Send a Query to Rachel Estep at D4EO Literary Agency

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Hi! I can't wait to read your query and I'm so excited that you've chosen to send it to me! Please look through my UPDATED wishlist before you hit send! Please note; while I may use the help of a Reader/Screener to help sort my inbox, it means a lot to me that you've chosen me and I want to assure you that MY eyes will see every submission. Submissions made now may or may not see responses until mid summer based on my current workload.

Adult Romance
I am looking for emotionally intense, high-heat love stories with real stakes. Give me desperate yearning, forbidden relationships, morally gray love interests, forced proximity, competitive tension, or secret identities.

I would especially love:

  • A high-heat take on Bring It On or Make It or Break It
  • Power dynamics with emotional payoff
  • Love stories where the characters should not fall for each other but absolutely do. 
  • Comedic, hooky situations
  • Jewish, Indigenous, AAPI, and BIPOC characters. 
  • Queer Dark Romance a-la Rina Kent
  • Queer Sports Romance, bonus if it's a unique sport. 
  • In the NA space, I love college settings. Give me a sorority girl and a mathlete.
YA Romance

Basically the same as above but without the spice, and nothing dark. It has to be so, so hooky. I LOVED The Price and The Apocolypse by Kara McDowell. If it can feel like a 90's rom com, like Drive Me Crazy, I love that!

Adult Thriller / Smart Horror / Speculative Edges

I love a tightly wound, contained thriller with escalating tension and psychological depth. I am especially interested in:

  • Isolated settings like islands, snowy mountains, etc.
  • Elite or insular communities. (The rich are corrupt!)
  • Female rage
  • High-stakes secrets unraveling

Think smart, atmospheric horror in the vein of Hemlock Island or A Killing Cold. Both 5 star reads for me.

For me, it has to have a romantic thread no matter what genre. 

Dystopian Romance (Adult or NA)

I desperately want a spicy dystopian romance, particularly post-climate apocalypse. Think The 100, but focused on the people left behind. I want survival, power shifts, desperation, and heat under pressure.

Give me:

  • Dead worlds
  • New government systems errupting
  • Survival-based tension
  • Romance forged in collapse
I'm really open to all Dystopian and Post apocalypse stories, but I need them to have a romance.  

Adult Historical Fiction: 

I especially love gothic historicals, but I am open to a lot of things.
I love stories that center women the most. Real women, like The Switchboard Soldiers, Queen of Thieves, Fly Girls.

YA / NA / A Fantasy/Romantasy

I'll be honest I am really fatigued with Fantasy and not the best fit for most things, but a few things I am always open to:

  • Fresh takes on deadly trials
  • Hunter/hunted dynamics
  • Game systems
  • Rebellions
  • Sentient settings
  • Morally gray heroines. Let girls be angry. Violent. Messy. 
  • Villain-coded love interests

If it feels immersive, dangerous, and romantic, send it. I LOVE sentient things, dark and rotting worlds, etc. I think Bone magic is super cool. 
I think about Where The Flowers Bloom by Andrea Hannah every day of my life.

Dark YA

Games gone wrong. Tight-knit circles of lies. Absolute heart-pounding drama. Romance as a B-plot. I LOVE locked room style things, dark academia, people dying, people lying, every chapter end with me desperate for what happens next. I love when these reflect the messy truth of being a teen. The high school drama, the manipulation, etc. I would love to see one trapped in a church for a sleepover kind of thing actually.

Non Fiction: 

I really want to see true crime about famous cases. Really well known ones. I would also love to maybe see homesteading guides and stuff about foraging and living off grid. 

In all areas, I am keen to see Jewish characters and openly Bisexual characters, but any diversity is very welcome. 
Also, in all areas, I am a huge Swiftie. If you can make a Taylor Swift reference, you can have my attention.

  • Rachel is NOT the right agent for Body horror, cancer, gore, anything to do with clowns, animal harm, child death, or most non fiction.

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