Hilary will open to queries 4/22/2024.
Hilary joined the KT Literary team in 2016 to support office operations and assist with queries and manuscripts, began taking on clients in 2017, and has now been promoted to full agent with a growing list of clients and sales. She graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder, with a degree in Anthropology and went on to work in the back office of a major Swiss Investment Bank for eight years before deciding to trade numbers for letters. When not reading or editing for clients, or writing stories of her own, Hilary likes to hike the Rockies with her family and dreams of one day owning her own horses.
As an agent, Hilary partners with her growing list of clients to develop their projects in preparation for submission and strategizes to help them build long-term writing careers as published authors. She’s highly communicative, empathetic, and supportive as an agent–tailoring her approach to each client’s unique needs, acting as a strong advocate, and helping them navigate the business side of publishing their work.
She has a penchant for fully-developed characters who leap off the page and into her heart (even if they’re not always the most lovable), for tightly plotted stories that show her new ways to look at the world, for elegant prose, lush atmosphere, strong emotional resonance, and for stories told from diverse perspectives so that more children and young people can find themselves inside the pages of the books we help create. She’s currently looking for middle grade and young adult projects both realistic and fantastic, as well as picture books, chapter books, and graphic novels from author-illustrators.
Specific wishlist items:
Stories from BIPOC, LGBTQ+ authors and any other traditionally marginalized groups
Rich and culturally informed fantasy worlds across audiences
ALL the YA romantasy (from tepid to steamy), crossover potential, LGBTQ+, BIPOC, non-western, folkloric, cozy, quests a la Princess Bride
Witty romcoms for YA a la ALWAYS THE ALMOST by Edward Underhill
YA romance with literary flair a la THE LANGUAGE OF CHERRIES by Jenn Marie Hawkins
Gothic, Southern Gothic, and Postcolonial Gothic fiction
Anything set in Louisiana – I’d love a YA Southern Gothic #ownvoices story. Give me mystery, dark magic, the bayou, Cajun or Creole culture.
Fast-paced, twisty thrillers especially if they’re set in the woods. Psychological, suspenseful, speculative.
YA mysteries a la DARK AND SHALLOW LIES by Ginny Myers Sain.
Atmospheric horror (not so much on the gore)
Genre-bending speculative
Sweeping, immersive YA historical about an obscure aspect of history. Think Ruta Sepetys. #ownvoices #alternatehistory a plus.
Gorgeous literary prose
Atmosphere is key – lush & immersive for all genres – transport me! For a great sense of my taste here – check out Deva Fagan’s A GAME OF NOCTIS – soo immersive.
Horror, puzzle mysteries, humor, adventure, inventive fantasy – MG
More picture book subs please!! – culturally grounded, #BIPOC and #queer authors, slice of life, humorous, insightful, lyrical, author/illustrator. I have a few as-yet-unannounced sales in this category that will highlight my tastes well, but you can also check out AN OFRENDA FOR PERRO and TAKE ME TO LAOLAO for examples!
Not looking for:
Issue books, animal protagonists
I don’t have any specific triggers, so please note there are no trigger warning requirements when querying me.
Books that I love/projects that got away:
TURTLES OF THE MIDNIGHT MOON, ALWAYS THE ALMOST, DARK AND SHALLOW LIES, THE HACIENDA, PORTRAIT OF A THIEF, A GAME OF NOCTIS, BY ANY OTHER NAME
Fun facts about me:
I have three kids, two cats, a dog, and used to teach kids (not my own) how to ride horses. I’m a huge football fan – go Broncos, go Buffs! And I love music. All types. It’s like air to me. Favorite artists? Biggie, De La Soul, The Lumineers, Ray LaMontagne, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Otis Redding.
Fun fact? I went to high school with John Mayer (yes, THE John Mayer), James Blake (former pro-tennis player), and Justin Long (actor).
Submission Guidelines
Submissions should be emailed to querymanager.com/HilaryHarwell
The agency has recently switched to Query Manager to handle all queries and requested materials submissions. Please visit our agency website – ktliterary.com/submissions for further submission details. I aim to reply to all queries within two weeks of receipt.
