Emily Forney

Literary Agent
(she/her/hers)

Emily is, as she likes to say, a professional fangirl. From the early days of crafting fiction prompts on Tumblr to writing miniseries on how to write a successful fantasy battle scene, she fell in love with the minor details of storytelling. After receiving her MFA in Creative Writing, emphasizing in YA fiction, she worked in editorial roles for both digital and print until she realized she wanted to stay with her favorite authors throughout their careers. She was named a 2022 Publisher's Weekly Star Watch honoree and was previously a publishing and editorial fellow for the LA Review of Books, where she trained with her editorial background to shift into agenting and finding new progressive voices. She  Growing up, Emily would stay awake until sunrise to finish new YA releases and is currently going through that same phenomenon with romances now. She enjoys the whimsy, the complexities, and the warmth young adult and children’s books offer, and she hopes to work with authors interested in turning their speculative worlds into series. In adult, her tastes lean on opposite ends of the spectrum from contemporary romances to epic fantasies. With a BA in History and certificates in Classics and Latin studies, she’s also a big fan of historical fiction and mythological works. She's also a shameless lover of CW shows and teen period pieces. She writes about identity and youth through her experiences as a young Black woman, particularly focusing on genre fiction as a means to explore tropes otherwise dominated by white voices. Emily would particularly like to read stories by, for, and about marginalized creators who deserve the space to be messy, complicated, stubborn, in love, and celebrating joy. You can follow Emily on Twitter. Information about queries can be found in her wishlist here or her website. Watch our interview with Emily on YouTube!

Emily Forney Wishlist

Emily is seeking fiction for middle grade and young adult audiences, and select adult/crossover stories. She does work on picture books, but is focused primarily on non-fiction and historical stories, and is currently not taking on unsolicited picture books at the moment. She would like to see more fiction from BIPOC and stories that do not necessarily feature trauma at the forefront of these character’s arcs (although she is open to reading anything complex and well done). She would love the next best heist novel, mythological retellings, young assassins, and heart pounding fantasy romances. Send her the best summer lovers, middle grade fantasies, adventure stories, and fantastical worlds. Across all age groups, Emily is especially keen on finding good genre fiction in the form of re-tellings, dark academia, high fantasy, and spooky. For young adult, she tends to lean more in the fantasy and speculative realm, but would also like to find Jenny Han-like cozy, sweet stories. She's also a sucker for classic YA tropes (fake dating, high school contests with rivals to lovers, etc.). For middle grade, she would love fantasy of all kinds, although it needs to be grounded and the world building cannot sacrifice the character development. In adult, she really only takes fantasy (witches, fae, and creatures of all kinds) or contemporary romances with young protagonists not gearing up for marriage or children yet. She wants lush worlds, romantic tension, court intrigue, spies and assassins, and powerful family betrayals. In contemporary romance, she looks for books that straddle the line between women’s fiction and romance, with big emotions, great atmosphere, and big hooks. She is not a good fit for war stories, science fiction, novels in verse, or non-fiction. You can query Emily here: https://querymanager.com/eforney

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