Send a Query to Rebecca Podos at Neighborhood Literary

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I'm a Senior Agent and Managing Partner at Neighborhood Literary, with fifteen years of experience as a literary agent. A complete list of my clients' published and upcoming projects can be found on my personal website, Rebeccapodos.com.

Two notes:

1. You do not have to address me by any honorifics in your query letter; in fact, I prefer just "Becca"!

2. I do not, nor will I ever, use generative AI as a part of my reading, editing, or writing process.

In YA and Adult Fiction, I'm looking for:

- Character-driven fantasy rooted in folklore and culture, featuring diverse characters, myths, and monsters

- Queer cozy hopepunk sci-fi like Automatic Noodle, A Psalm for the Wild-Built, and Moss’d in Space

- Horror as a vehicle for exploring identity, otherness, and trauma

- Genre crossovers and subgenres written from fresh perspectives (horror romance, speculative mystery, etc.)

- Queer book club fiction with gorgeous prose and a strong hook

- Queer and/or BIPOC romance and romcoms. Steam (in adult romance!) is very welcome but not required

- Cozy mysteries and Knives Out-style mysteries for younger readers

- SFF with a strong romantic element, or romance with a strong SFF element. Send your sweeping, sexy Kushiel’s Dart-style epics, please!

In Nonfiction (reading selectively) I'm looking for:

- Deep dives into nerdy topics like TTRPG’s, cosplay, fandoms, and related pop culture, that combine expertise and storytelling

- Kid lit centering queer history

- Explorations of sustainability through an intersectional lens, food justice, urban gardening, and our relationship to the land

- Historical nonfiction that feels personal (Think Here Where We Live is Our Country by Molly Crabapple)

Niche requests I'd love to see:

- Grannycore Horror (a knitting club musters to banish a cosmic entity!)

- YA DnD-core romantasy

- Queer upmarket survivalist thriller (Iditarod horror?)

- Cozy horror/thrillers with humor (give me anything that feels like "Wayward Pines")

I am not currently looking for:

- Picture books, chapter books, or MG books

- Self-help or business nonfiction

- Dark romance (heavier themes and discussions are fine, I just prefer the fluffy side)

- Mysteries and thrillers with police protagonists or love interests

- Across-the-aisle political romance

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