MSWL*

*manuscript wish list

Samantha is looking for high-concept, commercial and upmarket fiction that features diverse, marginalized, and/or underrepresented voices with all-or-nothing stakes. 

I enjoy working with new and established writers interested in writing for adult, young adult, and middle-grade readers with fluidity.

If you would like to query me, please use this Query Manager form.

  • Genres: book club fiction, contemporary romance, romantasy, mystery, thriller, speculative, gothic, horror, and fantasy. (Please send all the genre blends!)


    Things I’m drawn to in stories:

    • late-stage coming of age stories

    • immigrant experiences

    • healthy + toxic relationships (familial, platonic, or romantic)

    • themes of obsession, power, feminism, gray morality, and more.

    • chaotic openings and/or characters

    • specific experiences that hold universal truths

    • body positivity

    • sex positivity

    • fast-pacing

    • tight plotting

    • ruthless and messy characters

    • female villains

    • unexpected twists or POVs

    • con artists or grifters on job

    • convincing red herrings

    • ensemble casts

    • twisted games or puzzles

    • yearning and/or pining

    • non-western mythology

    • unique magic systems (especially with consequences)

    • unexpected villains and/or villain POVs

    • unraveling secrets at a reunion or celebration

    • reincarnation + fated lovers

    • haunting, small and/or isolated settings

    • anything involving curses or prophesies

    • inheritance stories

    • secrets amongst groups

    • cults and dark rituals

    • light + dark academia

    Books I Love:

    • The Brown Sisters series by Talia Hibbert

    • Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon

    • Honey & Spice by Bolu Babalola

    • In My Dreams, I Hold A Knife by Ashley Winstead

    • My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing

    • Never Saw You Coming by Vera Kurian

    • You’re Invited by Amanda Jayatissa

    • No One Can Know by Kate Alice Marshall

    • The Bridge Kingdom series + A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen

    • Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

    • Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel

    • The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

    • The Blood Gift Duology by N.E. Davenport

    • The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon

    • Phantasma by Kaylie Smith

  • Matching her adult taste, Samantha works in similar categories and genres for young adults. Right now, she is only considering YA authors by referral.

    Some of my favorites are: The Gilded One series by Namina Forna, anything by Tiffany D. Jackson, Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, Heartless Hunter by Kristin Ciccarelli

  • Matching her adult taste, Samantha works in similar categories and genres for middle grade. Right now, she is only considering MG authors by referral.

Other comps I love

Knives Out series; It’s What’s Inside; The Count of Monte Cristo; The Picture of Dorian Gray; Kill Bill; The Haunting of Bly Manor; Elite; The Residence; Severance; Gossip Girl; Sex Lives of College Girls; Schitt’s Creek; Ted Lasso; Behind Her Eyes; Booksmart; Trinkets; The Craft; Gilmore Girls; Never Have I Ever; Sex Education; The Old Guard; Crimson Peak; Julie and the Phantoms; Turning Red; Encanto; To All The Boys I Loved Before; Peaky Blinders; Heathers; Once Upon A Time; Switched at Birth; Ready or Not; Do Revenge; Missing…; Saltburn; Wicked; Sinners