The P.S. Literary Agency represents both fiction and non-fiction in a variety of categories. Please read each individual agent profile below to help determine who is best suited to your project.
Note: We do not represent poetry or original screenplays.
Curtis Russell – President and Principal Agent
Curtis is currently acquiring both fiction and non-fiction. In terms of fiction, he is seeking literary, commercial, mystery, thriller, suspense and romance. In terms of non-fiction, he is looking for business, history, politics, current affairs, memoir, health, wellness, sports, humor, pop culture, pop science, and pop psychology. If you would like to send a query to Curtis, please review our submission guidelines below. If you would like to learn more about him, please click or tap here.
Carly Watters – Senior Literary Agent and Senior Advisor
Carly is currently acquiring both fiction and non-fiction. In terms of fiction, she is seeking women’s fiction, upmarket adult, commercial adult, domestic suspense, literary mystery and thrillers, historical, contemporary romance, and smart book club fiction. In terms of non-fiction, she is looking for pop science, business, psychology, cookbooks, unique memoirs, lifestyle (health, wellness, relationships, parenting), narrative, and platform based non-fiction (must have demonstrable expertise and a quantifiable market). If you would like to send a query to Carly, please review our submission guidelines below. For fiction queries, please format email subjects as “Fiction: TITLE / GENRE / CREATOR NAME” and non-fiction queries as “Non-Fiction: TOPIC / TITLE / CREATOR NAME”. If you would like to learn more about her, please click or tap here.
Maria Vicente – Senior Literary Agent and Advisor
Maria is seeking fiction and non-fiction projects for readers of all ages. She’s eager to sign new clients writing literary and upmarket fiction: contemporary stories, novels with speculative elements, magical realism, horror, fairy tale retellings, books that experiment with narrative structure, and stylish mysteries and thrillers. In non-fiction, she’s looking for projects that explore the arts, pop culture, life sciences, psychology, cultural history, and occult topics. For children’s books, she’s accepting submissions of young adult novels, middle grade novels, illustrated picture books, and illustrated graphic novels. Maria welcomes and encourages submissions from BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and disabled creators. You can view her detailed submissions wish list here. If you would like to send a query to Maria, please review our submission guidelines below. If you would like to learn more about her, please click or tap here.
Eric Smith – Literary Agent
Eric is eagerly acquiring fiction and non-fiction projects. He’s actively seeking out new, diverse voices in young adult (particularly sci-fi and fantasy), middle grade, and literary and commercial fiction (again, loves sci-fi and fantasy, but also thrillers and mysteries). In terms of non-fiction, he’s interested in cookbooks, pop culture, humor, middle grade, essay collections, and blog to book ideas. You can view his detailed manuscript wish list here. If you would like to send a query to Eric, please review our submission guidelines below. If you would like to learn more about him, please click or tap here.
Claire Harris – Literary Agent
Claire is acquiring both fiction and non-fiction projects for adults. She’s actively seeking projects that shine a spotlight on people, places, and events that are often overlooked or not given the attention they deserve. In fiction, she’s looking for horror, standalone psychological thrillers, mysteries, rom-coms, and contemporary fiction. She’s looking for diverse characters and creators, stories that twist and subvert classic tropes, and strong female leads. She likes friendship stories, revenge stories, and sharp voices across all genres. She has a soft spot for stories that have a tie to the Midwest, but she’s also interested in small town settings in other areas. In non-fiction, she’s primarily looking for cultural criticism, true crime, essay collections, pop culture, lifestyle guides, and pop psychology projects. She loves books that present an untold perspective or bring a fresh take to a well-loved topic. She’s looking for strong voices, regardless of tone. You can find her wish list in more detail here. If you would like to send a query to Claire, please review our submission guidelines below. Please title your submission email “ATTN: Claire Harris / PROJECT TITLE / GENRE / CREATOR NAME”. If you would like to learn more about her, please click or tap here.
