My Submissions Wishlist: Rachel Neely

Since Mushens Entertainment is open to submissions and actively looking to sign new clients, we’ve asked our agents to sit down and tell us all about what’s on their wishlist. Today’s guest: our resident editor extraordinaire Rachel Neely.

What do you like to read for fun?

I read very broadly in my spare time, but my go-to is usually crime and thriller! I love locked-room-style mysteries like The Hunting Party or The Sanatorium. I am also obsessed with the current trend for kooky, voice-led crime – books like My Sister the Serial Killer, How to Kill Your Family and How to Kidnap the Rich. I thought Portrait of a Thief was a lot of fun too and would like to see more really smart and fun heist novels emerge. When it comes to psychological thrillers or suspense, I’m a real sucker for campus fiction, whether the story is set at a university or an elite boarding school, so if you are writing the next The Secret History please get in touch!

The other thing that I’m loving at the minute are feminist retellings of myths, or historical fiction that explores female experiences in the ancient world. We have some incredible authors writing in that space at Mushens Entertainment.

What was your taste like growing up and how has this changed now you are seeking clients?

I definitely went through some very distinct phases and was on a first name basis with all my local librarians from constantly calling in books! As a very small child I collected every book in the Lucy Daniels’ Animal Ark series, before graduating to Jacqueline Wilson’s books (which I could have quoted word for word by the time I left primary school). Shortly after, I became obsessed with Point Horror, and it was Point Horror that sparked my love of crime, so soon I was tearing through dark and gritty police procedural series, with Patricia Cornwell and Michael Connelly being my favourites.

When I started working in publishing six years ago, I began to read much more widely and, as an agent, I’m definitely looking for a lot of variety in my list. I am on the hunt for everything from crime and thrillers to reading group, accessible literary fiction, historical fiction and millennial women’s fiction. I don’t mind whether a book is literary or commercial, but I do always look for writers who can match a strong voice with a compelling plot. I have also noticed that all of my favourite books tend to be on the darker end of the spectrum!

Are there any genres that are off-limits for you?

Fantasy and Sci-fi are off-limits for me, simply because it isn’t an area of the market that I know particularly well, and aspiring SFF authors would be better off submitting to someone who has expertise in that area. Likewise, anything paranormal is an instant turn-off for me. However, I do consider literary or reading group novels that are high-concept or contain a slightly speculative element – think of books like The Handmaid’s Tale, The Time Traveller’s Wife, Station Eleven or The Lovely Bones.

I don’t take on YA either, for similar reasons. My speciality is adult fiction, so authors who want to build a career in Young Adult fiction would be better served by someone who lives and breathes YA.

The other area that I’m not overly keen on is traditional or cosy women’s fiction. Every now and again I’ll read a cute Christmas rom-com and love it but, generally speaking, I’m not the best agent to query for this type of fiction. When it comes to women’s fiction, I prefer spikier novels that focus on younger (Millennial or Gen-Z) characters, and which could also probably be labelled as reading-group or coming-of-age, as the characters grapple with identity and finding their place in the world.

What do you look for in your clients?

It is always lovely to stumble across a really polished manuscript, but having spent so much of my career as an editor, I’m also very open to authors who need help to perfect their manuscript before it goes out on submission to publishers. Working with authors to develop their novels is one of my favourite aspects of the job. Sometimes this means just making small tweaks, other times we might keep the central concept but completely rework the plot. Agents and authors work very closely together so having good chemistry is really important. As an author, you need to sign with someone whose vision for your book aligns with your own.

Is there anything specific on your wishlist at the moment?

I’m new to the agency so there is LOTS on my wishlist! If I had to narrow it down, there are three areas that I would love to see more submissions in!

Millennial women’s fiction. These novels focus on young women or men in their twenties or early thirties, trying to find their way in the world – so thinking of books like Luster, Normal People, Wet Paint, Careering or Cleopatra and Frankenstein.
Reading-group fiction. I would love to find something with a really meaty and topical issue at the heart. This might be a #MeToo novel like My Dark Vanessa or the upcoming Young Women, or it might tackle prejudice in some form like Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere or Kiley Reid’s Such a Fun Age.
A big blockbuster thriller. I’m dying to find the kind of thriller that you consume in one sitting because you literally can’t put it down! This could be a locked-room mystery with Lucy Foley vibes, a campus novel with shades of The Secret History, a darkly comic voice-led thriller in the style of My Sister the Serial Killer, or a game-changing psychological thriller in the vein of Gone Girl.