Carly is interested in the following categories:
- Smart Book Club Fiction
- Women’s Fiction
- Upmarket Adult Fiction
- Commercial Adult Fiction
- Domestic Suspense
- Literary Mystery & Thrillers
- Historical Fiction
- Contemporary Romance
- Pop Science, Business and Psychology
- Cookbooks
- Unique Memoirs
- Lifestyle Non-Fiction: health, wellness, relationships, parenting, lifestyle
- Narrative Non-Fiction
- Platform Based Non-Fiction: must have demonstrable expertise and a quantifiable market
She does not represent SF/F, Middle Grade, Religious Texts, Poetry, Screenplays, or Novellas.
LGBTQIA+ friendly.
Submit to query(at)psliterary(dot)com
Whoo hoo. This is the first reply space here! You sound real and I recognize the advice, given my own struggles with my first story. And nowI am here on WordPress writing my second. it does pull you in as the characters start to write for themselves. Sometimes I feel like an air traffic controller stacking up all the factors in my head.
Evangeline Tankful (DCBE) (not really of course!)
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I don’t see MG listed above. Are you interested in seeing MG queries?
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Hi Hilary. I do not represent MG. Thanks!
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Hi Carly! Are you interested in seeing YA science fiction / fantasy?
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On the lighter side, yes. Not high fantasy. I am more of a magical realism fan.
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Hi
What about YA contemp romance with a magical realism/paranormal twist.
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Yes magical realism, no paranormal.
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Just checking submission guidelines. Am I correct in saying that you just want query e.g. no synopsis/sample pages in first instant. Sorry to be a pain but wanted to double check.
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Yes. See our website http://www.psliterary.com for more details.
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Do you encourage debut writers to submit, or do you prefer to work with authors who have amassed experience?
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We are OF COURSE looking for debuts! Here is my post on the topic https://carlywatters.com/2012/05/24/yes-agents-love-debuts/
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Encouraging AND realistic advice! Very refreshing. Thanks :)
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Hello Carly,
Are you interested in YA dystopian romances (something like the Hunger Games or Divergent)? – Thank you!
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Only if it’s super fresh. It’s a very crowded market.
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I would say it is absolutely fresh. I’ll query you, and hopefully you will agree. Thank you so much :)
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Hello Carly,
Are you seeking children concept picture books (no words) ?
Best regards, Vibeke
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Hi Carly,
Thanks for having this info so readily available, and for answering questions. It makes it very easy for us writers to get a better handle on what you’re looking for, and it you’re the right agent for our manuscript! I’ll be sending you a submission shortly.
Cheers!
Heidi
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It’s much easier to unarnstded when you put it that way!
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What you have listed as Women’s Fiction looks like there’s a lot of crossover with Literary Fiction – what is it that makes it women’s fiction? That a woman is the author or that women are the target market?
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Women are the target audience. I’m open to literary fiction as well, but I like the accessibility of women’s fiction.
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I am intrigued by all the different genres in YA fiction. Can you recommend anywhere that may list+ explain all these genres?
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If you are looking for something in the same vein as Water For Elephants then The Patron Saint of Dogs might be of interest to you.
I’m posting early drafts of the first half of the novel here on WordPress to get feedback and build a platform before self-publishing in the spring.
Hmm, I wasn’t planning on querying agents or publishers, but you may be the exception to that rule.
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Hi Carly, I was wondering if you look at New Adult manuscripts? Mine is an NA fantasy. Thanks!
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I am interested in NA, but fantasy is not my area of expertise.
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A friend just sent me your blog and I’m really impressed. It’s so refreshing to find a literary agent who’s accessible, encouraging and honest. Thank you for all your great advice and I wish you many talented clients!
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Hi Carly, I’m writing a jaunty cultural history on British women authors. Are you looking for anything like that?
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I don’t do normally non fiction of that sort. I stick to pop culture, narrative non fiction on health, wellness, psychology and science topics.
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Cool! That’s a clever way of loiokng at it!
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Found you on twitter, and so glad I did. Great blog! Can’t wait to send you my query for Beautiful Sorrow (a memoir). Thank you, Jenn London
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Hi Carly, I found you in the 2014 Guide to Literary Agents (thought you’d like to know) and checked out your website/blog and thought I’d see if you’d be interested in a platform-based nonfiction book on communication skills – How to Communicate Like a Jackass. I take a satirical viewpoint regarding the (lack of) communication skills of the human animal in various areas including interpersonal communication, social media, interviewing, listening, etc. I’m basing the book off of a few articles that I wrote on my blog that sparked the idea. Is this something you’d be interested in? I’m hoping so! Thanks so much for taking the time to read this teeny, tiny, poor excuse for a pitch (but I can send a much better one in the form of an email if you think I have a shot).
