Manuscript Wishlist

I edit and critique most genres.

However, please no erotica, sexual violence, depicted violence against children, or POVs in the head of misogynists or racists or sociopaths.

I do submission packages, query critiques, and story consultations regardless of content, age category, or genre here.

For Manuscript Critiques, email me your genre, age category, and total word count at querylara[at]gmail[dot]com if you think we’d be a good fit.  If you’d like to send your query, feel free. Don’t worry if your query isn’t perfect! If you decide to hire me, a query edit is included at no additional cost.

The following are genres or topics I’d especially like to read.

Writers with a picture book or graphic novel script, good gracious, send that baby to ME.

I’m a very omnivorous reader, so genre doesn’t matter as much as story. I want a story I can escape into—one peopled with uniquely human characters, not underdeveloped stereotypes. I want subverted tropes. I want something that isn’t cookie-cutter. What makes your story different from everything else out there? Tell me. What makes it like the things I like below? Tell me that, too.

Note: I’m not going to assume that anyone has read the same books I have, so I’ll give TV and movie examples to illustrate. If you haven’t seen them, it only takes an hour or two to rectify! See my favorite books here.

For any age category

• Comics, graphic novels, and illustrated novels, especially in KidLit!
• BIPOC or neurodiverse #ownvoices fiction or nonfiction
• A protagonist that could easily played by Emma Stone, Ellen Page, or Jennifer Lawrence (someone smart, tough, and funny!)
• High-concept, genre-illusive pieces (Princess Bride, Doctor Who, Galavant)
• Bromances (Sherlock, Psych, Castle)
• Will-they-won’t-they spy and crime-fighting duos (Chuck, Castle)
• Anything with a happy-for-now ending or a story that’s depressing yet funny (500 Days of Summer, Casablanca, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl)
• Adventure stories that pass the Mako Mori test (Avatar: The Last Airbender, Firefly, Pacific Rim)
• Character-focused historical fiction (The Great, The Young Victoria, Indiana Jones)
• The book version of Judi Dench’s As Time Goes By
• A fantasy starring Athena
• A story about J.R.R. Tolkien’s mother Mabel
• Anything with interior designers or house flippers
• A romantic comedy in the vein of one of Steven Carrell’s—Dan in Real Life, Crazy Stupid Love, Date Night
  
• A love story in the vein of Taylor Jenkins Reid‘s novels—one in which romance is only one side of a multi-faceted portrayal of love.

MG

• Anything #ownvoices, especially historical fiction with a BIPOC protagonist
• MG historical disaster novels (especially if illustrated!)
• Speculative MG with a 50/50 female/male cast (think Avatar: The Last Airbender).
• Adopted protagonist not on a journey to find birth parents, not in an abusive foster or adoptive family

YA

• Give me your fluffy #ownvoices stories. Especially with BIPOC and autistic protagonists.
• A smart feminist falls for a nerd hero—think a Hermione & Neville pairing, but different place and/or time.
• Geeky or fun mysteries with clear character development (especially if you’ve got a Veronica Mars Season One type of romance! I love LoVe!)
• BFFs who figure out they love each other—and they have all along (Emma Approved, Win a Date with Tad Hamilton)
• Historical fiction about a midcentury doo-wop group like Dream Girls
• Non-gory thrillers with unknown antagonists (like the Pretty Little Liars TV series)

I’d also love to see any of the following:

Give me the female protagonists who have figured out how to get what they want in smart, unusual ways. #MSWL

— Jessica Sinsheimer (@jsinsheim) July 28, 2015

I'm a huge fan of action comedies and smart thrillers (especially in pretty settings) with a female protagonist. #MSWL

— Jessica Sinsheimer (@jsinsheim) July 28, 2015

I so want YA about the BF of the "chosen one." Showing them doing the cool behind the scenes stuff. Something with a Merlin vibe. #MSWL

— Kyra M. Nelson (@KyraMNelson) July 28, 2015

Books with women in positions of power that don't have to sacrifice family to get there, and also aren't knocked down a peg. #MSWL

— Nicole Tone (@nicoleatone) July 28, 2015

If you have any other questions, Tweet me @LaraEdits or comment on my blog. Since I’m a freelance editor, not an agent or publisher, you can pitch me on Twitter—just let me know you’re looking for a manuscript critique!