Jess Verdi

Senior Editor Jess Verdi has spent the last 15 years in romance and commercial fiction editorial at both Big Fives and indie pubs. An author herself, Jess has a 360-degree view of the publishing industry, and enjoys working with authors to bring exciting, thought-provoking, and heartstring-tugging stories to the world. Does the project have great writing, an original hook, and commercial appeal? If so, Jess would love to see it!

For her Alcove list, she’s especially seeking hooky, steamy romance (all gender pairings) and fresh, commercial book club fiction.

For Crooked Lane, she’s looking for feminist/progressive thrillers, mysteries, and horror.

Throughout her career, it has been of the utmost importance to Jess to work with BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and other historically marginalized voices to bring their work to the publishing landscape—and this remains truer than ever!

What to send Jess:

• Selling hooks! (Think: Describe the premise in one sentence and watch people’s eyes light up with intrigue.) If you can’t immediately name what’s fresh, exciting, and different about your project, it’s probably not the right fit.
• Stories that are fun as hell
• LGBTQ+ stories
• Feminist stories
• Stories by POC authors about POC characters
• Steamy romances
• Feminist and/or queer horror
• Feminist and/or queer thrillers
• Stories where magic or the paranormal intersect with the real world
• Reality-based stories that tackle important subjects (mental health, civil rights, complex family dynamics, etc.)
• Beach reads
• Commercial premises paired with literary voices

What NOT to send Jess:

• Stalker books
• Characters with daddy issues
• Religious-themed stories
• Alpha/”possessive” MMCs
• “Evil ex” trope
• Mafia books
• Dark romance
• Horse girl stories (love horses, just not super into that fiction category)
• Road trip/European trip stories about “finding yourself” (unless it has a very unique take)
• Mass shooting books
• Children’s or YA

Submission Guidelines

Unagented authors: 

• Please submit a query letter, full plot synopsis (which includes all major beats of the novel including the ending), and your first two chapters via Query Tracker.

Agents/agented authors:

• Please submit via the usual channels.

Guidelines & Details