Lit Agent
@Bradford_Agents
in San Diego repping most genres MG/YA/NA and Adult romcom & mashups of SFF/romance (+ sometimes other things) | Rep’d by
@HerringAli
Redoing my pinned tweet! I'm CLOSED to queries but...
If I've liked your pitch in a pitch event or you have an R&R to send, you can send those here:
Or if your book matches a
#MSWL
item on the list below, you can query me here:
We want to welcome
@rebeccalmatte
and
@HillaryFazzari
to the Bradford team!
Rebecca and Hillary will be working as agency assistants, and Rebecca will also be our new contract manager!!! 🎉🎉🎉
Popping back in to say I AM OPEN TO QUERIES!!!! 🎉
For more on what I'm looking for, visit my
#MSWL
:
I rep MG & YA (all genres, including graphic novels) and am open to select New Adult/Adult work in:
✔️Romantasy
✔️Rom-com
✔️SFF
✔️Nonfiction (History)
Hi all, I'm jumping into
#questpit
today! If you're looking for an agent, I like your pitch, and I turn out to be someone you'd be interested in subbing to, please send me a query at:
I'm officially closed to most queries rn, so you will need to... 1/?
I jumped into
#questpit
today!!!
If you're looking for an agent, I like your pitch, and you think we might be a good match, even though I’m technically closed to queries rn, you are welcome to send me a special query while I’m closed at:
I'll be participating in
#PitDark
today! If I like your pitch and you think I might be a good fit for your work, feel free to query me at:
You may put
#PitDark
in the referral space. 1/3
I didn’t know
#unhingedpit
was a thing until right now! 👀 But if I like your pitch and you’re looking for an agent and think I might be a good match feel free to send a query my way:
You can put
#unhingedpit
in the referral space. 1/2
#MSWL
I'm a sucker for epic, historical feeling fantasy worlds, but I'd love to see more epic, modern feeling secondary fantasy worlds and worlds that gorgeously blend historical & modern too!
High stakes & romance get my attention well. MG, YA, Adult/New Adult all welcome!
I'm participating in
#JoyPit
today! If I like your pitch and you think I might be a good match for your work, please query me at:
You may put
#JoyPit
in the referral space. 👇
If I like your pitch but you've already sent me your query, feel free to send me a nudge noting that I've liked your pitch too! This *isn't* mandatory but does help me keep track of pitches. 2/3
I'll be participating in
#KidLitPit
today! If I like your pitch and you think I might be a good fit for your work, feel free to query me at:
You may put
#KidLitPit
in the referral space. 👇
If I like your pitch but you've already sent me your query, feel free to send me a nudge noting that I've liked your pitch too! This *isn't* mandatory but does help me keep track of pitches. 2/3
I'm REOPEN to all queries!!!✨
A 🧵 for
#amquerying
authors who'd like to know more about me. 👇👇👇
To query me:
To see all of my
#MSWL
tweets in one place:
For my Manuscript Wishlist page:
1/?
I'll be CLOSED to queries starting July 1 to get caught up on reading & responses to the wonderful material that's already been sent my way!
If I've liked one of your pitches in a pitch contest, I'll still have a query form available for those specific projects over the summer.
#MSWL
Remember those YA romantic dystopian books from 10-15 years ago? LEGEND, SHATTER ME - I even count HUNGER GAMES here. I'd LOVE to see some new, fresh romantic dystopian!
(No plague-based books or books where the world is dystopian because it's misogynist, though, please.)
I'm technically closed to queries rn but will be going through
#PopUpPit
today, so if I like your pitch and you'd like to query me before I officially open again, you can here:
Please send a query letter, synopsis, and first chapter.
Behold! Here's my highly attractive handwriting illustrating the ✨new categories✨ I'll be open to when I reopen to queries!
I'll soon also be looking for New Adult Contemporary, New Adult Thrillers/Mysteries, & New Adult Horror/Horrormance (not too gruesome though!)
#MSWL
So many, many thanks to all of you who have queried me already!!! I’ve got upwards of 200 queries since opening yesterday, and I couldn’t be happier!!! 💕
I’m very much looking forward to reading all of your queries!!!
Popping back in to say I AM OPEN TO QUERIES!!!! 🎉
For more on what I'm looking for, visit my
#MSWL
:
I rep MG & YA (all genres, including graphic novels) and am open to select New Adult/Adult work in:
✔️Romantasy
✔️Rom-com
✔️SFF
✔️Nonfiction (History)
#MSWL
In response to the characters-in-college discourse, I'm *definitely* looking for projects w/characters in college (trade school, etc.)!
