This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Carly Watters is VP and senior literary agent at P.S. Literary Agency. She represent a diverse list of women’s fiction, commercial and literary fiction, YA, select picture books, and non-fiction and is actively looking for new, talented writers. Here, she talks about the manuscripts she would most like to find in her submissions pile.
I'm looking for smart book club fiction, women's fiction, coming of age stories, YA, literary mysteries and thrillers, pop science and psychology, business, pop culture, cookbooks, health and wellness, and lifestyle.
In fiction I like emotional, well-paced narratives, with a great voice like Joyce Maynard, Meg Mitchell Moore, Curtis Sittenfeld, Beatriz Williams, Maggie Shipstead, Jojo Moyes, Amy Sohn, Emma Straub, Jonathan Tropper, and Elin Hilderbrand. I’m a sucker for family secrets, palpable settings, coming-of-age, multi-POV narratives, and unique, honest stories about motherhood and non-nuclear families – but not all at once! I’m open to historical, but generally prefer contemporary novels.
In non-fiction I am looking for platforms with demonstrable expertise and a quantifiable market. I especially look for memoir, business, pop science, pop psychology and lifestyle books like cookbooks.
I don’t represent religious novels, novellas, screenplays or poetry.You can find out more about Carly on her website, follow her on Twitter or email query@psliterary.com to pitch your book. Best of luck!