Tasneem Motala

Tasneem Motala is currently working as an Assistant Agent under The Rights Factory. She is looking to work with authors writing character-driven Picture Books, YA, Graphic Novels, and Adult fiction, with or without a touch of magic.

As much as she’d love to represent the things that made her into the adult she is today, like Beyblade and Yu-Gi-Oh!, Tasneem will happily immerse herself in stories that give her that same sense of joy but for older audiences. Contemporary adult-aimed books on the power of friendship, nostalgia, bittersweet endings, second chances, and regrets like those told in anime like Flavors of Youth and Barakamon, are always on her radar.

All of this being said, Tasneem also has proven time and  time again to step outside of her comfort zone and help facilitate new trends and ideas. Intrigued by the convergence of speculative fiction and societal contemplation, Tasneem is currently captivated by sci-fi tales that delve into the multifaceted realms of futurism, cyberpunk, and the exploration of humanity from marginalized perspectives. She seeks narratives that challenge conventional notions, daringly exploring what it truly means to be human in a rapidly evolving world.

Lately she’s been very drawn to the ideas and themes explored in certain literary fiction and sci-fi books including two on her 2023 TBR: The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo and The Moonday Letters by Emmi Itäranta.

Some things that don’t spark joy include Dystopian YA, anything with a super heavy focus on real world events, politics, or social issues, and stories that glamourize triggering subjects. She’s also not a fan of stories with animal protagonists (as much as she wants to be a cat mom, she never got into the Warrior Cats series, but she does love Sonic the Hedgehog).

Tasneem’s QueryManager is a safe space for marginalized writers who want to share their stories, but she does take queries from those who don’t identify under that umbrella as well.

Submission Guidelines

Currently I’m putting more focus into finding some romance and sci-fi/speculative projects. I’d also love to see some picture books in the mix!

Otherwise, things I’m definitely not looking for and that will get auto-rejected:

NO memoirs or self-help books.
NO screenplays or scripts.
NO dystopian YA fiction.
NO contemporary books with a heavy focus on real world current events, politics, and social issues.

Guidelines & Details