Casey Conniff is a Jane Rotrosen Agency agent with a sharp appetite for voice-driven romance across all heat levels, cozy and contemporary fantasy, and emotionally resonant commercial fiction that makes readers laugh or cry — ideally both.
In brief
Casey Conniff's stated wish list and favorite titles align tightly: they skew toward emotionally punchy, banter-heavy fiction with romantic cores, spanning cozy fantasy, romantasy, dark romance, and commercial women's fiction.
Their personal taste signals — Dramione fanfiction, Taylor Swift, a semester in Galway, love of cats and tea — are more than flavor text; they map directly onto the tropes they want: epistolary elements, Irish/British-inflected settings, found family, and female friendships.
Conniff names specific touchstones (Butcher & Blackbird, Lights Out, Six of Crows, The House in the Cerulean Sea) that reveal a clear commercial-yet-literary sweet spot: books with fandom-ready hooks and genuine emotional weight, not purely plot-driven genre fare.
The breadth of their listed sub-genres (from erotic romance to dark academia to time travel) is wide, but their hunger language — 'laugh out loud or cry,' 'banter banter banter,' 'really strong emotional beat' — narrows the true target: voice and feeling over concept alone.
Conniff is based at Jane Rotrosen Agency's New York office, a major commercial agency with deep publisher relationships, which signals that acquired projects would have strong placement access across the Big Five and key independents.
Lately
Conniff has signaled an active hunger for dark comedic romance with sharp wit and emotional weight, citing examples that blur dark themes with humor — indicating they are not looking for lighter, purely feel-good romance alone.
What Casey is looking for
Conniff is openly enthusiastic about the full spectrum of romance: dark romance, romcoms, sports romance, small-town romance, historical romance, erotic romance, and more. The through-line they want is emotional intensity — writing that earns either a laugh or a tear, ideally in the same chapter. Banter is explicitly a priority; flat, low-tension dialogue is not going to land here. They are drawn to dark comedic pairings in the vein of books like Butcher & Blackbird and Lights Out.
Conniff wants romantasy and fantasy romance with genuine romantic bones — not fantasy with a thin love-interest subplot. Found family in a fantasy setting is a particular draw, as are grounded, cozy, and contemporary fantasy registers. They are less interested in epic grimdark and more drawn to intimate, character-driven worlds with warmth and wit. Gothic fantasy and dark fantasy also appear on the list, suggesting range within the category.
Conniff is looking for commercial adult fiction with strong female perspectives and the kind of emotional resonance that drives book club conversation. Stories centered on female relationships — the complicated, funny, deeply felt bonds between women — are especially welcome. The Gilmore Girls and Derry Girls references point toward writing that is witty and warm without being saccharine.
Conniff has a genuine appetite for work that sits at the edge of the real — stories where the speculative element is a lens rather than a world-building exercise. They specifically single out epistolary novels with a speculative twist as a combination they find exciting. Magical realism, time travel, and multiple-timeline structures all appear in their stated preferences.
Conniff is open to mystery and suspense but the hook has to be immediately compelling and the voice has to carry the read. Domestic suspense and domestic fiction with crime threads fit their taste. This is not a top-priority category for them, so projects in this space need to work harder to stand out.
LGBTQ+ romance, contemporary fiction, and fantasy are all listed as welcome. Conniff's broader taste profile — found family, female friendships, emotionally rich relationships — applies equally here. There is no signal that they want LGBTQ+ stories only in certain subgenres; the category cuts across all their areas of interest.
Conniff specifically calls out stories that embed love letters or an epistolary structure throughout — and they get even more excited when this is paired with a speculative or magical twist. This is a rare, specific appetite worth noting: if your manuscript has this structural element, lead with it in your query.
Not the right fit
On Casey's list
Taste fingerprint
How to query Casey
Send everything in the body of the email — query letter, synopsis, and the first three chapters. Attachments are explicitly not accepted and will likely be ignored or rejected outright.
Address the email directly to cconniff@janerotrosen.com — the agency's own page lists this as the correct submission address.
If your manuscript has an epistolary or love-letter element, name it in the first paragraph of your query; Conniff has flagged this as a specific and active want.
Lean into voice from the first line of your sample pages. The touchstones Conniff cites — Butcher & Blackbird, Six of Crows, Emily Henry — are all propelled by unmistakable, immediate voice. A flat or generic opening chapter will not survive.
Banter and emotional contrast (funny AND moving) are explicitly valued. If your book has both registers, make that clear in the query pitch — describe the emotional arc, not just the plot.
If your story involves Ireland, Irish settings, or British-inflected worlds, mention it; Conniff has a documented personal connection to Galway and Irish culture that tracks directly into taste.
Conniff references Dramione fanfiction as a personal favorite — a signal that they appreciate enemies-to-lovers, forbidden romance, and slow-burn tension. If these dynamics drive your romantic arc, name them.
Do not expect an acknowledgment of receipt — the agency page states only that a request for more material will follow if there is interest. No reply means no at this stage.
Verify the current submission status directly on the agency's website before querying; no confirmed open/closed date is available from public sources.