Hilary Harwell

Hilary will open to queries 4/22/2024.

Hilary joined the KT Literary team in 2016 to support office operations and assist with queries and manuscripts, began taking on clients in 2017, and has now been promoted to full agent with a growing list of clients and sales. She graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder, with a degree in Anthropology and went on to work in the back office of a major Swiss Investment Bank for eight years before deciding to trade numbers for letters. When not reading or editing for clients, or writing stories of her own, Hilary likes to hike the Rockies with her family and dreams of one day owning her own horses.

As an agent, Hilary partners with her growing list of clients to develop their projects in preparation for submission and strategizes to help them build long-term writing careers as published authors. She’s highly communicative, empathetic, and supportive as an agent–tailoring her approach to each client’s unique needs, acting as a strong advocate, and helping them navigate the business side of publishing their work.

She has a penchant for fully-developed characters who leap off the page and into her heart (even if they’re not always the most lovable), for tightly plotted stories that show her new ways to look at the world, for elegant prose, lush atmosphere, strong emotional resonance, and for stories told from diverse perspectives so that more children and young people can find themselves inside the pages of the books we help create. She’s currently looking for middle grade and young adult projects both realistic and fantastic, as well as picture books, chapter books, and graphic novels from author-illustrators.

Specific wishlist items:

Stories from BIPOC, LGBTQ+ authors and any other traditionally marginalized groups

Rich and culturally informed fantasy worlds across audiences

ALL the YA romantasy (from tepid to steamy), crossover potential, LGBTQ+, BIPOC, non-western, folkloric, cozy, quests a la Princess Bride, crossover potential a plus

Witty romcoms for YA a la ALWAYS THE ALMOST by Edward Underhill

YA romance with literary flair a la THE LANGUAGE OF CHERRIES by Jenn Marie Hawkins

Gothic, Southern Gothic, and Postcolonial Gothic fiction

Anything set in Louisiana – I’d love a YA Southern Gothic #ownvoices story. Give me mystery, dark magic, the bayou, Cajun or Creole culture.

Fast-paced, twisty thrillers especially if they’re set in the woods. Psychological, twisty, suspenseful, speculative.

YA mysteries a la DARK AND SHALLOW LIES by Ginny Myers Sain.

Atmospheric horror (not so much on the gore)

Genre-bending speculative

Sweeping, immersive YA historical about an obscure aspect of history. Think Ruta Sepetys. #ownvoices #alternatehistory a plus.

Gorgeous literary prose

Atmosphere is key – lush & immersive for all genres – transport me! For a great sense of my taste here – check out Deva Fagan’s A GAME OF NOCTIS – soo immersive.

Horror, puzzle mysteries, humor, adventure, inventive fantasy – MG

More picture book subs please!! – culturally grounded, #BIPOC and #queer authors, slice of life, humorous, insightful, lyrical, author/illustrator. I have a few as-yet-unannounced sales in this category that will highlight my tastes well, but you can also check out AN OFRENDA FOR PERRO and TAKE ME TO LAOLAO for examples!

Not looking for:

Issue books, animal protagonists

I don’t have any specific triggers, so please note there are no trigger warning requirements when querying me.

Books that I love/projects that got away:

TURTLES OF THE MIDNIGHT MOON, ALWAYS THE ALMOST, DARK AND SHALLOW LIES, THE HACIENDA, PORTRAIT OF A THIEF, A GAME OF NOCTIS, BY ANY OTHER NAME

Submission Guidelines

Submissions should be emailed to querymanager.com/HilaryHarwell

The agency has recently switched to Query Manager to handle all queries and requested materials submissions. Please visit our agency website – ktliterary.com/submissions for further submission details. I aim to reply to all queries within two weeks of receipt.

Guidelines & Details