Adult Fiction
Hana Lee’s debut MAGEBIKE COURIER, a cross-cultural fantasy pitched as Mad Max: Fury Road with magic and sapphic romance, about a messenger between star-crossed royals who finds herself embroiled in a high-speed chase across the perilous desert wastelands when the princess she works for decides to escape an unwanted betrothal, to Amara Hoshijo at Saga Press, in a two-book deal, for publication in spring 2024, by Paul Lucas at Janklow & Nesbit (world English).
Author of THE MAGIC BETWEEN Stephanie Hoyt’s PROVE IT, the first in a New Adult romance series pitched as The Mighty Ducks’s queer adventures in the NHL, in which a poorly timed comment during a joint interview leaves the relationship between the first and second overall picks a point of interest long after the draft is over, to Elizabeth Coldwell at NineStar, for publication in spring 2024.
‘s MY DARLING DREADFUL THING, a sapphic Gothic novel pitched as THINGS IN JARS meets THE DEATH OF JANE LAWRENCE, about a young woman who has a spirit companion only she can see; but as she’s undeniably drawn to an enigmatic young widow, a gruesome death puts both her innocence and her sanity in question, to Jenna Jankowski at Sourcebooks, in a very nice deal, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in spring of 2024, by Kristina Perez at Zeno Agency (world English).
Author of WE ARE WATCHING ELIZA BRIGHT ‘s AWAKENED, in which a 30-something gay witch wakes up one morning with magic powers and subsequently charms their way through love, loss, drag brunches, and the gig economy while battling an evil AI along with their newly adopted chaotic trans coven, to Seema Mahanian at Grand Central, by Ryan Harbage at Fischer-Harbage Agency (world).
Queer librarian Arden Brax’s debut THE LILY OF ENARAH, a sapphic science fiction novel in which an adopted daughter of the viceroy quickly learns that duty comes before all when she is forced to make an enemy of the girl she loves in order to save her people, to Cate Pearce at Hansen, for publication in May 2024.
Miniaturist and fantasy author Mary Lynne Gibbs’s THE PRINCESS AND THE THIEF, pitched as a sapphic Rapunzel retelling in which a cursed elvish princess escapes her sheltered home to seek the help of the empress and reluctantly enlists a rogue thief to aid in her quest, but fighting, torture, revenge, monsters, chases, escapes, and maybe true love stand in their way, to Cate Pearce at Hansen, for publication in July 2024.
Author of EVERYBODY (ELSE) IS PERFECT Gabrielle Korn’s THE SHUTOUTS, the sequel to the forthcoming YOURS FOR THE TAKING, a queer dystopian novel about the people excluded from a global climate change relief program, their struggle to survive, and their search for truth that reveals an interconnectedness larger than all of them, to Hannah O’Grady at St. Martin’s, by Nicki Richesin at Dunow, Carlson & Lerner (world).
New School MFA graduate Alana Saab’s PLEASE STOP TRYING TO LEAVE ME, in which, while god is sending her signs through Instagram and Spotify telling her to break up with her girlfriend, a 27-year-old meets a new therapist for one reason: she really needs to write again, to Ellie Pritchett at Vintage, for publication in summer 2024, by Mina Hamedi at Janklow & Nesbit (NA).
Author of ASK A QUEER CHICK ‘s THE Z WORD, a debut queer horror novel about a zombie outbreak at a small-town Pride festival, in which a scrappy found-family band of queers must confront corporate pinkwashing, political manipulation, and shambling monsters who want to eat them, to Jess Zimmerman at Quirk Books, for publication in spring 2024, by Kate McKean at Howard Morhaim Literary Agency (world).
NBCC award finalist, Dylan Thomas Prize, Lambda Literary Award, National Book Award 5 Under 35 recipient, and author of LOT and MEMORIAL ‘s FAMILY MEAL, about two queer best friends who reconnect after an estrangement and a shocking loss, to Laura Perciasepe at Riverhead, by Danielle Bukowski at Sterling Lord Literistic.
Lambda Award-winning author ‘s LOVESICK BLOSSOMS, set in 1953, in which two married women struggle to come to terms with their deepening love for each other in a small college town in Kentucky, against a backdrop of racism, sexism, and complete rejection of same-sex liaisons, to Kat Georges at Three Rooms Press, in a nice deal, for publication in October 2023 (world English).
WHY AREN’T YOU SMILING, GUTTER BOYS, and I MARRIED AN EARTHLING, and Lambda Award finalist for the memoir DISASTERAMA ‘s VULGARIAN RHAPSODY, a tour of San Francisco’s fabled queer bohemia in the waning days of the 20th century, as the city’s budget bon vivants work to save their eccentric lifestyles in the face of tech gentrification, to Peter Carlaftes at Three Rooms Press, in a nice deal, for publication in October 2023 (world English).
Metalsmith and queer horror author Sofia Ajram’s BURY YOUR GAYS: AN ANTHOLOGY OF TRAGIC QUEER HORROR, to Max Booth III at Ghoulish Books, for publication in April 2024 (world English).
Children’s/Middle Grade Fiction
Rainie Oet’s MONSTER SEEK, about two children playing hide-and-seek during a thunderstorm, exploring gender identity, the love between siblings, and the meaning of monstrosity, illustrated by Deb JJ Lee, to Susan Dobinick at Astra Young Readers, in an exclusive submission, for publication in fall 2026, by Abigail Frank at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates for the author, and by Edward Maxwell at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates for the illustrator (world).