Guidelines & Details
Fiction:
Children's, Middle Grade, Picture Books, Young Adult
Favorite sub-genres:
#Dis, #ownvoices, #wndb, AAPI Fantasy, AAPI Horror, Accessible Literary Fiction, Action-Adventure, African Fantasy, Asian American Literature, Asian Diaspora, Asian Fantasy, Asian Horror, Author-Illustrator, Author-Illustrators, BIPOC, BIPOC Fantasy, BIPOC Horror, BIPOC Mystery, Children's, Children's and Young Adult Fiction and Nonfiction, Classic retellings with BIPOC characters, Clever picture book, Commercial MG, Commercial YA, Contemporary Fantasy, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary YA, Cozy Fantasy, Cozy Mystery, Cozy mysteries, Crime Fiction, Dark topics with a light touch, Diverse Protagonists, Diversity, Fairytale Retellings, Fantasy, Fantasy Grounded in Reality, Fantasy Romance, Fantasy YA, Fiction Picture Books, Folklore, Found Families, Funny MG, Gothic, Gothic Fantasy, Gothic Horror, Graphic Novels, Grounded, Grounded fantasy, Hauntings, High Concept, High Fantasy, High-concept YA, High-concept YA/MG, Historical Fantasy, Historical Fantasy; Fantasy Grounded In Reality, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction YA, Historical mysteries, Humor YA, Illustrators and Author/Illustrators, Immigrant Voices, Indigenous Futurism, Intersectionality, LGBT YA, Latine Diaspora, Latinx Fantasy, Latinx Horror, Latinx stories, Literary Crossover, Literary MG, Literary Middle Grade, Literary YA, Literary YA & MG, Literary YA/MG, Low Fantasy, MG, MG Action Adventure, MG Fantasy, MG Horror, MG Nonfiction, MG Sci-Fi, MG adventure, MG contemporary, MG mystery, MG/YA, Magical Realism, Magical Realism YA, Marginalized Voices, Middle Grade, Middle Grade Adventure, Middle Grade Contemporary, Middle Grade Fantasy, Middle Grade Graphic Novels, Middle Grade Horror, Middle Grade Humor, Middle Grade Mystery, Middle grade magical realism, Monsters, Multicultural, Multicultural Romance, Multicultural and Diverse Thriller and Mystery, Mysteries, Mystery / Crime, Mythic Horror, Nonfiction Picture Books, Novels in Verse, Occult, Occult Horror, Occult Nonfiction, Own Voices, POC, Paranormal, Paranormal Horror, Paranormal Romance, Paranormal Thriller, Picture Book, Picture book non-fiction, Post-apocalyptic, Psychological Horror, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thrillers, Racial Justice, Retellings, Romance, Romantic Suspense, STEAM, STEM, SWANA Fantasy, SWANA Horror, Slice of life, Smart Beach Reads, South Asian, South East Asian Literature, Southern Gothic, Speculative, Speculative Fiction, Speculative Middle Grade, Speculative Thriller, Steampunk, Steamy RomComs, Strong Females, Supernatural Horror, Suspense, Thriller, Thrillers, Time Travel, Time Travel Romance, Underrepresented Voices, Urban Fantasy, Verse, Whodunit, Worldbuilding, YA, YA Contemporary, YA Contemporary Romance, YA Contemporary Romance with layers, YA Crossover, YA Fantasy, YA Historical Fantasy, YA Mystery, YA Nonfiction, YA Rom-Coms, YA RomCom, YA Romance, YA Romantasy, YA Thrillers, YA fantasy/light sci-fi, YA horror, YA memoir, YA rom com, YA thriller/mystery, YA/MG graphic novel, Young Adult, Young Adult Non-Fiction, afrofuturism, alternate history, beach reads, chapter books, children's diversity, children's graphic novels, coming of age, commercial middle grade, contemporary middle grade, dark academia, dark fantasy, diverse, diverse and own voices, diverse voices, enemies to lovers, fiction and non-fiction picture books, found family, friendship, friendship stories, gaslamp fantasy, ghost story, gothic romance, high concept fiction, historical, horror, middle grade non-fiction, mystery, narrative non-fiction YA/MG, picture books, psychology, queer, queer horror, queer narratives, read-alouds, rivals to lovers, rom-coms, romantasy, romantic fantasy, romantic suspense/mystery, slow burn, slow burn romance, small-town romance, spooky mg, subversive, sweet romance, traditional fantasy, traditional mysteries, tropes tropes tropes, whodunnit, witchcraft, witches, witty
I’d like the next…
Grisha series. The Scorpio Races. The Hate U Give. Rules for Stealing Stars. Out of My Mind. Seraphina and The Black Cloak. The Night Gardener. Wilder Girls. Sadie. When You Know What I Know. The Poet X. Firekeeper’s Daughter. The Ones We’re Meant to Find. The Hacienda. Always The Almost.
My favorites include…
Old Books I love: Bridge to Terabithia, The Hobbit, Black Beauty, The Black Stallion series, Hatchet, The Call of the Wild, White Fang, Island of the Blue Dolphins, The Westing Game, James and the Giant Peach, THE BFG, IT, A Wrinkle in Time, The Secret Garden
Movies I Love: The Neverending Story, Willow, The Princess Bride, Usual Suspects, Reservoir Dogs, Silence of the Lambs, Tommy Boy, Monty Python’s The Holy Grail, Braveheart