Nina Richner
Howard Morhaim Literary Agency
My Manuscript Wish List®
Nina Richner is an agent representing adult fiction and narrative nonfiction. They joined HMLA in 2023 after earning their BA in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Ohio University in 2020 and graduating from the Summer 2023 Columbia Publishing Course.
Nina is looking for literary fiction, horror/thriller, contemporary fiction, queer fiction, and magical realism. They are drawn to emotionally complex characters, family sagas (especially those that focus on mothers and daughters, or similar dynamics), voice-driven novels, and untold queer stories. The weird is of perennial interest, particularly unsettling and strange stories that aim to move the cultural needle. They are always on the lookout for psychological horror, particularly queer horror novels.
Novels that have piqued their interest are BUNNY by Mona Awad, ALL FOURS by Miranda July, DARKENBLOOM by Eva Menasse, DETRANSITION BABY by Torrey Peters, MY GRANDMOTHER ASKED ME TO TELL YOU SHE’S SORRY by Fredrik Backman, WHERE’D YOU GO BERNADETTE by Maria Semple, and I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS by Iain Reid.
In nonfiction, they are most interested in narrative nonfiction such as memoirs and essay collections. Climate, psychology, and gender/queer studies are their top three categories of interest. Some favorite nonfiction titles include THE WATER WILL COME by Jeff Gooddell, IN THE DREAM HOUSE by Carmen Maria Machado, and BETTER by Arianna Rebolini.
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In all genres, I am looking for underrepresented voices and stories.
I’m hungry for:
- Fiction
- Books about weird little guys (gender-neutral)! Eccentric detectives, business people who are off their rocker, modern-day hermits, disturbed murderers, unethical politicians–send me your weird little guys
- Protagonists that would fall into the “I support women’s wrongs” trend
- Mothers and daughters who have a ships-in-the-night emotional relationship
- Queer psycho-sexual horror
- Serious and quiet books that make me cry
- Legal thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Empathetic and meticulously researched memoirs that tackle a narrow or niche social issue (Arianna Rebolini’s BETTER has had a choke-hold on me since I read it)
- Climate science for a laymen audience–particularly if it’s a persuasive book that leans optimistic about solutions for the climate crisis, and especially if that optimistic solution is revolutionary in nature
- Stories from and about anarchists
- Queer nonfiction of any sort
- Memoirs in translation
Fun facts about me:
I play an inordinate amount of Magic: The Gathering, and I watch YouTube video essays more frequently than I watch television shows.
I have a dog (mini-schnauzer) and a cat (…breed unknown). They both live with me and my partner in our little Brooklyn apartment.
I hate answering the “where are you from?” question, because my family immigrated from Switzerland, I was born in Oregon, I grew up in Texas, and I spent my early adulthood in southeastern Ohio. I now live in Brooklyn, and tend to respond to this question with “oh, you know, all over”.
Vital Info
Favorite sub-genres:
AAPI Horror, Accessible Literary Fiction, Activism, Adult, Adult Horror, Adverse Childhood Experiences, African Diaspora, Asian American Literature, Asian Diaspora, BIPOC, BIPOC Horror, BIPOC Mystery, Biography & Memoir, Book Club, Books about books, Character-Driven Horror, Climate Fiction, Commercial Women's Fiction, Commercial and Literary, Crime & Thriller, Crime Fiction, Cross-genre, Cultural Criticism, Dark Female Friendships, Dark topics with a light touch, Diaspora Narratives, Disability, Diverse Protagonists, Domestic Fiction, Domestic Suspense, Domestic Suspense/Thriller, East Asian Literature, Ecology, Economics, Engaged Activism, Experimental, Family Drama, Feminism, Feminist Horror, Gaming, Geek Culture, Grief, High Concept, Horror Comedy, Humor, Immigrant Voices, Indigenous Futurism, Intersectionality, Issue-Driven, LGBTQ Contemporary, LGBTQ+, LGBTQ+ Sci-Fi, LGBTQIA, LGBTQIAP, Latine Diaspora, Latinx Horror, Literary Fiction, Literary Horror, Literary Science Fiction, Literary Thriller, Low Fantasy, Magical Realism, Marginalized Voices, Mental Health, Minority Voices, Monsters, Mothers and Daughters, Multicultural, Multicultural and Diverse Thriller and Mystery, Multigenerational, Multiple Timelines, Mysteries, Mystery / Crime, Narrative Nonfiction, Near future, Neurodiversity, New Adult, New Weird, Own Voices, POC, Paranormal Horror, Paranormal Thriller, Poetry, Political Thriller, Politics/Current Affairs, Pop Culture, Pop History, Psychological Horror, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thrillers, Racial Justice, Sci-fi Thriller, Sexuality, Smart Beach Reads, Social Issues, Social Justice, Social Science, Solarpunk, Somatics, Southern Literary, Speculative, Speculative Fiction, Speculative Thriller, Suspense, Sustainability, Thriller, Transformative Justice, Trauma, Upmarket Commercial Fiction, Upmarket Fiction, Upmarket Nonfiction, Upmarket Women's Fiction, West African Literature, Women's Fiction, Women's Issues, afrofuturism, alternate history, anti-capitalist sci fi, body horror, book club fiction, books in translation, coming of age, contemporary, court intrigue, current affairs, diverse and own voices, domestic thrillers, dramedy, eco-fiction, family saga, gender, horror, literary mystery, mental illness, nonfiction, psychology, queer, queer horror, queer narratives, realistic fiction, stories that don't fit neatly into a genre, visible disability, weird fiction, whimsical
I’d like the next…
ALL FOURS by Miranda July
DETRANSITION BABY by Torrey Peters
LILLIAN BOXFISH TAKES A WALK by Kathleen Rooney
ON EARTH WE’RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS by Ocean Vuong
HARLEM SHUFFLE by Colson Whitehead
LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE by Celeste Ng
My favorites include…
- WHERE’D YOU GO BERNADETTE by Maria Semple
- DETRANSITION BABY by Torrey Peters
- ALL FOURS by Miranda July
- NORMAL PEOPLE by Sally Rooney
- ANCILLARY JUSTICE by Ann Leckie
- SUCH A FUN AGE by Kiley Reid
- MY SALINGER YEAR by Joanna Rakoff
- Star Wars: Andor
- Gilmore Girls
- The Virgin Suicides (book and movie!)
- But I’m a Cheerleader!
- Superman (2025)
- Some Like It Hot
- Kiki’s Delivery Service
- Silence of the Lambs
- Rosemary’s Baby
- Brooklyn 99
- The Residence
- Pokerface
- If Books Could Kill – podcast
- Maintenance Phase – podcast
- Behind the Bastards – podcast
- In Bed With the Right – podcast
