Alice Speilburg
Speilburg Literary Agency
My Manuscript Wish List®
Alice Speilburg is the founding literary agent at Speilburg Literary Agency and has worked in publishing since 2008. She represents commercial fiction and narrative nonfiction. In fiction, she’s looking for stories that sidestep into history, magic, mystery, horror, or adventure. In nonfiction, she’s looking for cultural narratives, microhistory, nature, and pop science written by journalists and academics.
March 2022: I’m actively looking to grow my list again! I’m now accepting new submissions in NONFICTION through June 17. After that, I’ll open to novels again starting in July 2022.
In Nonfiction, I want to read about topics I didn’t realize I wanted to learn — an obscure disaster that has global ramifications, a species whose extinction could bring about the end of a long line of an animal family, a food industry whose story demonstrates an aspect of our society — something seemingly small that tells a broader story, and stories that start conversations.
I’m also interested in strong women historical narratives, travel/adventure narratives, culturally-engaged history narratives that look at how we came to be where we are, music books that go beyond the a basic biography narrative, environmental/conservation narratives, true crime.
In Fiction, I’d like to see unconventional narrators in overlooked settings, like a BIPOC woman of a certain age who runs a car repair shop in northern Wisconsin, or trans man who sings in the church choir in the bible-belt South. Settings in the South or in so-called flyover country are rich with complex people and stories, and I’d love to represent more novels that showcase this.
Fiction genres I’d like to see: historical novels from fresh and unique perspectives, women’s fiction that has thriller and/or horror elements, high-stakes mystery novels with female protagonists, fantasy that imagines fresh worlds with non-Western roots or fantasy that springs from newer American folk magic (especially Appalachian), contemporary fantasy that explores a dark version of childlike magic. I like darker elements, especially when they’re woven deeply and subtly into the atmosphere of a novel.
Across the board, I’m looking for an inclusive cast of characters, across gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, and mental health spectrums.
DO NOT SEND…
- Memoir: I tend not to be the right fit for memoir unless it is focused on a specific topic (a la Bill Bryson, Sy Montgomery, where the memoir piece is simply a first-person exploration of the topic at hand).
- Young Adult: I’m tightening my list and will not take on any new clients writing YA.
- Poetry, screenplays, picture books, middle grade, which I have never represented.
Fun facts about me:
Before I turned my sights on publishing, I thought I might be a veterinarian. I worked at a vet clinic all through high school, and started college as an animal science major. If you need to ID a cow breed, I can probably help you out.
Submission Guidelines
Submissions should be emailed to http://queryme.online/AliceSpeilburg
Vital Info
Favorite sub-genres:
Feminism, History, Nature, narrative non-fiction, upmarket genre fiction
I’d like the next…
Pop Science Narratives that inform some particular quirk of our human nature or the world around us, like SOUL OF AN OCTOPUS, ON TRAILS
Pop Science Narratives that tie closely with political discussions regarding the environment, social issues, etc., like INFERIOR, OVERRUN, LOST MOUNTAIN
Nonfiction Narratives that weave history or science through memoir, like THE OREGON TRAIL
Nonfiction narratives that focus on the intersection of two — perhaps unlikely — subjects, like WAR AND WINE, EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
Journalistic Narratives that focus on a specific place, thing, or circumstance to show something about our culture at large, like JANESVILLE, THE GOOD GIRLS REVOLT, GHOSTLAND, WILD ONES
Historical Fiction that reimagines factual events, especially crimes or mysteries, like BURIAL RITES, THE BALLAD OF TOM DOOLEY, THE LAST DAYS OF NIGHT
Historical Fiction told from a fresh and unique perspective, like THE ALICE NETWORK
Women’s Fiction that oscillates between modern and historical perspectives like THE DOLLHOUSE
Historical Fiction that sidesteps into magic, like OUTLANDER, A SECRET HISTORY OF WITCHES, THE MONSTERS OF TEMPLETON
Fantasy based on American folklore, earthy and magical, like AMERICAN GODS
Fantasy that contains mythical elements, like THE BIRD KING, THE GOLEM AND THE JINNI, THE BEAR & THE NIGHTINGALE
Adventure Fantasy with fresh and unique magic, like A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC, THE BOOK OF DUST
Police Procedural Mysteries that are grounded in both a unique investigator and an evocative setting like the ARMAND GAMACHE series and the ALEX MCKNIGHT series
Psychological Thrillers with smart female protagonists, like THE STRANGER INSIDE
My favorites include…
Authors: Jane Austen, Diana Gabaldon, Elly Griffiths, Beatriz Williams, Alan Bradley, Louise Penny, Philip Pullman, G. Willow Wilson, V.E. Schwab, Mary Roach, Erik Larson
TV: Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Grantchester, Castle, Victoria, Downton Abbey, Outlander, Game of Thrones, Star Trek
