#MSWL Day on Its Fifth Anniversary

Literary agents and editors joined the Twitter conversation on September 24, #MSWL Day, highlighting horror, fantasy, and fun

September 24 marked the fifth anniversary of what’s known as #MSWL Day. While #MSWL is active all the time, the upshot of #MSWL day is more participants than usual and a greater variety of ideas. Continuing our study of wishlist activity via the aggregator site mswishlist.com, we surveyed #MSWL Day tweets for trends. (Here’s our first installment.)

This year, tweets added twists worthy of Halloween: horror surpassed other trending genres, an interest echoing the broader industry pulse. Some called for all kinds of horror, but ghosts and psychological flavors generally beat monsters and gore. For example, literary agent Anne Tibbets asked for “adult and YA Horror that goes beyond your typical slasher. Gimme voice, unreliable narrators, and imaginative twists.” Magical realism found frequent pairing with horror and fantasy, and we noticed repeated mentions of Southern Gothic among subgenres. Some tweets called for middle-grade takes on horror. Also:

• Agent Kiki Nguyen focused on mood: “A #mswl CRAVING for horror in YA and Adult. I love haunting, meaty narratives like SAWKILL GIRLS, sleepy and dreamy lore like THE WICKED DEEP, the creepy witchy nightmare of #MarianneNetflix.”
• Assistant editor Kristin Temple emphasized story arc: “My favorite kind of horror is ultimately hopeful. I want to see people face their fears and win. Make impossible choices and survive. Rescue each other and rescue themselves.”
• Agent Rach Crawford outlined criteria and a comp title: “I want queer, feminist, literary horror that takes elements of being human, plays up the nightmare, and teaches us something about ourselves (think Carmen Maria Machado, FEVER DREAM, THE NEED).”

Rory Power’s novel Wilder Girls surfaced repeatedly as a model, with its “claustrophobic intimacy” and “body horror,” while other users opted for a lighter touch of horror.

The push for fun and joy in non-horror categories rivaled interest in horror. Calls continue for stories featuring LGBTQIA+, people of color, women, and other marginalized groups, as do desires for joyful, happy, and fun stories:

• Lit agent Gemma Cooper tweeted: “Big ideas books across the age ranges, packed full of humour and fun. Characters must be determined, goal oriented, chipper. I want joyful books. Books that make me smile. Nothing joyless!”
• Sara Schonfeld listed MG tropes: “I would love to see more fun, upbeat middle grade focusing on siblings, friendship, crushes, and/or that silly joy of tween schemes. Show me failed matchmaking, plotting that got out of hand, the awkwardness of a friend-breakup.”
• Kristy Hunter further upped the fun factor: “In #MG…I’d love to see: upbeat contemporary, magical realism, fun-filled fantasy adventures, charming mysteries with strong hooks, as well as stories that deal with shifting friend groups, activism, and projects that feature pets (especially dogs!).”
• Agent Chelsea Eberly may have captured the mood best when she tweeted, “I would love a YA love story with the meet cute of WHEN DIMPLE MET RISHI and Black main characters who have the celebratory feeling of Beyoncé headlining Coachella.”

Most frequently compared in the fun category was the rom-com novel Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. At the intersection of horror and fun, a handful of tweets welcomed “spoopy” stories—those that are funny and spooky at the same time.

A variety of additional niche topics—such as heists, body image, and disability—surfaced a bit more quietly. Styles for heist novels included a “YA Ocean’s Eleven,” “Mission Impossible-esque,” and “Harlem Renaissance,” as well as “set in space” and “paired with magic.” People wanted “found family” scenarios—plots featuring a family one isn’t born into (one called for a “found family heist team.”) Body/fat positivity or “body diversity” representation; involvement with climate change and environment; and chronic illness, pain conditions, or disabilities in main characters were mentioned. Notably, editor Molly Cusick asked that a main character’s illness or chronic pain simply be coincidental to the plot: “#ownvoices #MG or #YA protagonists with chronic illness, pain, and/or a disability in a story not focused on that, and where no one dies—it’s just a part of life. This kind of rep is important to me & I rarely see it in subs or published books.”

Other notable asks:

• Diving into a specific event, editor Amanda Isabel Ramirez tweeted, “Circling back to the Area 51 Raid: if anyone happens to have a fictionalized account of the whole night for #YA that may or may not actually end with aliens I am all about that. Weird & irreverent narratives featuring tin-hat-conspiracy kids w deep, meaningful relationships.”
• Editor Kara Rota provided an insightful nonfiction catch-all: “amazing writers on their musical obsessions. biographies of iconic women. smart writing on bad TV shows. secret histories of feminist heroes. love letters to pop music. cultural critiques from within the culture. the book you can’t stop writing.”
• In nonfiction, agent Erik Hane declared, “Essays/commentary are probably worth calling out on their own. We’re seeing all kinds of engaging work happening in literary NF right now and if you’re as excited about it as I am, send me your stuff please.”

Bottom line: Alongside horror, mystery, thrills, and fun, #MSWL Day tweet keywords favored fantasy over sci-fi, fiction over nonfiction, contemporary over historical, YA and MG over adult and picture books, character and world over plot, and friends over family. As always, when it comes to #MSWL, don’t put too much stock in buzzwords, tags, or criteria. A few tweets reinforced this advice, including agent Michelle Witte’s follow-up to editor Cimone Watson: “The purpose of #MSWL is to give writers an idea of the *kinds* of books we’re looking for. If your ms has a similar tone, theme, genre, etc., then that agent/editor might love your story too. #MSWL tweets are examples, not the only things we want.”