Editor Wish List

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Loan Le

Associate Editor

Atria Books

*updated 3/24/2020

I struggle with how to begin emails these days. I end up writing “I hope you’re staying safe and healthy,” even though I really want to say, “Hopefully you’re staying sane wherever you are!”

Present circumstances are preventing face-to-face meetings, which are so important to forging agent and editor relationships (even though we end up re-scheduling so many times that it seems like we really don’t want to see each other, ha). So, I thought it’d be helpful to provide my “wish list” for any agent who’s interested in learning more about my reading/editing taste. A shortened version is also available on the Atria Books’ ‘About Us’ page.

I don’t mean to replace actual meetings (well, maybe for now) or phone call introductions, but this might be helpful. If you have a submission that meets any of the below criteria, email me at S&S! (My email is on Publisher’s Marketplace.)

Acquisitions

(F) Just bought a dark, imaginative mystery that hasn’t been announced yet, and I can’t wait to add details here!

(F) THE SHIMMERING STATE by Meredith Westgate. A luminous literary speculative debut exploring memory, identity, and human connection as it follows characters in near-future Los Angeles, their personal histories distorted by an experimental drug that lets one experience other people’s memories.

(F) GOOD NEIGHBORS by Sarah Langan. In this dark, propulsive literary suburban noir, tensions spike in a Long Island suburb after a local girl falls into a sinkhole, and neighbors turn into enemies as an accusation puts one family in terrible danger.

(NF) WE ARE ALL SNOWFLAKES by Dylan Marron. From the creator of the award-winning podcast “Conversations with People Who Hate Me” and the “Every Single Word” video series, a timely personal and cultural book exploring the nuances of difficult conversations in today’s divided society and offering ways to navigate them, expanding on his TED Talk “Empathy Is Not Endorsement.”

Wish List (favorite reads, old and new)

FICTION

  • In general, the darker the atmosphere (“eerie,” “unsettling,” “full of dread,” etc), the more likely I’ll want to see it!
  • Literary in style but still a page-turner
  • Character-driven

Magical realism or rooted in folklore

Literary horror

Family-centric literary fiction/suspense/mystery

Atmospheric/Psychological (unnerving, full of dread)

NONFICTION

  • I’m often drawn to the strange and the obscure.
  • I tend to be more interested in narrative nonfiction than in memoirs

Unexpected subject with universal impact

Very specific wants at the moment

I’d love to see a Black Swan-esque dark literary mystery/suspense/thriller set in the K-Pop world.

A novel similar to the sci-fi/mystery/drama Netflix show “The OA.”

Spark Words + More

Diverse voices; unusual perspectives; Vietnam War; Vietnam refugee experience (and other refugee and immigrant experiences); misfits; supernatural events; hauntings; human connection; trauma; psychological literary fiction; unrequited love; family secrets; clever plot twists; sisterhood; unlikely friendships; and more!

I can best describe my fiction interest as “literary plus.” So, “literary” to me means the prose is polished, distinct, stylish. It signals that the author has paid attention to each word, sentence, and paragraph, and considered their emotional impact on the reader. The “plus” means elements such as horror, magical realism, or suspense, which add propulsion to the pages and lift up the plot. I don’t respond as strongly to commercial fiction because it tends to prize plot over character development and might use familiar language. But I always get excited at fiction that falls right in the middle! 

In the story itself, I hope to encounter nuanced characters who feel as if they’ve lived a full life. They have a past, but they also have a reason to move forward. The secondary characters feel just as necessary as the protagonist.

I’m not a huge reader of nonfiction so I don’t acquire many nonfiction titles. I don’t respond strongly to memoirs. But I gravitate toward titles on unusual subjects that actually have universal impact like Susan Cain’s Quiet, Rebecca Solnit’s The Field Guide to Getting Lost or Wanderlust, and Mary Roach’s books. In my job, the rare ones I knew I had to champion had a distinct, entertaining voice and a strong mission to educate others.