Taylor Geldermann
Sourcebooks
My Manuscript Wish List®
I’m looking to acquire both fiction and nonfiction in Adult and New Adult categories. I also help run the Calendar/Other imprint for Sourcebooks, so I’m interested in any nonfiction that may work well in calendar, journal, gift book, or other playful formats!
I am drawn to works with a distinct voice, with characters that grab hold of you and don’t let go, or anything with a high concept that might be deemed a bit “weird” or “unusual”! New twists and takes on beloved genres and tropes is always a plus.
Some of my favorite fiction tropes are: found family, burn the world for you (except they REALLY will), villain redemption, hero-to-villain arc, morally gray characters, the power of friendship!, betrayal, heists, grizzled and world-weary mentor assists child with heroic duties, sunshine character loses their mind to protect their lover/friends etc., etc.
Some of my current favorite nonfiction subjects center around mental health/neurodivergence and psychology more broadly.
I am particularly passionate about diverse works, and I am on the lookout for books with queer, BIPOC, and neurodivergent characters and by authors with these identities!
**I am only accepting agented submissions at this time.**
Fun facts about me:
- I was born and raised in Chicago, and I went to school at the University of Iowa where I pursued a B.A. in English (Publishing Track) and a B.A. in Psychology! I also received a Certificate in Publishing from the Denver Publishing Institute in 2021.
- I’m rarely at my computer without my 15-year-old yorkie who grumbles her opinion at regular intervals.
- I consistently lose many hours to Archive of Our Own reading about characters who never became or will never become canon.
- I still firmly believe that Zuko from Avatar the Last Airbender has one of the best redemption arcs of all time in any media.
- My Spotify Wrapped top song is always that song I played 200+ times that one random week in March.
- My hobbies include watching the Watcher channel on YouTube or Lord of the Rings lore videos and wandering aimlessly in Barnes & Noble with a pair of headphones on.
Submission Guidelines
Submissions should be emailed to taylor.geldermann@sourcebooks.com
I’m Currently Looking For…
Fiction:
· Fantasy – high, epic, urban, dark, cozy, folklore-inspired, etc.
· Romantasy (low/medium/high spice OK)
· Contemporary Romance (low/medium/high spice OK)
· LGBTQ+/queer fiction and/or romance
· Dark Academia
· Graphic Novel (fantasy, romance, mystery/thriller, horror)
Nonfiction:
· New takes on contemporary issues with a narrative slant
· Self-Care
· Mental Health: burnout/stress, anxiety, inner-child/healing, boundaries
· Neurodivergence/Disability
· Guided journal, sticky notes, calendars (open to adapting existing work into “Other” format)
Right Now Please Don’t Send Me…
· Children’s fiction/nonfiction
· YA (unless there is crossover appeal)
· Historical fiction
· True crime
· Spiritual/religious/inspirational fiction or nonfiction
Vital Info
Favorite sub-genres:
#ownvoices, Adult Romantasy, BIPOC, Classic retellings with BIPOC characters, Commercial adult fiction, Complicated Relationships, Contemporary Fantasy, Contemporary Romance, Cozy Fantasy, Cross-genre, Cultural Criticism, Dark Female Friendships, Dark Humor, Dark topics with a light touch, Disability, Diversity, Dystopia, Ensemble Casts, Epic Fantasy, Experimental, Fairytale Retellings, Fantasy, Fantasy Romance, Female Friendships, Feminist, Gaming, Geek Culture, Gothic Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Hauntings, High Concept, High Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Illustrated/Gift, Immigrant Voices, Inspirational/Gift, Intersectionality, LGBTQ+, Layered Family Stories with multiple narrators, Low Fantasy, Magic, Magic Realism, Marginalized Voices, Mental Health, Modern Retellings of Fairy Tales, Modernized Mythologies, Monsters, Mothers and Daughters, Multicultural, Multiple POV, Multiple Timelines, Mythic, Narrative, Neurodiversity, New Adult, Occult, POC, Paranormal, Pop Culture, Popular Science/Psychology, Racial Justice, Reference & Social Sciences, Retellings, Rom-com, Romance, Science Fiction and Fantasy Favorite sub-genres: Absolutely all of them!, Self-help, Series Romance, Sexuality, Shakespeare Retellings, Social Issues, Social Science, Speculative Fiction, Steamy RomComs, Supernatural, Tarot, Trauma, Underrepresented Voices, Upmarket Fiction, Upmarket Nonfiction, Urban Fantasy, Wellness, Worldbuilding, bad at feelings, campus novel, character-focused fiction, classic retellings, creatures, crossover adult, crossover appeal, dark academia, dark fantasy, diverse, diverse and own voices, enemies to lovers, epistolary novels, erotic romance, fairy tales, found family, friendship, gender, ghost story, gothic romance, hopepunk, hurt/comfort, interactive, invisible disability, just one bed, just... all the tropes, mental illness, non-Western fantasy, non-western settings, nonfiction, pining, psychology, queer, queer horror, queer narratives, quirky, rivals to lovers, slow burn, slow burn romance, stories that don't fit neatly into a genre, thoughtful graphic novels, traditional fantasy, tropes tropes tropes, two people one bed, visible disability, weird fiction, whimsical, who did this to you, witchcraft, witches
I’d like the next…
Fiction: Adult version of Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, Sarah J. Maas-expansive fantasy romance series, and novel form of The Magnus Archives podcast.
Nonfiction: Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents by Lindsay C. Gibson, Set Boundaries, Find Peace by Nedra Glover Tawwab, and Divergent Mind by Jenara Nerenberg.
My favorites include…
My favorite…
Books
- Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
- The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
- Babel by R.F. Kuang
- The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
- We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal
- Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
- Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White
- Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
- How to Keep House While Drowning by K.C. Davis
- Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking The Stress Cycle by Emily and Amelia Nagoski
- Unmasked by Ellie Middleton
- Different, Not Less by Chloe Hayden
TV Shows
- Shadow and Bone
- House of the Dragon
- Rings of Power
- Peaky Blinders
- The Umbrella Academy
- Killing Eve
- Queen’s Gambit
- The Haunting of Hill House
- Hannibal
- Merlin
- Sherlock
- The Witcher
- Sex Education
- Anne with an E
- Fleabag
- Yellowjackets
- The Last of Us
Video Games
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Dragon Age Inquisition
- Final Fantasy 6, 7 (OG/Remake/Rebirth), 14-16
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, Breath of the Wild
- Red Dead Redemption 2
- God of War