Jen Furlong
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All I can say is Thank you. I have to constantly explain to people why don’t you just self pub. This is why. I am a Real Estate Agent, much different I know. However, the concept for me is the same. For someone to go out without representation try to sell or buy a house can be done and is done all the time. But when you have someone in your corner, that knows the ins and outs of the arena you have entered you will come out in a better position. I know one day I will be able to write for a living (my dream) when it is my time.
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Hi,
My question is: What would be considered a high concept picture book? I’m assuming a photography series on an important subject.
Eric
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This is a good example: THE DAY THE CRAYON’S QUIT
http://www.oliverjeffers.com/picture-books/the-day-the-crayons-quit
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Thank you. Very cute. Last question. For a picture book query, I would send the standard content along with sample images? I appreciate your help.
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For us, you would send a pitch. We only take queries. If we are interested in the pitch then we’ll request the manuscript.
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I understand you enjoy books like Lockhart’s WE WERE LIARS, and was wondering what specific genre you would consider that (mostly realistic, with that supernatural tweak). Contemp YA? Speculative?
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To me, WE WERE LIARS was contemporary with a psychological angle. In YA, I don’t do anything other than contemporary right now. I’m open to historical, thriller and mystery too.
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Seeing that you lived in the U.K. and enjoy Women’s Fiction that is emotionally gripping, I think you’d find my manuscript intriguing: A young widow moves to Ireland, befriends a boy with Down syndrome and is stalked by an addict. The boy enlists the help of neighbors to save her, but the addict redirects his anger at the disabled boy. Will the lad survive an attack by this bad bloke? I’ll query you soon. Thanks for your helpful blog! Kathryn MacDonald Schneeman
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That’s cleared my thoughts. Thanks for couigibnttnr.
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Short, sweet, to the point, FR-eEExactly as information should be!
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Hi Carly!
Do you accept LGBT and/ urban fantasy?
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Hi Carly;
What’s the difference between Literary Mystery, genre mystery, and Commercial Fiction? Instead of taking up your time, can you direct me to a post that will explain?
Regards,
Amanda
http://www.ajcapper.com
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Literary mystery revolves around the writing as much as the plot ie. THE NIGHT FILM. Genre mysteries are cosy mysteries or other things that come in a series. Commercial fiction are books that are appreciated by the mass market, not high brow, but focus on entertainment.
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Hi Carly. Thanks for this blog. I have a question I’m hoping you will answer. I’ve read mixed comments in blogs about books that can be a cross over. Most agents comments were rather negative. In your opinion, when querying, is it best to state only 1 particular genre?
My book is a Christian fiction novel but even though it is based in biblical end-times, it is a story of a woman’s spiritual journey so I think it fits in women’s fiction as well. One of my biggest frustrations is most agents only see Left Behind, which my book is far from so agents aren’t giving me a 2nd look but it is a fairly unique story and has done very well in my test market.
Do you represent any faith based works?
Thanks again for this blog. I appreciate the information you’ve been sharing.
Victoria
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No, I don’t represent faith-based works. Good luck Victoria.
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Hi Carly,
Thanks for a great post, very helpful! I see above you are not interested in faith-based work. Would you consider a picture book with a Christmas theme to be out of your realm of interest? (More Santa, no Jesus).
Thanks again!
Elizabeth
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Hi Carly, would you open to a query for an erotic historical romance trilogy set at the turn of the century thats part Now Voyager, House of the Spirits and Jules and Jim? Thanks, D.K.Silver
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Hello, Carly,
How would you feel about sci-fi (not dystopian) YA with a psychology element?
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I’m writing an autobiography about hardships in my life including abuse, dating the “wrong” men, as well as, a lot of other things I would love to share with you. Please let me know if you would be interested .
Thank you,
Kelly
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When in doubt: query.
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October 31st … Halloween. My birthday. Perhaps it would have been appropriate to call the mss (autobiographical of course) “Born On Halloween” – a good title for a hard luck story. But I chose the title “In Quiet Desperation” given the general nature of a story that has the distinction of having more frustration in it than the average soul can bear. Still, the fact remains that most men (and women) do live lives of quiet desperation – and that goes double for writers. One could ‘cut to the chase’ by using a short list to attract attention: Autism, Accidents, Bankruptcy, War, Toxic Family Syndrome, Clinical Depression, Entrepreneurism, Addiction… that should cover a decent portion of the desperate population. Most of us are just not what we imagined we’d be as the clock ticked away and our chances grew ever more narrow. We just continue to wonder “why” as we blame fate.
This story is one that is a bit “more”. A bit more hard luck. A bit more that gets in the way. A bit more that makes the intensity and volume of events so difficult to comprehend. One becomes reliant on the misfortune of others to justify their own, so there is less of a feeling of isolation. I think this little pitch would make a great opening “VO” for some film noir.
I wonder if the subject matter, all true, would make a manuscript you’d be interested in.
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Mrs. Watters, I would like to publish a novel, possibly with you. I need a literary agent who can publish Historical fiction. Please message me if you are interested. Shawnda.dupree21@yahoo.com
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