Give me college romance, college adventure, college heists, fantasy colleges, colleges in space!! Looking for both upper YA & New Adult!
#MSWL
I’m also always on the look out for:
✨genre mixing projects!
✨gap area projects!
These are books that do fun things w/genre boundaries and/or hit "gap" areas of the market: voice-y lower MG, adventurous (or romantic) upper MG/lower YA, upper YA & New Adult.
I'm now CLOSED to queries to get caught up!
However, if I liked one of your pitches in a pitch event, and that project comes ready to query while I'm closed, please feel free to send it my way via this special QueryManager form:
I'll also be looking through
#QueerPit
today, so even though I'm closed to queries, if I like your pitch and you think we might be a good match, feel free to send me a query at the link below:
✨QUERYING UPDATE
I'm reopening to queries today, but ONLY to middle-grade series/duologies/trilogies!
I'll reopen to my other categories soon, but I'm still reading some lovely subs from you all & want to give everything my best attention!
Query here:
I’ve been hungry for some specific things lately, so as I’m reading through the wonderful fulls I’ve got, I’m going to temporarily open to queries for some very specific
#MSWL
items. 🧵WITH INSTRUCTIONS BELOW 👇
🧵 This isn’t in response to anyone specific—it’s just something I don’t want to gatekeep because it might be important to writers...but I get asked periodically why I often don’t rep SFF that doesn’t have romance.
#MSWL
Something I'll be looking for when I reopen are ✨cozy New Adult fantasies✨ that blend fun, speculative elements, & romance w/spice.
I'll be looking for lots of variations including genre mixing, romcoms at magical colleges, contemporaries w/protagonists who have magic...
And might as well note when I reopen I'll also be looking for fun, bonkers, glitzy, exciting New Adult contemporary & rom-com w/out speculative elements too!
I'd love to see some really unexpected, out-of-the-box stuff! Nice mashups of the weird and the fun with romance.
#MSWL
I'll be participating in
#SEAsianPit
! If I like your pitch and you think I might be a good fit for your work, feel free to query me at:
You may put
#SEAsianPit
in the referral space.
More info on FAQs in my thread from yesterday for
#PitDark
. 👇👇👇
If I like your pitch but you've already sent me your query, feel free to send me a nudge noting that I've liked your pitch too! This *isn't* mandatory but does help me keep track of pitches. 2/3
I’ll be (temporarily) closing to queries this FRIDAY 3/1 to get caught up on subs—if you want to query me before then send your material my way! I’ll reopen either partway though March or April 1.
You’ve all sent me so much good stuff already—I’m excited to see what’s next! 👀👀
And due to the nature of the algorithm, I won’t see all pitches, so even if I don’t like your pitch (if it’s in an area I take unsolicited queries in) and you think I might be a good match, feel free to just regular query me *without* putting
#pitdark
in the referral line!
I’m sooooo excited to welcome, K.M.!!!
Their gorgeous writing absolutely blew me away, and I cannot WAIT for editors to see their latest queer romantic thriller!!! It is so, so good!! 👀👀👀
Oh! My! Gosh!
✨✨I have an agent!✨✨
I’m so thrilled to announce that I’m now represented by
@HillaryFazzari
at
@Bradford_Agents
!
So excited to work with her on my queer YA romantic thriller and all future works to come! 😄
#MSWL
Looking for something that gives Jennifer A. Nielsen's THE FALSE PRINCE vibes, though this doesn’t have to be fantasy.
I'm more thinking of something with an interesting, tightly bounded setting, easy to read but emotionally charged prose, and a twist.
#MSWL
: sports romances! Especially queer and/or BIPOC.
I was hugely into sports as a kid and am specifically looking for super fun rom-coms in this area that'll give you all the feels! (No preference on which sports are featured!) Adult, New Adult, and YA welcome.
#MSWL
I'm a sucker for epic, historical feeling fantasy worlds, but I'd love to see more epic, modern feeling secondary fantasy worlds and worlds that gorgeously blend historical & modern too!
High stakes & romance get my attention well. MG, YA, Adult/New Adult all welcome!
Literary Rambles is hosting a ✨giveaway✨ for a query critique with me! For how to enter visit:
Entries valid through 5/4.
P.S. There's also a new interview w/me at that link for those who don't want to enter a giveaway but want to learn more about me.
Our agency website is done with maintenance now! I'm deleting my previous tweet on it being temporarily down since everything is back to normal now! Thanks for your patience, everyone!
#MSWL
I'd love a non-Western✨ vampire ✨book.
MG, YA, & Adult all welcome.
For MG: likely adventure/fantasy based w/magic and/or non-Western mythology.
