Britny Perilli

Britny Perilli (she/they) is an associate editor at Running Press, acquiring for both adult non-fiction as well as children’s fiction and non-fiction lists. As a nerd, she loves to work on and publish books that explore and celebrate fandom, specific areas of nerdy culture, and the amazing communities that make them up. While all voices are welcome, she is specifically  interested in hearing from Black, AAPI, Latine, LGBTQA+, disabled, and other marginalized voices offering their perspectives and work in the areas of pop/geek culture and fandom, and she is prioritizing work by those writers.

Young Adult Fiction

Currently, Britny is looking for upbeat, contemporary stories that are packed with humor, tenderness, and joy. Britny is prioritizing writers from Black, AAPI, Latine, LGBTQA+, differently abled, and other marginalized communities and YA featuring queer, disabled, and protagonists of color are welcome and valued.

Stories celebrating or focusing on fandom or geeky spaces are very much appreciated and she is also open to contemporary stories with very light speculative elements. Britny’s goal is to be the foremost geeky fiction editor, so please send all the nerdy, geeky stories and MCs her way!

Britny’s list is very small (roughly 3-4 titles a year), so she is very selective about her projects.

PLEASE DON’T SEND:

• Science fiction, fantasy, mystery, thrillers, or other “straight” genre projects
• Projects centered solely on shipping or fanfic writing
• Projects centered on pregnancy or that center on a pregnant MC
• Issue-driven projects where the central conflict revolves around topics like drugs, murder, rape or rape-culture, etc.

Please note, in an effort to better prioritize her time and respond to agents in a timely way, any YA sent that falls into these categories or includes these themes or topics will be automatically deleted.

For YA fiction projects and proposals, Britny is looking for . . .

• Nerdy, geeky Black, Asian, Latine, LBGTQA+, disabled protagonists
• Authors and illustrators from Black, AAPI, Latine, disabled, and other marginalized communities
• Contemporary, upbeat, hopeful, entertaining writing voice
• Modern retellings, mashups, and adaptations of “traditional” stories or tropes with a geeky or queer twist
• Passionate protagonists with geeky or nerdy hobbies and/or interests including (but not limited to) manga or graphic novel writers, tabletop gamers, podcasters, voice actors, cosplayers, video game devs, etc.
• Celebration of fandom or pop culture centered competitions, communities, or spaces including (but not limited to) after school clubs, conventions, video game, cosplay, or craft competitions, movie/film festivals, etc.

Adult Non-Fiction

RP Entertains is Running Press’ non-fiction list offering entertaining, informative, voice and format-driven books for enthusiastic fan and their communities. She is especially excited and is actively prioritizing proposals from writers from from Black, AAPI, Latine, LGBTQA+, disabled, and other marginalized communities writing about fandom and pop culture. She is also working on a wide variety of licensed IP books and products, and is always open for new writers for these work-for-hire projects.

For adult non-fiction projects and proposals, Britny is looking for . . .

Middle Grade & Young Adult Non-Fiction

RP Kids is focusing on non-fiction book projects that “delight, inspire, and entertain” and authors that write with passion, have a unique perspective, and a style that is informative, but also fun. Britny’s wheelhouse is specifically in areas of fandom, pop culture culture, and the amazing communities that make them up. She is specifically interested in hearing the perspectives of writers and illustrators from Black, AAPI, Latine, LGBTQA+, disabled, and other marginalized communities and is prioritizing work by those creatives at this time.

MG and YA non-fiction projects and proposals, Britny is looking for . . .

• Books on the following topics:
  • video games
  • tabletop RPGs
  • comics and graphic novels
  • anime and manga
  • cosplay
  • film-making
  • television
  • iconic/beloved properties, mediums, and genres (specifically science fiction, fantasy, horror, and mystery)
• Illustrated anthologies and guides that tap into the topics above
• Interactive or heavily illustrated books and products that tie into the topics above.
• Unique format-forward ideas that tie into the topics above like guidebook and card deck, storytelling game with book, content rich guided journals
• Voice-driven explorations and celebrations of popular mediums, topics in fandom, or genres including video games, comics, manga, anime, tabletop gaming, film, etc.
• Fun, Illustrated guides and how-tos for nerdy young creatives including topics like making a tabletop role-playing game, making graphic novels, cosplaying, podcasting, etc.

Submission Guidelines

Submissions should be emailed to britny.perilli@hbgusa.com

I’m currently only accepting submissions and proposals from agents.

If I have asked for your proposal or manuscript because of a specific pitch event please send your full proposal with sample material or the first 5 Chapters of your novel as attachments with the subject line that let’s me know which Pitch event this proposal was from (for example: #DVPit Query) and include your pitch and a short bio in the body of the email.