What #PitchMe Agents and Editors Are Looking for This Year

First off, thank you, thank you, thank you for submitting to #PitchMe. I've now read ALL the entries, and you guys blew me away. But instead of sharing my thoughts on what worked well and what didn't, I thought you might benefit from hearing what agents and editors are looking for this year.

Next off, a few caveats:

• Though I go out of my way to bring in editors and agents who are representative of the industry at large, they're obviously not everyone, which means these lists are *not* exhaustive.
• Some of our agents and editors only told me which categories they were most interested in while others mentioned genres, so just because your genre doesn't appear doesn't mean I ignored your entry. I value variety in addition to good concepts and pitch-perfect voice and writing.
• I've noticed over the years that #PitchMe agents and editors almost always end up liking things that weren't expressly on their lists, so don't read too much into these. Also, we had agents and editors who *weren't* #PitchMe agents and editors jump in and like pitches last year, and I wouldn't be surprised if the same thing happens this one.

We have 14 agents and 4 editors officially involved this year. Of these, 3 informed me that they're looking for PB, 8 said they're looking for MG, 14 are looking for YA, and 16 plan to browse adult.

Most agents and editors don't specify genres within PB (though one of our agents did say they were most interested in STEAM and SEL PBs this year). Here's what they said they're looking for in MG, YA, and adult:

MG

2 General/Contemporary

Historical

Magical realism

Fantasy

Nonfiction

Everything!

YA

3 Romance (keywords: contemporary, romantic comedy)

2 Contemporary

2 Historical

2 Fantasy (keywords: non-Western/non-Eurocentric, dark)

*Not* fantasy

*Not* horror

Horror

Magical realism

Gothic

Paranormal

Speculative

Humorous

Nonfiction

Adult

7 Mystery

6 Thriller/Suspense (including romantic)

5 Fantasy (keywords: non-Western/non-Eurocentric, dark, grounded)

5 Horror

4 Historical

3 Sci-fi

3 Romance

3 Commercial/Book club

2 Speculative

2 Paranormal (including romance)

Gothic

Women's fiction

Adventure

Nonfiction

It's worth noting that these lists look very different than they did last year. I don't remember all the details, but I'm fairly confident that thrillers topped *YA* last year (and are now nowhere to be found) and that historical and women's fiction were the most sought-after genres in adult.

Finalists announced next week!