• Modern-day blue stockings, BIPOC fangirls/fanboys, #blackgirlmagic, #carefreeblackgirls, #blackboyjoy, LGBTQ+, BIPOC falling in love, neuroatypical/neurodivergent, and disabled BIPOCs as leads
• Middle Grade (contemporary, literary, and SF/F). Cute, quirky, charming, and fun. Along the lines of Kiki’s Delivery Service, Spirited Away, The Girl that Drank the Moon, the Pandava series, Hurricane Child.
• Young adult (contemporary, Rom Coms, and SF/F) *I have TONS of SF/F on my current list so I am extremely selective with this genre*
• Adult SF/F with strong genre-bending/crossover appeal. (Think the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, and The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker. I’m also a fan of Anne Bishop and Naomi Novik. More recent books that I’ve loved: Trail of Lightning, The Ten Thousand Doors of January, and Empire of Sand.)
• Passion projects in narrative nonfiction with a strong literary voice and commercial appeal (Wild by Cheryl Strayed, Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance, Black Man in a White Coat by Damon Tweedy, When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi). Would love to see non-whitewashed cowboy stories; pop science by women, specifically women of color; and literary, voice-driven memoir with commercial appeal.
• #ownvoices and marginalized authors in all genres mentioned above. Inclusive narratives in all genres.

Quressa is currently open to referrals only.

Referrals Only

• Anything set on a creepy island.
• Women’s fiction featuring witches and touches of magic—especially as both pertain to women finding their voices and power.
• Mysteries/thrillers set in close-knit communities. (If those communities happen to be in the Midwest, all the better.)
• High-concept stories with a strong voice in the areas of women’s fiction, mystery/thriller, and speculative. (Think Before I Go To Sleep by S.J Watson or Dark Matter by Blake Crouch.)
• Anything featuring fierce female heroines who will do whatever it takes to protect their brood.
• Smart and timely women’s fiction where the personal intersects with the world at large. (Think This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel or All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin.)
• Narratives about reinvention or the second and third acts of women’s lives.
• Stories about the immigrant experience for both adult and YA (like The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri).
• Anything dealing with the relationships that make us who we are for both adult and YA.
• For all of the above, I am especially interested in diverse and marginalized voices.

Open

• literary/commercial novels that tackle timely issues, uncomfortable and complicated relationship dynamics, and leaves the reader grappling long after the last page is read (Little Fires Everywhere, Such A Fun Age)
• High concept, character-driven novels with one foot squarely in genre (ie. Wool, Bird Box, Station 11)
• Absolutely delightful and emotional engaging novels that can be read over and over again because it’s a joy to experience that world and those characters (Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, Less, Crazy Rich Asians, The Kiss Quotient)
• Character-driven novels in the thriller, speculative or science fiction and fantasy realm that illuminate the world we live in through the lens of an imagined world. (The Fifth Season, Ancillary Justice)
• Historical novels that feature a narrative voice and story that is under-represented in history or a story never before told (Hotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet, The Downstairs Girl, The Ventriloquists)
• Young adult novels that pack a serious or a delightful emotional punch delivered in a contemporary setting, #ownvoices, or in a past, future, or imagined world.
• Middle grade novels – not currently looking at new submissions.

Open