Austin Ross

I have been in publishing and editorial in various capacities for the past decade and joined HarperCollins as a senior editor in early 2022. I have worked with and acquired a wide variety of authors, including multiple #1 New York Times bestsellers, celebrities, politicians, and more, and have established connections and relationships with leading literary and entertainment agencies across the country and around the globe. I am actively acquiring and am building my list of titles for Harper Horizon, Harper Select, Harper Muse, and HarperCollins Leadership. I primarily acquire for Horizon, Select, and Muse, but am open to leadership proposals as well.

UPDATE: I am now acquiring fiction! See below for more details.

The books I’ve acquired have been instant top 10 New York Times bestsellers, top 20 bestsellers on Amazon in all books, People Magazine Best Books picks, Amazon Editors’ Picks, Oprah Daily‘s 25 Most Anticipated Books of the Year, and have received starred reviews from major trade magazines. Additionally, I am a frequent guest speaker and faculty member of writers’ conferences around the country.

What I am interested in:

I am drawn first and foremost to story. I read widely across genres, but I will always be drawn to narrative. Tell me a fascinating and compelling story. While I acquire a number of nonfiction genres, what I am most interested in at the moment are the untold stories of what life is like in the United States, and the ways in which we can find connection and common ground. This could be history, memoir, current events, biography/autobiography, music, science, parenting, self-help, and more. Through the books I acquire, I want to center a wide variety of diverse voices that speak to the many facets of life in America—past, present, and future—in a way that ultimately informs, moves, and inspires the reader in some way.

For fiction, my tastes range from commercial to upmarket to literary fiction. The writing is always important, but when it is combined with a plot that compels me to keep turning pages, I’m hooked. I’ll always love a good literary thriller. Some of my favorite writers are Dan Chaon, Barbara Kingsolver, Don DeLillo, Noah Hawley, Zadie Smith, and lots of others.

Submission Guidelines

Submissions should be emailed to austin.ross@harpercollins.com

I only accept agented submissions at the moment.