Get to Know an Agent in Attendance: Grace Milusich of Looking Glass Literary Management

Grace Milusich is a literary agent with Looking Glass Literary Management.

Grace is interested in pursuing both YA and adult pieces (with a particular interest in works that narrow the gap between YA and adult). She is passionate about fantasy, psychological thrillers, crime, romance, and contemporary fiction featuring powerful/challenging themes, unputdownable pacing, strong voices, gothic narratives, and complex characters. Grace is also a lover of the found family trope in all its forms!

Grace hopes to work on projects featuring diverse protagonists and intersectional identities. She is a sucker for sapphic narratives and morally grey characters too! If your book is a little twisty, strange, or dark, Grace would love to read it!

Grace is also looking for romance and historical fiction pieces with strong hooks, prosaic voices, lush worlds, and deep dives into character development. She is especially drawn to manuscripts with a literary leaning and fresh twists on familiar tropes.

Grace is excited to explore fantasy romances that feature enemies-to-lovers, slow burn, forbidden/doomed romance, and even a bit of spice! Grace always enjoys pieces with magic, adventure, mythos, and a bit of dark humor too.

Fun Facts About Grace: Grace is 100% a cat person! In her spare time she loves to run, write and work on perfecting her cinnamon roll recipe.

Get to Know an Agent in Attendance: Nicole Eisenbraun of Ginger Clark Literary

Nicole Eisenbraun is a literary agent with Ginger Clark Literary.

I am looking for YA and MG of all genres that remind me of the reading experiences I had as a young person – books that excite, teach, evoke empathy, and create a safe space.

Things I am particularly interested in right now:

– Fresh, colorful fairytale retellings – especially ones that haven’t been done often! I would be excited by retellings of stories like “The Willful Child,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” or “The Lady, or the Tiger?”

– Stories based in lore and myths from around the world

– Contemporary stories set in the Midwest- Family stories centering around the family business (think FRONT DESK by Kelly Yang)

– Stories that tackle difficult issues in an unexpected way with a strong voice – something like RIVERLAND by Fran Wilde. I am a huge fan of portal stories.

– Anything involving STEM

– I have always been a sucker for enemy-to-lover romances.

– I’m craving an eerie, atmospheric thriller in the vein of YELLOWJACKETS. I really enjoy stories that examine the human psyche in unusual and/or difficult situations. I also love the idea of speculating whether something more (supernatural) is going on. I am also down for other fun, pacey thrillers.

– layered mysteries in the vein of THE INHERITANCE GAMES.

Fun facts about me:

I am originally from a small town in South Dakota that has a tourist trap centered around free ice water. I am running a marathon in the Fall of 2023 with my dad. One of my favorite parts of publishing is foreign rights. I love to travel. I am the oldest of four.

Get to Know an Agent in Attendance: Alec Shane of Writers House

Alec Shane is a literary agent with Writers House.

Writers House is one of the largest literary agencies in the world and prides itself on providing an extraordinary amount of individual client attention combined with the full service benefits of foreign and sub rights departments, as well as a full accounting and royalty staff.

“I began my career at Writers House as an intern in September of 2008 and simply refused to leave, so I was given the wonderful job of Assistant to Jodi Reamer. I am now also in the process of actively building my own list and currently represent a fairly eclectic mix of Children’s and Adult fiction and nonfiction. I’m eagerly looking for both.

“On the fiction side, I love mysteries, thrillers (although I’m experiencing a bit of terrorist fatigue at the moment), bad-ass protagonists with a chip on their shoulders, beautifully told historical fiction (The Vietnam War, the Maccabees, and The American Revolution fascinate me in particular), well-researched adventure stories, and great horror – I haven’t been scared to turn off the light in far too long and something needs to be done about it.

“In terms of children’s books, getting boys to read again is especially important to me, and thus I’m particularly on the lookout for a fun middle-grade adventure series, ghost story, or anything else geared toward younger male readers.

“On the nonfiction side, I’m attracted to odd, quirky histories, military history, biographies of people I didn’t even know existed (but definitely should have), “guy” reads, humor, narrative nonfiction that sheds light on under-the-radar events and lifestyles, and all things sports. I’m also currently up in the air as to whether or not I believe in ghosts, hauntings, and the supernatural, so if you have something that can convince me one way or the other, I’d love to see it.

BEST-KNOWN PROJECTS

SHARK WARS, EJ Altbacker
THE LAST PUNISHER, Kevin Lacz
NIGHT ON FIRE, Ronald Kidd
THE BOOK OF BLOOD, HP Newquist
HOW THE STATES GOT THEIR SHAPES, Mark Stein
YOU MIGHT REMEMBER ME: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PHIL HARTMAN, Mike Thomas