For the rest: fantasy set in a non-Western world w/sharp stakes & a romance.
Could be 1st or 2nd world fantasy.
I think I'm caught up on queries through 3/16—if you sent me a query before that & I've not responded, it could have gotten lodged in QueryManager someplace, so please nudge me in QM so I know it went missing!
This doesn't apply to fulls. I still have a few pre-3/16 I'm reading.
I'm requesting material in
#SmoochPit
! 💋
If I ask to see your work, please send me your FULL. A link to my submissions page should appear in my comment on your entry.
I rep MG, YA & Adult/New Adult with a heavy focus on romance. See my
#MSWL
here: 1/?
#MSWL
Just binged Arsenal Military Academy (the C-drama) & I'd LOVE to see stories w/similar weird-but-they-REALLY-work, squad goal friendships!
Happy to see romance/fantasy/historical or other genres here! Would love boarding school settings, big friendships/staked adventure!
If I like your
#PicantePit
post, you’re looking for an agent, & think I might be a good fit, send a query my way!!!
I’m closed to unsolicited queries but you’re welcome to use this link & query me anyway:
Please put
#PicantePit
in the referral space.
Come work with Laura, me, and the rest of the
@Bradford_Agents
team!!! 👀✨👀✨👀
The Bradford Literary Agency is hiring a part-time administrative assistant to work hybrid out of our office in San Diego:
#MSWL
Definitely in my nostalgia era: would love to see fun teen spy/heist/secret society books like I read ten years ago! I *adored* Ally Carter's lively plotlines and would love to see new takes with similar levels of fun/adventure, especially from BIPOC and queer authors!
I'm donating a 30-minute "Ask Me Anything About Publishing" call to
@litagtsofchange
's Literary Auction for Change!
Bidding takes place June 10-16 w/proceeds going to fellowship/mentorship opportunities for agents from marginalized communities.
Hi lovelies, I’m quote tweeting pitches today and tomorrow for increased visibility; I can’t take queries yet, but your ideas are so fabulous I’m just 👀👀👀
#MSWL
I'd love an Adult/New Adult Harry Potter—witches, wizards, possibly academia (without the JK Rowling baggage of course).
Like THE MAGICIANS but even more accessible and with a strong romance.
Note: During pitch events I do sometimes like pitches for (usually) adult projects outside of the typical areas I seek unsolicited queries in, so this can be an opportunity to get a project in front of me that I might not otherwise see without a referral!
If I like your pitch but you've already sent me your query, feel free to send me a nudge noting that I've liked your pitch too! This *isn't* mandatory but does help me keep track of pitches. 2/3
since I'm a baby agent (👶) I'm going to butt in on this one! find out the following:
1. does the agent work at a great agency with a good track record of deals on PM? if yes, they probably have good support. that's something you can also ask on 'the call'. 🧵
Also, there's no timeline on this! If your ms isn't ready to query yet, but you'd like to query me later on, feel free to wait and query me when you're ready! You can always include in your query letter later that I'd liked your pitch and therefore had asked to see your query.
And due to the nature of the algorithm I won’t see everything, so even if I don’t like your pitch and you think I might be a good match, feel free to send me a query with the referral space left blank! 2/2
And I’ll add, as a baby agent myself, there are tons of baby/new editors. Turnover at publishers has been rough, which means veteran agents have lost contacts & are building new ones. Being new doesn’t necessarily equal being less plugged in or having less ability to sell a ms.
#MSWL
In MG in particular, I'd love to see more urban fantasy adventures like Percy Jackson featuring casts of really loveable characters in really epic situations.
Upper MG, YA crossover, and YA like LEGENDBORN is definitely welcome too!
#MSWL
Basically any rom-com or romantasy (adult, new adult, or YA) that can give me CRAZY RICH ASIANS vibes.
And I'm also looking for YA in *any* category that can do the same.
For reference, this is the research I needed to write just the first chapter of my PhD thesis.
The work you have to put into one of these things is no joke.
I'm not even including the non-printed material & things I read and never used.
#gradschool
#phdlife
#MedievalTwitter
These are not every
#MSWL
item I’ve ever posted (since some of those are broad) but just the specific things in the image below (and also 🧵'd in tweets below), so if you have something that fits an item on this list, feel free to send it my way on the link at the end of this 🧵:
I did watercolors for the first time in ages this weekend!!!!
(Note: They're copies I made of other artists' work. I've been out of watercoloring so long it's like starting from scratch. 😑😂)
For what I’m acquiring check out my MSWL page: . And more again can be found in my
#MSWL
tweets!
