PLEASE NOTE: I update this MSWL occasionally. Updated 4/22/26.

BIO

Since 2015, Lori has built a list at Aevitas Creative Management of exceptional, bestselling storytellers whose work has been featured widely in national media, translated around the world, and optioned for film and television. Drawing on decades of publishing experience including her years as an editor at Houghton Mifflin, her clients have been recognized by the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Lilly’s Library, the Good Morning America Book Club, the NAACP Image Awards for Literature, James Beard Awards, IACP Cookbook Awards, NPR’s Books We Love, the Mark Twain Voice in American Literature Prize, the New York Times Best Thrillers and Mysteries of the Year, the International Thriller Writers Awards, and the Crime Writer Association’s Ian Fleming Steel Dagger.

Lori specializes in upmarket fiction with strong commercial (often a commercial premise/plot with literary execution). Psychologically layered narratives are especially appealing. including mystery, crime, suspense, book club, contemporary fiction, historical fiction, lightly speculative fiction.

MSWL

Thank you so much for querying me. I am looking forward to reading your work. Please consider submitting to one agent at a time at Aevitas--the one who you best thinks fits your work.

Please check the genres I'm looking for on this platform. Note that I DO NOT represent fantasy, romantasy, poetry, or screenplays.

I look for strong, confident storytelling from the very first page—writing that blends compelling plots with emotional resonance. Your manuscript should give readers something to talk about: a twist, a moral dilemma, an unforgettable voice, a love story they’ll root for, or a mystery that lingers in their minds. I’m drawn to fiction that explores the interior lives of characters under pressure—stories about grief, love, obsession, belonging, and the ways people endure. I represent literary suspense and psychological thrillers and there may be a horror crossover (think horror for people who don't normally read horror), but I’m equally interested in emotionally immersive upmarket/literary fiction and historical novels that feel timeless rather than purely historical.

A few clients include:Wanda M. Morris ALL HER LITTLE SECRETS, ANYWHERE YOU RUN, WHAT YOU LEAVE BEHIND (WILLIAM MORROW) Forthcoming, 2027 THIS NEVER HAPPENS HERE (DUTTON)

Nishita Parekh THE NIGHT OF THE STORM (DUTTON)

Tamara Miller, INTO THE FALL (THOMAS & MERCER)

Phoebe Rowe, SWAN LIGHT (LAKE UNION)

Sara Goudarzi, THE ALMOND IN THE APRICOT (DEEP VELLUM)

Recent sales:

Kelly Young Chang's THE SINS OF GOOD PEOPLE, pitched for fans of THE GOD OF THE WOODS, about a small, idyllic town clinging to its tightly held secrets when the body of a local woman washes ashore two years after her disappearance, to Kate Roddy at akaSTORY, at auction, by Lori Galvin at Aevitas Creative Management (NA).

Polish American author of SEEING STRANGERS Sebastian J. Plata's INTRUSIVE BEHAVIOR, a queer standalone dark academia suspense novel about an impressionable gay American student whose semester studying abroad in Poland with a glamorous, ultra-wealthy host family turns into a nightmare that makes him wish he never left home, to Rachel Slatter at Severn House, with Tina Pietron editing, for publication in August 2026, by Lori Galvin at Aevitas Creative Management (world English).

Kevin C. Morris's UNTAMED COAST, about a man driven to unravel a mystery of stolen gold, secret codes, and murder, spanning decades along the wild Alaskan coast, braiding multiple points of view to explore the connections among lives shaped by time, loss, and the allure of a harsh yet captivating landscape, to Alicia Clancy at Ballantine, at auction, by Lori Galvin at Aevitas Creative Management (NA).

Writers (outside of clients) I admire. Lily Brooks Dalton, Will Dean,Tim Johnston, Alma Katsu, Jessica Knoll, Danya Kukafka, Clare Lesley Hall, Peter Heller, Attica Locke, Jess Lourey, Claire Mackintosh, Charlotte McConaghy, Celeste Ng, Alex North, Maggie O'Farrell, Tom Perrotta, Tracey Sierra, Peter Swanson, Lisa Unger, PJ Vernon, Ruth Ware, Laura Zigman.

On my TBR: The Radiant Dark by Alexandra Oliva, Kin by Tayari Jones,

Notes:

I pass on many manuscripts because they're not aligned with what I'm looking for. I also often pass on manuscripts because they are not ready for an agent. The author has not received feedback from another (unbiased) reader. It's critical to have your work read by a beta reader--someone who is an avid reader and even better, a writer in their own right. I expect to work with authors editorially (and enjoy the process) but I will do my best work if you've gotten your manuscript as far as you can take it. Thus, I strongly encourage debut writers to work with beta readers, critique partners, writing workshops, and so on to develop their writing as much as possible.

Take advantage of all the excellent resources for writers out there, many with online access. Organizations and sites like AWP (Association of Writers and Writing Programs), WritersHelpingWriters.net, Loft Literary Center (with online classes), Grub St., or if you have a speciality like mysteries or thrillers check out Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers (ITW), Horror--HWA (Horror Writers of America), Historical Novel Society, as well as podcasts and newsletters The Sh*t No One Tells You About Writing, Book Riot, The 5 a.m. Writers Club, The 7 a.m. Writers Club...there are lots more. Check out substack for more information. I recently stumbled on the author Andrea Bartz's substack, Get It Right, where she has a wonderful list of actual query lettters that have secured authors representation.

Meet and develop relationships with other writers, which you can also do online. Building a community with other writers will be invaluable to you.

TIP: Don't discount the time you spend THINKING about your story--the time you spend turning your story over in your mind, thinking about characters and their back stories—thinking about anything to do with your story is just as critical as the act of getting your story down on paper. And of course revising is also critical.

TIP: Read your pages aloud--no matter the genre, you'll be able to 'hear' when something isn't smooth, when it's overwritten, when you've overused a word or phrase too many times, and more.

TIP: Read avidly in your genre AND outside of it. It will make you a better writer.

Signing Writers. I've signed and sold the work of many authors through this platform. Some of these authors got passed over by other agents. It's not necessarily because I have a good eye (though I do!), it's because the authors never gave up and have continued to work on their craft and have made it so much better that when it was sent to my inbox, it was ready. If an agent gives you feedback, take it under consideration.

I don't have the capacity to respond personally to every query I receive. But if I do have any specifics that I think will be meaningful, I try to include them.