Tracy Marchini’s #MSWL Madness

  • By: admin | Date: Mar 15 2018

Hello! This is probably the first (and only) time I’ll be in a bracket, as anybody that has ever played kickball or dodgeball with me would probably confirm.

I represent fiction, non-fiction and illustration for children and teens – and am specifically looking for picture books, middle grade, young adult and graphic novels for the trade market. I’m open to both illustrators and author-illustrators, and am also still very much interested in looking at more non-traditional storytelling (verse novels, epistolary novels, etc.).

From previous #MSWL tweets, I’m still looking for:

  • Hitchcock-inspired pbs and mg
  • stories of women in space
  • a YA novel about Julie D’Aubigny, aka La Maupin – the bisexual fencing, opera singing and dueling badass
  • a YA set amidst the struggle for the passage of the ERA – whether in the 1920’s or 1970’s
  • deliciously dark picture books
  • a middle grade mystery series featuring a spunky female protagonist
  • more baseball, please! (I would love a middle grade about Negro league baseball and/or the AAGPBL – either historical fiction or non-fiction.)
  • secular holiday stories (that don’t involve Santa Claus nor focus on material gift-giving)

And I’ll always be looking for:

  • own voices stories in pb, mg, and ya – would love to see more neurodiverse, LGBT+ and/or stories from people (particularly women) of color. Intersectional stories always welcome!
  • picture books where the child has a non-traditional family structure (preferably where that isn’t the main plot point)
  • contemporary middle grade stories of friendship or family – potentially with a touch of magic
  • middle grade non-fiction that doesn’t flinch or whitewash history and/or the subject
  • middle grade and YA graphic novels
  • non-fiction stories of untold heroes and heroines

To get a sense of my taste in illustration, I’m including an image from each of my illustrators below (from left: Kristina Jones, Angela Traunig, Yvonne Ivinson, Charlene Chua, Valentina Mendicino and Sally Deng)!

Some things I’m not a good fit for:

  • leprechauns
  • potty training books, or stories starring poop and/or boogers
  • angels
  • horses
  • stockholm syndrome love stories
  • YA romance with a huge age gap (e.g. a 400 year old vampire and a teenager – I can’t get past the difference in life experience. It creeps me out.)
  • stories about Santa Claus
  • picture books about household appliances
  • memoirs from adults about their teenage years

You can also find more about my wishlist on my Manuscript Wish List page and my blog, or find more about my current list at Publisher’s Marketplace or my list of announced client books.

3 responses to “Tracy Marchini’s #MSWL Madness”

  1. Avatar AJ Blythe says:
    March 15, 2018 at 4:45 pm

    I’d never given much thought to “a 400 year old vampire and a teenager – I can’t get past the difference in life experience” point of view before #can’tunread

  2. Avatar Kelley Donner says:
    November 9, 2018 at 3:21 pm

    Thank you for listing exactly what you like and dislike with humor and sincerity. It is so important to find an agent that fits and many make it a guessing game. Your page actually made me laugh. Thanks for that. I think you’ll be getting a query from me soon. Btw, my PB is not about household appliances and it has rockets!