• Would *also* love to see Hallmark-esque pre-teen romance like Carols and Crushes by Natalie Blitt.
• Anything adventurous and thrilling for boys like “Hatchet”
• Anything quirky

Young Adult:

• I’m open to all YA: Contemporary, fantasy, sci-fi, speculative, horror, romance, issue books (though I have a few already on my list so not my top choice), etc.
• All the contemporary fantasy right now.
• Contemporary with a speculative element
• YA suspense/thrillers
• All the horror right now, or horror-bordering
• Anything with an edge
• Fun teen romance like To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
• Vibrant Teen rom-coms
• Dystopian or failing Utopia/Utopian worlds (fresh government or control system in place or none at all)
• Near-future dystopian where the world is not cleaned up and pretty. I want a sense of the horror but without tons of gore.
• Bold unexplored settings

Adult:

• Romance (including sweet and inspirational romance. No erotica). I prefer contemporary but can be swayed by a spectacular historical. Just needs to be really hooky for me to latch onto a historical.
• SFF: Fantasy, science fiction, speculative fiction, paranormal, urban fantasy, first contact, portal fantasy, space opera, etc.
• Women’s fiction. (Big fan of southern settings and suspense elements in women’s fiction)
• I’d love to see more diverse creators writing from their cultural perspective.
• Would love an adult sci-fi in space, but from the perspective of if African culture dominated space. I want all that beauty surveying the cosmos.
• Inspirational/Christian fiction. (Mostly looking for romance and women’s fiction. I am not really looking for YA or MG Christian fiction).
• Tropey fun romance, rom-coms, romantic suspense, category Christian romance
• Romance with a time component (past/present timelines)

What I don’t’ rep:

• I do not rep picture books or really young kidlit, memoir, screen plays, non-fiction and erotica. Chapter books are a hard sell for me, as well as young adult and middle grade Christian fiction.

What I typically DO NOT see as a good fit for my list (ie, try another agent at my firm if they rep this, or try another firm with these kinds of projects):

• animal protagonists
• very young middle grade
• high-heat romance
• historical romance (unless it is SUPER hooky)
• inspirational/Christian historical romance

Submissions, etc.

• I only accept unsolicited queries via our Query Manager web site at https://querymanager.com/query/1032. Please address your query to me, and it will be reviewed by me! The account is shared by Spencerhill, so if you get an email back from Nalini, don’t worry, I still got it!
• I also blog on occasion at https://aliherringwrites.wordpress.com/ and host a Q&A, so come say hi and ask a question!
• I’m also on Twitter: @HerringAli

Submission Guidelines

Submissions should be emailed to https://querymanager.com/query/1032

Please submit queries addressed to my attention via Spencerhill’s Query Manager site at https://querymanager.com/query/1032. Unfortunately, I cannot consider projects submitted via LinkedIn or to my email address without a referral or personal request.

Guidelines & Details