Michael L. Joy is a literary agent with The Seymour Agency.
Michael is a graduate of the Stonecoast MFA Creative Writing program and a board member of the Florida Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America, where he is the co-chair of their annual mystery writing conference, SleuthFest. (SleuthFest.com). He is a professor of English, musician and recovering programmer living in Southwest Florida.
Fiction:
- character-driven commercial fiction in mystery/crime/suspense/thriller (including graphic novel script format.
- Stories that transcend genre and have the potential to attract a wider audience (aka: Upmarket fiction)
- new perspectives – #OwnVoices, race, gender, LGBTQ, or sub-culture – different POVs, obstacles and outcomes. Situational humor is good, but not required.
- Cozies will be a tough sell unless the “community” is something extremely different.
No talking or communicative animals. No Romance, but romantic elements are good if done well. Don’t force it.
Nonfiction:
- art, music, pop-culture or sub-culture topics, including positive mental and physical health for artist
- True crime
- Business Self-Help: How to survive and keep positive while starting a business, running a business or working a high-pressure job.
- I’d be excited to look at graphic novel formats for non-fiction also.
No politics or religion.
The key to selling non-fiction is having an existing platform – first-hand expertise or experience – no arm-chair quarterbacking. If you’re going to write about winning the World Beard and Moustache Championship, you better be a competitor or a barber…or better yet, be both.
Sharon Belcastro is the founder of 