Gabby Colangelo
Ballantine Bantam Dell
My Manuscript Wish List®
Hi! I’m Gabby, and I’m an editorial assistant at Ballantine Bantam Dell acquiring fiction and nonfiction. I’m looking for commercial and upmarket fiction, especially romance, horror, and mysteries—really, anything that uses old-school genre conventions in fresh ways.  I love a sharp voice, unusual premises, and a grounded speculative twist. In horror, I am drawn to a maximalist sensibility that offers a surprising look at social or cultural issues. My dream romance projects are spicy, angsty, and compulsively readable. I am always excited to work with queer and system-impacted writers on both fiction and nonfiction projects.
I love genre fiction of all varieties. I love romance and horror for many of the same reasons—I love a book that presents a unique ‘promise of the premise’ (i.e. a fun cross-genre hook) and then follows through to stick a cathartic, heart-in-mouth landing.
Super-specific manifestations:
- X files style skeptic/believer romance, bonus points if it’s sapphic, bonus points if there’s real aliens. Think CONTACT (1997) style maximalism but add the swoony soulmates Mulder/Scully arc.
- SAPPHIC COWBOY romance (especially butch/butch or butch/femme…)
- The book version of LOVE LIES BLEEDING: gory, over-the-top sapphic horror/romance.
- The book version of PEARL: give me all the campy feminist slashers.
- Contemporary horror about the criminal-legal system
- Page-turning mysteries that don’t glorify incarceration
- Modern-day gothics and twisted haunted house stories, especially books that balance creepy narrators with an accessible commercial voice—I’m always chasing the WE HAVE ALWAYS LIVED IN THE CASTLE high.
- Nun-related genre fiction. Slasher? Erotic romance? Stay playful.
- Mob/mafia romance, especially with Carmela Soprano/Furio forbidden love vibes.
- I love classic romcoms—I’m a Meg Ryan superfan and watch BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY 3+ times a year. Bring me romances with voicey, electric narrators, including those with a playful speculative twist—think KATE & LEOPOLD.
Fun facts about me:
Before joining Ballantine in 2024, I worked in the nonprofit world, for many years in higher education in prison, and then planning literary events in prisons across the US. I got my BA in English from Yale and a MPhil in Gender Studies from Cambridge and have worked as an archival producer for various public humanities and journalism institutions, including the New York Times.
Submission Guidelines
I only accept agented submissions.
Vital Info
Favorite sub-genres:
#ownvoices, AAPI Horror, Adult Horror, Adult Rom Com, Adult SFF, Commercial adult fiction, Contemporary Romance, Dark Female Friendships, Feminist Horror, Feminist SF/F, Gothic Horror, Horror Comedy, LGBTQ Romance, LGBTQ+, LGBTQ+ Sci-Fi, LGBTQ+ rom coms, Literary Horror, Mythic Horror, New Adult, Occult, Occult Horror, Occult Nonfiction, Paranormal, Paranormal Horror, Paranormal Romance, Psychological Horror, Racial Justice, Southern Gothic, Tarot, Time Travel Romance, aliens, alternate history, anti-capitalist sci fi, beach reads, body horror, classic retellings, commerical women's fiction, diverse and own voices, enemies to lovers, erotic romance, gender, ghost story, gothic romance, horror, just one bed, just... all the tropes, locked room, love stories, narrative non-fiction, queer, queer horror, rom-coms, science fiction horror, sweet romance, two people one bed, witchcraft, witches
I’d like the next…
Fang Fiction, Kate Stayman-London
Mistakes Were Made, Meryl Wisner
A Novel Love Story, Ashley Poston
Patricia Wants to Cuddle, Samantha Allen
Camp Damascus, Chuck Tingle
Tender is the Flesh, Augustina Bazterrica
Devil House, John Darnielle
My favorites include…
The Sopranos, The X-Files, Pushing Daisies, Abbot Elementary, Chewing Gum
Mistakes Were Made, Silver Nitrate, Our Share of Night, Glorious Exploits, The Dead Romantics
But I’m a Cheerleader, Death Becomes Her, Bottoms, Bridget Jones’s Diary, The Shining