I rep MG & YA (all genres, including graphic novels) and am open to select New Adult/Adult work in:
✔️Romantasy
✔️Rom-com
✔️SFF
✔️Nonfiction (History)
My foster kittens have gone to their forever homes now, but in their honor, here's a recap.
They excelled at playing Attack, exploring, and looking confused but superior (as all cat are).
For hashtag visibility:
#MSWL
middle-grade series that have a discernible plot arc that carries over multiple books; things like:
Rick Riordan's series
The School for Good and Evil
A Series of Unfortunate Events
Skandar and the Unicorn Thief
Keeper of the Lost Cities
Also it’s come to my attention that my linked QueryManager form may ask for a “manuscript” instead of a “sample”—please feel free to upload your first chapter there instead!
And I'm also
#MSWL
looking for other New Adult settings that can have speculative elements thrown in: NA spy stories w/speculative, NA vacation stories with the same, NA movie set stories w/speculative.
Make it cozy, rompy, bonkers, 🔥unexpected🔥, glitzy!! I'm hungry for this.
My YA thriller THIN AIR is going to be a real book!!! ✈😭
This is for 9-year-old me & every other kid whose imagination has wings.
Words can't express my gratitude to
@JulieARosenberg
and
@HerringAli
for championing this story!!! Summer 2023 from
@RazorbillBooks
/
@PenguinTeen
I’m north of the fires but here’s a view off my balcony. Large hills should be plainly visible a mile out but are completely obscured by smoke.
I’ve got family that evacuated. The air is literally toxic to the south of us.
...use the link above. I'd love a query letter, synopsis, and 1st chapter sent.
It's also possible some of you may have already sent me your work, in which case thank you!! And if you have, even if I've passed in the past, I'd be happy to...2/?
#MSWL
Would love some nouveau riche casts in material too! Probably most interested in international settings for Adult work, though happy to see U.S. settings too especially in YA.
MG, YA, NA/Adult welcome. Genre mixing or SFF w/same vibes welcome! Would love BIPOC casts!
And I won’t be offended if you query me something that's ultimately a bit outside of what I’m looking for – after all where romantic SFF starts/ends is a spectrum & is subjective, so esp if you’re not working in an obviously romantic subgenre, it doesn’t hurt to query me & see.
Got up at 7AM to start work and I've already had a meeting, read a manuscript, organized research, written up notes, and had not just one breakfast but TWO lunches, so that's a win.
And if I like your pitch but have already passed on your work, feel free to take this as an invite to re-query me if you end up doing a revision!
And remember you're never obligated to query me/resend material if you don't want to. 3/3
*This thread was updated to fix a typo.
I'm finally at the point where people are asking me to write recommendation letters for them, and I am so pleased to be so adult.
Also, think of THE POWER.
This. Thread. 👇
(We had next to no teens participating in library things, but then we made them a priority, hired a teen librarian, started holding actual programs for them, began a youth council & teen library friends group, and they came IN DROVES).
On Tuesdays, we snooze in the litter box.
Meet my fosters. These little guys were abandoned in a wood pile but are all doing well now (and sleeping off their post-milk bliss).
Super excited to see the
#BooksforMaui
Auction off to such a wonderful start! Don't forget, you can bid on a query critique from me (or tons of other cool stuff from agency staff, editors, and authors)!
P.S. I give EXCELLENT query critiques!!!
Made myself my first We’re-In-Phase-Two-So-As-A-Professional-I-Can-Go-Into-Work-Wearing-This Mask only to put it on and realize it looks like I’m cosplaying Bucky.
@HerringAli
He would later leave a letter to the Sobański family, apologizing for the looting of their estate, but not all of the family would survive the war; on August 14, 1944, Nazis massacred 180 people in the nearby Warsaw paralytic shelter, including Countess Ludwika Sobańska.
So writers on The Call, please free to ask about how we, as agents, are handling issues of turnover at publishers! This is something every agent has to deal with, and it’s good to know how a potential agent approaches the fact that staffing at houses is dynamic.
@HerringAli
By 1880, Sobański Palace had been rebuilt in the style of the castles of the Loire Valley, but in the decades to come it would become a front-line hospital in WWI and be all but decimated by Nazi Germany after Hitler ordered the capture of Warsaw from one of its living rooms.
#MSWL
I'd love an Adult/New Adult Harry Potter—witches, wizards, possibly academia (without the JK Rowling baggage of course).
Like THE MAGICIANS but even more accessible and with a strong romance.
Today I fell victim to one of the classic blunders -- no, I didn't get involved in a land war in Asia or go in against a Sicilian when death was on the line -- but I did fail to see my phone had autocorrected "you're" to "your" in the body of a message...