Alyn Wallace

My Manuscript Wish List Favorite

I’m looking for immersive, engaging writing; new research; an interdisciplinary slant; or a different perspective–things that can make even the most established subject feel refreshing. I’m acquiring adult, commercial nonfiction, with a particular focus on projects that help make readers’ lives better. It’s important to me that I can see what readers get from the book beyond entertainment—from a new perspective, to takeaways people can really act on, to knowledge. (If someone can apply an aspect of what they read to their lives, I dig it.) That could look like:

• pop history that helps readers understand how they occupy the present; 
• a book that puts high achievement in perspective, helping people avoid burnout and the pressure of expectations; 
• neurodiverse self-help;
• a book that helps people think outside the box about what they want from their lives; 
• new ways to learn and retain languages;
• a book that expands reader’s perspectives beyond their own communities;
• personal finance that (for women) isn't just budgeting and (for minorities) is about growth rather than survival.

If something is more narrative, I prefer quirky things or eccentric topics that the author translates to bring in a wider audience—think of the idea behind The Secret Lives of Color or about Greg Myre’s NPR article: “How The Olympic Medal Table Explains the World.” I am, in all likelihood, not the best fit for straight memoirs, biographies, or histories; hard science, true crime, or cookbooks—though I'm eager to be surprised by projects that I might not have even thought to like. (And, if it turns out that a project isn’t right for me, BenBella has a fantastic team of editors with whom I’m always happy to share agented submissions.) 

I am particularly eager to acquire books by diverse authors. Diversity, to me, means diversity of race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexuality, disability, nationality, region of the US, expertise, religion. I look at diversity with an eye for inclusion. In other words, I far prefer things that don’t confine writers who are BIPOC, for example, to topics surrounding DEI.

Submission Guidelines

Submissions should be emailed to alyn@benbellabooks.com

I am open to agented submissions.

BenBella accepts unsolicited proposals from authors through this form on our website. (We review and respond to all submissions.)

Vital Info

	alyn@benbellabooks.com
	@alynisme
	Website