Sarah N. Fisk

Sarah N. Fisk is a former mechanical engineer who made the switch to publishing in 2011. They have worked in the publishing industry as an editorial assistant, author’s assistant, publicist, and art director. Sarah is a former Pitch Wars mentor, board member, and Agent Liaison. They host the podcast Queries, Qualms, & Quirks and have a passion for spreadsheets. Sarah is one of the founding members of Disability in Publishing. Updated info and a full FAQ can always be found at www.sarahnfisk.com.

In 2025, Sarah will be open to queries on the first five days of every month.

Basics:

• Young Adult (all fiction genres)
• Middle Grade (all fiction genres)
• Adult Romance
• Adult Science Fiction, Fantasy, and everything under the speculative fiction umbrella except gory horror
• Adult Book Club Fiction
• Upmarket Women’s Fiction
• Adult Mystery/Thriller
• Select Adult nonfiction

Particular Areas of Interest:

• books that are fun to read
• atmospheric fantasies or contemporary stories that feel like atmospheric fantasies
• speculative mysteries or mysteries woven into other genres
• books that challenge societal norms, especially gender norms
• personal interest in stories featuring queer characters
• personal interest in characters with disability, neurodiversity, chronic illness, or mental health challenges
• incredible or unhinged sibling relationships (think: siblings who will kill for each other or kill each other (or both!))
• authentic small town, southern, midwestern, or Appalachian settings
• weird Florida from Florida residents
• intriguing villains
• vibrant characters I can’t get out of my head
• smart heroines
• con artists who are not cis men
• books that are compulsively readable
• social justice issues woven into commercial plots
• themes: anticapitalist, pro-labor, conservationism, anti-disaster capitalism, etc

For Adult SFF

• I especially love grounded fantasy and near-future sci-fi.
• I am particularly looking for books with a strong hook and plot, but also very strong writing (aka upmarket SFF)
• No Military Sci-Fi, please
• Not for me: anything that comps Game of Thrones, Goblin Emperor, or a Memory Called Empire
• I’m open to cozy fantasy but it must have a strong hook
• Time travel is difficult for me
• No: Sci-fi concepts about AI

For Adult Romance

• Pretty much all subgenres that are traditionally published
  • but historical needs to have a high concept, a nice hook, and/or a great voice for me
• I prefer romance books with a medium or high heat level, or a lot of sexual tension
• No pregnancy or baby-based storylines, please (it’s not triggering, I’m just not interested!)
• Romance has a happy romantic ending, by definition
• Not particularly interested in celebrity or writer main characters

For nonfiction

• Primarily interested in books with a social justice angle, progressive thought leadership OR
• Books that provide a new perspective on culture, food, current affairs, finance, food, history, science, nature, or relationships.
• Author platform is very important
• Especially interested in disabled or neurodiverse creators, especially those writing from an intersectional lens
• If the book could’ve been an older You’re Wrong About episode, I’d like to see it
• Other areas of interest: scam/fraud, capitalism, labor interests, chronic illness, environmental/climate change, cryptids, non-murder mysteries, relationship equity, or books that make me FASCINATED with a topic I previously didn’t care about (a la THE JOY OF SWEAT)
• Nos: parenting, religion, memoirs without one of the first two bullet points.

For Adult Mystery/Thriller

• I’m most interested in either: books that really have something to say (Kellye Garrett, Alyssa Cole, Nita Prose) AND/OR:
• books that are capital-F Fun.
• Not for me: anything extremely military or CIA-focused

Not for me:

• Gory horror (psychological & some horror elements are ok! Horror in MG is great)
• I am not interested in stories that center around who gets to rule an empire
• I cannot read stories that center around sexual assault or have on-the-page rape scenes
• Stories where the world-building is only misery and cruelty
• Graphic Novels
• Writing that is very literary
• Portal fantasies
• Stories set in recent historical times (80s, 90s, aughts) need to have a solid reason for the time period for me, i.e. that story cannot be told in any other time. (If you set it in that timeline because modern technology would make the story impossible, it’s a no for me)
• Any adult genres not listed above
• Disabled characters who serve solely as an able-bodied main character’s catalyst.
• Demonization of mental health medication.
• If the main motivation is related to being a parent, it’s probably not for me.
• Romances between a minor and a non-minor that are not critiqued on-the-page
• Animal protagonists

Submission Guidelines

If your book sounds like something I would like, please submit via this form. If you’re not sure if your book would be a fit, as long as it fits in the “Basics” section, go ahead and submit!

Submission Materials include:

• Metadata
  • Title
  • Genre
  • Wordcount
  • Name
  • Email
  • Everything else is optional
• Query
• Synopsis
  • should tell what happens in the entire story from beginning to end, including all spoilers and twists.
  • A synopsis is different from the description used in the query.
  • 1 to 2 single-spaced pages is an ideal length, but use the space you need
• First three chapters
  • If you have a chapter-length prologue, consider that one of the three. If it is a short prologue (2 pages or less), still include 3 additional chapters
  • If you don’t have chapters, submit 25 manuscript pages.
• Content warnings (there is a separate field for this)

For non-fiction: place the query/cover letter in the Query section, the Chapter Outline in the Synopsis section, and all other proposal materials in the Sample section.

All materials are copy and pasted into the form.

I assume that all submissions are simultaneous. There is no need to inform me of full requests from other agents. Please inform me if you have received an offer of representation from another agent.

Guidelines & Details