Cecilia Lyra – Literary Agent
Cecilia is acquiring a wide range of both fiction and non-fiction on the adult side. In terms of non-fiction, no title is too serious or too accessible for her taste, and she is seeking original and provocative expert-led proposals in psychology, history, current affairs, science, politics, narrative journalism, nature and the environment, wellness, spirituality, business and economics, mathematics, parenting, lifestyle, pop culture, and memoir. As for fiction, Cecilia’s taste gravitates towards books by women, for women, whether commercial, upmarket, or literary. She can’t get enough of: family sagas, female friendship, edgy psychological suspense, closed-setting novels, anti-heroines, smart romances, comedy of manners, found family, and stories with light speculative elements. Above all else, Cecilia is looking for a story she can’t put down. She often tweets about her manuscript wish list as well as the books she’s currently lost in, so follow her there. Cecilia is not a good fit for the non-fiction categories of true crime, sports, and music, and she does not represent children’s books or young adult. If you would like to send a query to Cecilia, please review our submission guidelines below. If you would like to learn more about her, please click or tap here.
Rose Ferrao – Associate Agent
Rose is currently acquiring both fiction and non-fiction. In fiction, she is looking for commercial romance, adult and crossover fantasy, science fiction, horror, upmarket thrillers, contemporary fiction and select young adult fiction. She is drawn to stories that embrace genre conventions from a fun, fresh angle. In non-fiction, she is looking for cookbooks and food writing, sports, pop culture, music, psychology, lifestyle, and wellness, especially when approached from a specific, unique perspective. She welcomes and encourages submissions from neurodivergent writers. If you would like to send a query to Rose, please review our submission guidelines below. If you would like to learn more about her, please click or tap here.
Nour Sallam – Associate Agent
Nour is acquiring both fiction and non-fiction for adults. She is actively seeking projects that feature complex and nuanced histories and power dynamics, address social and political issues, or center BIPOC characters. She is drawn to titles that explore the diverse experiences of underrepresented groups and challenge our understanding of diasporic experiences and/or cultures. In terms of fiction, she is seeking commercial and upmarket titles, contemporary fiction with fabulist elements, speculative fiction, edgy psychological thrillers, as well as mysteries, light horror and rom-coms featuring underrepresented characters of any background. She is also actively seeking character-driven stories featuring women in power, unhinged women, and female rage. She has a soft spot for unreliable narrators, family sagas with dysfunctional families silently navigating trauma, protagonists in their 20s-30s navigating adulthood, protagonists on the cusp of major life changes, and stories that focus on friendship dynamics. For non-fiction, Nour welcomes fresh and accessible perspectives on big concept ideas or industry deep-dives as well as personal narratives on pop culture, art, and nature. She also appreciates books that offer incisive commentary on culture, socio-economic structures, health and wellness, and lifestyle. Her taste in non-fiction gravitates towards books that generally challenge what we know or explain what we might not know. If you would like to send a query to Nour, please review our submission guidelines below. Please title your submission email “ATTN: Nour Sallam / PROJECT TITLE / GENRE / CREATOR NAME”. If you would like to learn more about her, please click or tap here.
Your submission should consist of the following:
- Paragraph One – Introduction: Include the title and category of your work (i.e. fiction or non-fiction and topic), an estimated word count and a brief, general introduction.
- Paragraph Two – Brief overview (this is where you hook us!): This should read similar to what is found on the back-cover of a published book.
- Paragraph Three – Creator’s bio: Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background.
- Sample Material: If your work falls into the following categories: adult fiction, adult memoir, adult non-fiction essay collection, or children’s fiction and non-fiction, please include the first ten pages of text only (or the full text of fiction and non-fiction picture books) within the body of your email. If your work is illustrated, please include a link to your portfolio or sample art. Otherwise, please limit your submission to just the three paragraphs as indicated above.
Tips:
- Do not send attachments. Please use text within the body of your email.
- Please do not submit a full-length manuscript/proposal unless requested.
- At the time of submission, let us know if your manuscript/proposal is under consideration by other agents or publishers.
- Address your query to the attention of the agent you feel is the best match for your work.
- You will receive an auto reply confirming receipt of your query. If you don’t, please check your junk/spam folder.
- Please do not query multiple agents at the agency simultaneously – if you don’t receive a request for further material within 4-6 weeks it means a no from the agency.
We only accept submissions via email. Queries should be directed to query@psliterary.com. We do not accept or respond to phone, paper or social media queries. To learn more about our agents and to meet the rest of our team, please check our Who We Are page.
Please Note: If we are interested in seeing further material we normally respond within 4-6 weeks. However, the process may take longer depending on the volume of submissions we may be reviewing at a particular time. Please do not call to check on the status of your submission – if you have a question or concern with regard to your submission, email is the best way to inquire.
We do not charge reading fees.
For more information please check our F.A.Q. page.