If you'd like more info about things I'm looking for, visit my Manuscript Wishlist profile: https://www.manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/hillary-fazzari. To see all of my #MSWL tweets in one place, visit here: https://mswishlist.com/agent/HillaryFazzari

▶ If your work fits a #MSWL item I have or if I've liked one of your pitches in a contest, feel free to include note of that in your query or stick it in the "referral" box!
▶ I do sometimes like pitches in contests that are outside of the genres I take unsolicited queries in; if I liked your pitch or specifically asked to see your work *and* it's outside of the genres I take unsolicited queries in, there is a separate tag for that on my form below: "Pitch Hillary Liked: Other Genre". THIS TAG IS ONLY FOR QUERIES I HAVE PERSONALLY SOLICITED; you may use my regular tags if your work already fits under an area there.

Right now, I‘m ✨MOST✨ on the look out for:

✨ Highly accessible, super high concept kids books in all age bands;
✨ Select Adult upmarket/literary work that is also super high concept and feels fresh and hyper relevant; and
✨ Very commercial books for New Adult, Gen-Z, and Millennial audiences that feature sticky hooks and that feel like they’re doing something fun, new, and BIGGER with their genre.
✨ Adult Nonfiction in areas of History, Archaeology, Pop Culture, and Literature.

For Fiction, I currently only consider unsolicited queries that fall into the following categories:

✔️ MG and YA (all genres & age bands including lower MG, crossover between MG/YA, & crossover between YA/New Adult)
✔️ Graphic novels for kids, though only projects that have an illustrator attached
✔️ New Adult (all genres, and I consider "New Adult" to be like YA in tone but for a slightly older audience with room for spice)
✔️ Adult work that approximately fits in the following categories:
➣ Rom-coms and rom-com adjacent material (especially when projects feel like they’re evolving the genre ahead!);
➣ Horrormance, horrormantasy, & dark romance (big concept and not too gruesome, please, plus I like consent);
➣ Romantasy and mashups of SFF/romance including romantic dystopian (especially those that play with concepts or foundations of fandoms and/or pop culture but don't specifically mimic an already extent fandom like ACOTAR);
➣ Commercial or upmarket fantasy, speculative historical, and/or gothic works with a strong appeal to book club, romance, or women’s fiction audiences;
➣ High concept, upmarket work that explores family/culture/history à la THE JOY LUCK CLUB.

For Nonfiction, I focus on narrative nonfiction, specifically in areas of history, archaeology, literature, or pop culture; I do not typically represent memoir but am interested in books like AS YOU WISH: INCONCEIVABLE TALES FROM THE MAKING OF PRINCESS BRIDE which function as memoir/pop culture hybrids.

Querying me material outside of these areas will likely result in a pass unless I have specifically solicited the submission.

Overall, the biggest thing I look for in fiction queries is a protagonist who controls the direction of the story (as opposed to one who responds to the action), so essentially I look for protagonists with big agendas, important goals, and/or a drive that pushes the narrative forward. And I look for big relationships, excellent co-characters, and fun/intriguing premises that feel like something you’d want to read in one go, especially for kids' books.

Right now I’m *NOT MUCH* looking for:

❌ Books that are mostly character-driven, quiet, or introspective. Upmarket adult work can be an exception but will need a timely hook;
❌ Books where animals die;
❌ Books where there’s little hope or everything is dark and painful for the characters;
❌ Books featuring protagonists who are assassins because of the will of others or because they want revenge;
❌ Books with characters’ whose only motivations are anger or revenge (unless this is an empowering, fun revenge book);
❌ Elf or fae books reminiscent of ACOTAR;
❌ Cancer or terminal illness stories;
❌ “Issues” books (e.g., teen pregnancy, overcoming smoking, etc.), though I do want stories that include mental health rep and am actively looking for books that feature protagonists with chronic illnesses.