Author-illustrator of GENDER QUEER Maia Kobabe and Lucky Srikumar’s SAACHI’S STORIES, a coming-of-age middle-grade graphic novel about an aspiring author who struggles to navigate changing social dynamics and her evolving identity, as her friends start coupling up and everybody else seems to fit neatly into a boy/girl binary, to David Levithan at Graphix, in a good deal, at auction, for publication in spring 2025, by Emily Mitchell at Wernick & Pratt Agency (world).
Melanie Gillman’s RECLUSIVIA, a graphic novel about a nonbinary kid going to an art summer program where things take a turn for the strange and haunted, to Whitney Leopard at Random House Graphic, for publication in summer 2025, by Jen Linnan at Linnan Literary Management (world).
Young Adult Fiction
NYT-bestseller Rachael Lippincott’s PRIDE & PREJUDICE & PITTSBURGH, pitched as Freaky Friday meets Bridgerton, about a girl sent back in time who meets an unexpected love interest in the 19th century, to Alexa Pastor at Simon & Schuster Children’s, in a significant deal, for publication in fall 2023, by Emily van Beek at Folio Literary Management (world).
Freddie Kolsch’s debut NOW, CONJURERS, in which the partially devoured body of a high school quarterback is discovered in a local cemetery, and his bereaved boyfriend and close-knit coven of queer misfits are plunged into an occult murder investigation that leads to a wish-granting demon lurking beneath their town, to Laura Schreiber at Union Square Kids, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in spring 2024, by Molly Ker Hawn at The Bent Agency (NA).
Author of I THINK I LOVE YOU Auriane Desombre’s I LOVE YOU S’MORE, a queer rom-com in which a teen has her heart broken after her high school sweetheart-turned-celebrity cheats on her, and she soon finds herself swept up in a fun and new swoony romance at summer camp with another camp counselor, to Kelsey Horton at Delacorte, in an exclusive submission, in a two-book deal, for publication in fall 2024, by Penny Moore at Aevitas Creative Management (world).
Author of MAJOR DETOURS and SO YOU WANNA BE A POP STAR? Zachary Sergi’s THIS PACT IS NOT OURS, a queer YA horror in which four college-bound best friends return to the idyllic campsite their families have visited every summer, only to discover they are cursed by an ancestral pact that threatens to tear their friendships–and the world—apart, pitched as WE WERE LIARS meets Stranger Things, to Joshua Dean Perry at Tiny Ghost Press, for publication in October 2023, by Moe Ferrara at BookEnds (world English).
Debut author ‘s THE GOOD VAMPIRE’S GUIDE TO BLOOD AND BOYFRIENDS, a rom-com in which the last thing a boy expects after surviving serious depression is to wake up a vampire; now he has to navigate not only college but bloodthirsty instincts, vampire clans who may not be as “good” as they claim, and feelings for the cute boy who is helping him keep his secret, to Vicki Lame and Vanessa Aguirre at Wednesday Books, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in winter 2025, by John Cusick at Folio Jr. (NA).
Non-Fiction
Annenberg Innovation Lab Fellow, writer, oral historian, and founder and director of Country Queers Rae Garringer’s COUNTRY QUEERS: THE STORY OF A DIY RURAL QUEER ORAL HISTORY PROJECT, part memoir of a project, part activation of a trove of over 90 oral histories, part collection of photographs of rural queer people, places, and ephemera made/found along the way, revealing the joys, challenges, and nuances of rural queer life, to Katy O’Donnell at Haymarket, with Dao Tran editing (world).
LGBTQ+ advocate and former professional hockey player and investigative journalist ‘s LET THEM PLAY, centering trans and nonbinary voices to debunk myths around the increasingly volatile debate about the participation of gender-diverse athletes while advocating for the inclusion of trans athletes across all levels of sport, to Joanna Green at Beacon Press, by Carly Watters at P.S. Literary Agency (NA).
Author of the Pacific Northwest Book Award winner and an NPR Best Book of the Year RED PAINT ‘s THUNDER SONG, a meditation on what it means to be a proudly queer, indigenous woman in America today, suffused with the power of community and music to heal and inspire and drawing connections between the personal and the communal, the spiritual and the physical, the mundane and the miraculous, again to Harry Kirchner at Counterpoint, for publication in spring 2024, by Duvall Osteen at Aragi Inc. (NA).
Managing editor at The Experiment ‘s I SING TO USE THE WAITING, an inquiry into the nature of the queer voice through the lens of female singers—such as Cat Power, Rihanna, and Whitney Houston—who have informed the author’s identity, to Eric Obenauf at Two Dollar Radio, in a nice deal, for publication in spring 2024 (world).
Santiago-based travel writer ‘s MARS ON EARTH, about a gay expat searching the otherworldly Atacama Desert of northern Chile for a deeper understanding of the forces that have shaped both his relationship to his partner and to his adoptive homeland, to Don Gorman at Rocky Mountain Books, for publication in fall 2024, by Max Sinsheimer at Sinsheimer Literary (world English).
Clinical psychologist and therapist Dr. ‘s HOW I KNOW WHITE PEOPLE ARE CRAZY, a memoir of growing up poor, gay, and Black, navigating the systemically racist field of psychology, sharing lessons about how anti-Blackness harms mental health and the connection between mental and political liberation, to Alison Dalafave at Hachette Go, at auction, for publication in February 2025, by Cecilia Lyra at P.S. Literary Agency (world).
Whiting Award winner and winner of the 2022 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction for 100 BOYFRIENDS Brontez Purnell’s TEN BRIDGES I’VE BURNT, a memoir in verse, tracing Purnell’s life from Alabama to Oakland and everywhere in between; and an untitled novel, about a family of feuding Black psychics living in 1970s Alabama, again to Jackson Howard at MCD/FSG, in a two-book deal, by Julia Masnik at Watkins Loomis (world).