Sera Rivers

I represent middle grade and young adult fiction and graphic novels, as well as very select picture books. I’m especially interested in inclusive narratives and authentic representation by children’s authors and illustrators who identify as BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ and other underrepresented and marginalized identities and cultures.

Please don’t send:

• picture books or chapter books about death/grief
• rhyming picture books
• adult fiction or nonfiction
• author-only graphic novels
• demonic possessions
• historical fiction
• high fantasy (or any fantasy traveling to other lands)

Specifically looking for:

Sera is especially interested in inclusive narratives and authentic representation. She welcomes queries by children’s authors and illustrators who identify as BIPOC, LQBTQIA+ and other underrepresented and marginalized identities and cultures.

Young Adult: Sera loves fast-paced, compelling, and mind-bending stories with unreliable narrators. She enjoys stories that incorporate setting as a character (such as Stolen by Lucy Christopher) and twisting plots with endings that are surprising yet inevitable (such as They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera; Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chboksy). She would love to see contemporary stories that tackle tougher topics (such as Medusa by Olivia A. Cole and Forgive Me Not by Jennifer Baker), especially if they incorporate a magical element to them (such as We Are the Antsby Shaun David Hutchinson and The Moth Girl by Heather Kamins); horror (no demonic possessions); psychological thrillers; speculative fiction, including ghost stories, and fantastical elements to our world (no high fantasy). Sera is also interested in novels in verse.

Some of her favorite YA authors include Elizabeth Acevedo, Shaun David Hutchinson, Walter Dean Myers, Amy Reed, Adam Silvera, Courtney Summers, Aiden Thomas, Renée Watson, and Nancy Werlin.

Middle Grade: Sera is seeking adventure stories; horror (no demonic possession); speculative fiction, including ghost stories, and fantastical elements to our world (no high fantasy). Sera is also interested in novels in verse.

Some of Sera’s favorite MG authors include Katherine Applegate, Erin Dionne, Janae Marks, Lynda Mullaly Hunt, Rebecca Stead, and Jacqueline Woodson.

Graphic Novels (author/illustrator only): As an experienced graphic novel publishing professional, Sera would love to represent more graphic stories in all genres of the children’s market, especially stories with a parallel imaginative or magical elements to them (such as Pashmina by Nidhi Chanani).

Some of Sera’s favorite graphic novelists include Cece Bell, Jerry Craft, Victoria Jameson, David Small, and Gene Luen Yang.

Select Picture Books: Sera is only looking for specific picture books in the following categories: horror—author-illustrator only for horror (such as Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds and Peter Brown; Bone Dog by Eric Rohmann); and authentic stories about historically excluded identities, communities, and histories.

Some of Sera’s favorite picture book authors and illustrators include Deborah Freedman, Ezra Jack Keats, Jon Klassen, Larissa Marantz, Yuyi Morales, Kadir Nelson, Raul the Third, Dan Santat, Allen Say, and David Weisner.

Submission Guidelines

Submissions should be emailed to https://querymanager.com/query/serarivers

For novel submissions, please include your query letter and the first ten pages of your manuscript.

For graphic novel submissions, please include your query letter and the first ten pages of your script. Please attach sample pages of art or character designs, or send a link of sample pages; please send a link to your portfolio.

For picture book submissions, please include your query letter and the full manuscript. For author/illustrators: please attach sample pages of art, or send a link of sample pages; please send a link to your portfolio.

PLEASE NOTE: I only accept queries via Query Manager. I respond to every query I receive, even if it is a pass. I’ll do my very best to reply to queries within 16 weeks and full manuscript requests within 4–6 months.

Guidelines & Details