Melanie Figueroa

Part of what makes this job so magical is that you often don’t know what you want until you find it. It’s this act of discovery that’s always fueled me as a reader, and I bring a lot of that energy into my work as an agent, too.

I’m looking for the kind of stories that both create and sustain life-long readers, books that keep people on the edge of their seats and evoke an emotional connection—something that makes readers want to sigh with contentment, laugh, cry, or burn the world down right alongside your characters. I find I am drawn to immersive settings and like to take delight in twists I didn’t anticipate. On the kidlit side of my list, I am especially looking for stories with BIG stakes and BIG emotions—a sweeping romantic fantasy that’s as beautiful as it is tragic, characters who will go to the end of the world to get what they want and protect the ones they love. I love cinematic writing, snappy dialogue, and nuanced, richly-portrayed characters with personalities that fly off the page.

I believe we seek books for escape and connection, that the art of storytelling is both something innate and ancient, and that we write about monsters to show how we can both defeat and become them. The skill and power authors wield is pure magic. My job as an agent is to marry that art with commerce.

Submission Guidelines

Please query me at querymanager.com/melaniefigueroa.

Guidelines & Details