Suzie Townsend

SUZIE TOWNSEND is an agent at New Leaf Literary & Media, Inc.

Prior to joining New Leaf, Suzie graduated film school, earned her Masters of Education, taught high school English, and coached a swim team. In her spare time, she read everything she could, which prompted her move to publishing. She got her start as an intern at FinePrint Literary Management where she was hired as an assistant before making the move to literary agent. She’s been part of the team at New Leaf Literary & Media since its inception in 2012. Suzie loves strong characters and voice-driven stories that break out of the typical tropes of their genres, and she’s always looking for unique new voices in stories.

SUZIE IS LOOKING FOR: Women’s Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Romance, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Young Adult and select literary Middle Grade. She’s especially looking for inclusive and diverse stories with new and unique voices in all genres and age groups.

In all spaces, she’s eager to read something fun or funny that will leave her feeling warm and inspired and just all around good at the end (like how she felt after watching Kpop Demon Hunters for the first time!)

In Women’s Fiction, she’s looking for upmarket bookclub fiction, historical that explores cultural heritage particularly untold non-European historical events, contemporary fiction that exposes a new light on a topical issue, or that features quirky, dysfunctional families. She also loves stories with a touch of magic or speculative elements in the vein of Sarah Addison Allen or Alice Hoffman. She’s also especially interested in stories that have a thread of mystery or feature complicated protagonists who have secrets.

In Romance, she’s a fan of strong characters with agency who are proactive participants in their own stories. She enjoys when the heroes/heroines act against their stereotypes and surprise her while still being swoonworthy. She’s open to contemporary, historical, fantasy or paranormal romances and loves high concept trope driven stories of any heat level (though she has a particular fondness for a great slow burn). Some of her favorite authors to read for pleasure (outside of her own clients!) are Courtney Milan, Emily Henry and Nalini Singh.

In SFF of all age groups, Suzie loves voice-driven stories with rich worlds that manage to appeal to popular tropes but also do something new with them at the same time. She’s a huge fan of atmospheric settings where the world is so rich that it functions almost like an additional character in the story. She’s excited about stories rooted in history, mythology or legend, especially those that are lesser-known or underrepresented in traditional publishing. She credits Elizabeth Haydon for getting her back into reading fantasy once she was out of college, and her love for Jacqueline Carey and Anne Bishop’s worlds are what inspired her to get into publishing (she kept asking herself how could she just read for a living?).

In YA, she’s particularly looking for authentic teen voices and raw emotional stories that will make her laugh, cry, and swoon in novels that will sit in her mind long after she’s closed the book. Some of her YA favorites are Chime, Jellicoe Road, Shatter Me, Born Wicked, I’ll Give You the Sun, Before I Fall, Grown, More Happy Than Not and You Should See Me in a Crown.

And in Middle Grade, she’s not looking to take much new on at the moment, but she is always a sucker for literary and character driven stories with poignant prose, no matter the setting or subgenre. In addition to the novels she’s worked on, some of her favorites are Savvy, When You Reach Me, The Thing About Jellyfish, Brown Girl Dreaming, Inside Out and Back Again, and The Girl Who Drank the Moon. She’s also an animal lover and a sucker for beautifully written emotional stories that involve animals like A Dog’s Way Home and Pax.

Suzie loves novels with a commercial hook, compelling storytelling, and beautiful writing, and she’ll follow a character that she loves anywhere. She’s excited to add more writers of diversity (including, but not limited to, all ethnicity, sexual orientation, mental and physical health, and socioeconomic status) to her list.

Submission Guidelines

Submissions should be emailed to https://QueryTracker.net/query/suzietownsend

Guidelines & Details