Allegra Martschenko

Allegra is currently only open to authors of color (writing anything) or marginalized writers whose books fit Allegra’s dream projects list (see below)

Allegra is looking for beautifully written science fiction and fantasy books by marginalized authors in the young adult, crossover, and adult space.

ADULT
They are looking for SFF stories that draw on the author’s expertise and culture to build vivid worlds. Their tastes lean fantasy (especially higher fantasy), but they’d love SF books that read like fantasy. They appreciate a romance subplot, especially if it’s queer, but there are so many types of love—it doesn’t need to be romantic!

YA and CROSSOVER
Allegra prefers older YA and is open to crossover. Here they are again open to science fiction and fantasy only (though a variety of sub genres are very welcome)—think books with big emotions and writing that’s sharp enough to bite.

Here are some concepts/tropes/elements that will perk their ears up:

• Romantic subplots (especially if it’s queer!); polyamory
• Worlds that can be described as “lush”
• Settings that feel alive/anything with developed architectural elements (eg., PIRANESI, STRANGE THE DREAMER)
• Found family; friendship stories; family stories; sibling dynamics; generational conflict
• Stories that draw on cultural history or myth to explore our present
• Mortals wrestling with gods/godlike powers
• Magic in some form; esp object or action based magic…eg magic based on tea (MAGIC STEEPED IN POISON) or music (LIGHT FROM UNCOMMON STARS)
• New spins on demons/robots/any supernatural creature/especially vampires
• Characters wrestling with gender where that isn’t the whole plot
• Feral characters doing feral things

Do not query: Allegra doesn’t have hard nos, but is unlikely to take on books about fertility, books set at a magic school/featuring a school/centering around a trial, books with talking animals, books set in reality show environments, WWI or WWII books, dream heavy/dream centric books, books featuring witches, and/or Greco-Roman myths. They also seem to be struggling with fantasy quest books at the moment (unsure why)!

Submission Guidelines

Allegra is currently only open to authors of color (writing anything) or marginalized writers whose books fit Allegra’s dream projects list (see above)

All queries must be submitted through Query Manager [querymanager.com/AllegraMartschenko]. It will ask for your query and first 5 pages.

Please do not query more than one agent at Ladderbird at a time. If two agents like your work it could result in bloodshed and we try to keep that to a minimum.

Guidelines & Details