Amy Nielsen

The Purcell Agency

My Manuscript Wish List®

Opening at 6:00 pm on Friday, January 31, 2025 through 6:00 pm Sunday, February 2nd.

Hi Amazing Author!

I am excitedly on the hunt for Contemporary Thrillers (less than 90K words) both Young Adult and Adult in these sub-genres: psychological (ex. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn), suspense (ex. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty), mystery (ex. Lying in the Deep by Diana Urban), domestic suspense (ex. None of This is True by Lisa Jewell).

Unfortunately, I am not the best fit for Thrillers that fall into these subgenres: action, medical, police procedural (crime), science fiction, paranormal, spy, legal, or political.

Amy

The manuscript wish list below is not the current list, but I’m leaving it for when I do open up for other genres:)

Across all age ranges, I’m looking for pacey, plot-driven, and succinct stories that take place in immersive settings. My favorite genres are:

  • Contemporary
  • Dystopian
  • Horror
  • Issue-driven
  • Paranormal
  • Political
  • Romance
  • Speculative
  • Suspense
  • Thriller

PICTURE BOOKS:

  • Hyperbolic, zany storylines that teach a life lesson—even subtle
  • Laugh-out-loud stories to simply entertain
  • Comps to Robert Munsch and Michael Marchenko
  • Supplementary educational materials

MIDDLE GRADE:

  • Characters who think, act, and talk like real middle graders
  • MG main characters who have unique hobbies or whose parents have unique careers

YOUNG ADULT:

  • Contemporary issue-driven plots where teens find themselves in situations they aren’t equipped to handle, but eventually figure it out.
  • YA main characters who have unique hobbies or whose parents have unique careers

ADULT FICTION:

  • Contemporary women’s fiction where main characters are shattering glass ceilings despite obstacles and defying stereotypes
  • Male leads who also defy stereotypes.

I wouldn’t be the best fit for:

  • Epic fantasy (if your story features a dragon or fae—probably not for me)
  • High-concept sci-fi (if most of your story doesn’t take place on Earth—probably not for me)
  • Historical fiction (unless it’s the 80s or 90s then bring it on) I’m fine with dual timelines if the majority of the plot is in a contemporary setting.
  • I’m fine with some on-page-steam, but not if the plot centers around it.
  • Literary (If your story isn’t plot-driven—probably not for me.)
  • Nonfiction (I will take the odd NF especially if it’s about social injustice, parenting, and neurodivergency.)

For all queries, I recommend checking out these resources I created so you know what I’m looking for craft-wise.

Ten Steps Authors Should Consider Before Querying

My Top Ten Self-Editing Tips

Polishing Your Submission Packet Before Querying (INCLUDES MY FREE QUERY TEMPLATE WEBINAR)

Fun facts about me:

I spent nearly twenty years on the other side of the writing aisle as a youth librarian both at the elementary and middle school levels. Daily immersion in story took root and I began penning my 2024 Young Adult debut Worth It at my checkout desk.  When my youngest son was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, I left the library to be home while he was little. That led me to write It Takes a Village How to Build a Support System For Your Exceptional Needs Family and Goldilocks and the Three Bears: Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorder. All three books are published with Wild Ink Publishing.

Now that he’s a big boy, he and I do big things together! We were recently in the upcoming short film about nonverbal autism Mandy’s Voice featuring autism advocate and supermodel Rachel Barcellona and actress Karen Sillas. It’s currently hitting film festivals!

Being a librarian most of my adult life, I’m extremely disheartened at the book-banning epidemic in our country. This inspired me to become the lead anthologist on the upcoming anthology Uncensored Ink: A Banned Book Inspired-Anthology. You can find submission guidelines for it here.

When I was a librarian, I was fortunate enough to also teach Television Production, and one project I always had my students complete was to make a book trailer for a favorite book. This led me to start Mayflower Media to help authors create trailers for their books.

I also run the Author(ish) podcast with author Dana Hawkins where we work to share practical advice and tips to aspiring and emerging authors.

You can find out more about me on either of my websites Big Abilities or Amy Nielsen Author 

When I’m not reading or writing I’m usually cruising the waters of Tampa Bay with my family and our boat dog, Sandy!

 

 

Submission Guidelines

Submissions should be emailed to https://querymanager.com/query/AmyNielsen

When open for submissions, please review my POLISHING YOUR SUBMISSION PACKET BEFORE QUERYING at www.amynielsenauthor.com at the bottom you’ll be able to see my free query template webinar.