Clara Chuiton is an associate agent at The Rights Factory who hunts for high-concept adult fiction — rom-coms, genre-blending science fiction, thrillers, and horror — with a particular soft spot for distinctive voices, intersectional feminist themes, and stories set in unusual or underrepresented contexts.
In brief
Her wishlist is romance-forward, but her current agency page has expanded her scope meaningfully — she now also actively wants smart thrillers and upmarket/book-club fiction, categories absent from her older wishlist posts.
She joined The Rights Factory in 2025 after a prior associate-agent role elsewhere, making her a relatively new agent who is still actively building her client list — a meaningful opportunity for querying writers when she reopens.
Her named touchstone titles (Outlander, Babel, Mexican Gothic, The Bride Test, Dial A for Aunties) consistently skew toward lush, immersive, culturally specific storytelling — books with strong sense of place and community. Writers whose work shares that DNA are well-positioned.
She has confirmed she closed to queries on or around November 21, 2025, with no announced reopening date for the new year — verify her form status before submitting.
Her personal enthusiasms (musical theater, gymnastics/competition sports) are rare, specific entry points; a manuscript that touches either theme is likely to receive extra attention when she does reopen.
Lately
She announced publicly that she would be closing to queries the following day, noting she had no plans to reopen in the coming new year and encouraging writers who wanted to submit to do so before the weekend.
What Clara is looking for
This is her loudest stated priority. She wants contemporary romance with genuine comic energy and a fresh angle on beloved tropes — enemies-to-lovers, road trip stories, and the 'unlikable heroine' all get a named nod. She's especially drawn to storylines that explore identity and non-traditional careers. Think culturally specific, character-driven, and emotionally smart rather than formulaic.
She welcomes historical romance, but with a clear preference for the road less traveled: unusual settings and time periods that rarely appear on shelves. Standard Regency England is not her target; if your historical romance is set somewhere unexpected or illuminates a moment in history that gets little mainstream attention, that's what she wants.
She wants standalone science-fiction novels — not sprawling series openers. Stories set in space, narratives built around genuine ethical dilemmas, and work with strong intersectional feminist themes are explicitly flagged as high-interest. She also welcomes SF that bleeds into horror, making genre-blending manuscripts a real opportunity here.
Horror — including gothic horror and manuscripts that fuse horror with science fiction — is a named priority. She responds to atmospheric, high-concept work with a strong, distinctive voice. Mexican Gothic is one of her named touchstones, signaling that she leans toward literary horror with cultural texture rather than pure shock-value genre fare.
Her current agency page adds smart, fast-paced thrillers to her list — a category not foregrounded in older wishlist materials. She characterizes the ideal as 'smart' and 'fast-paced,' suggesting she wants intellectual propulsion alongside plot momentum. This appears to be a newer area of interest, so writers with commercially sharp, idea-driven thrillers should note it.
Her agency page explicitly includes upmarket and book-club commercial fiction among her interests. This broadens her remit beyond pure genre — literary-leaning work with strong commercial hooks and wide reader appeal fits here. The qualifier 'upmarket' suggests she wants narrative ambition alongside accessibility.
Her agency page notes openness to 'select' political and sociological nonfiction — a meaningful expansion from her older wishlist, which excluded all nonfiction. The word 'select' signals this is narrow and discerning; she is not a general nonfiction agent. Writers with a sharply argued, timely nonfiction project in these areas could query, but should not expect a broad welcome.
LGBTQ+ fiction is listed among her active interests across categories — it functions as a thread running through her romance, SF, and literary interests rather than a standalone genre bucket. A queer rom-com or a queer science-fiction novel would fit naturally given her overall taste profile.
Not the right fit
On Clara's list
Taste fingerprint
How to query Clara
She is currently closed to queries as of November 22, 2025, with no announced reopening date — check her live submission form before doing anything else.
When she does reopen, she requires a query letter, a synopsis, and the first chapter of your manuscript submitted through her online form. Do not email queries; she has stated emailed submissions are deleted unread.
Lead with your hook, setting, and what makes your approach to the trope or premise genuinely fresh — she explicitly uses 'unique hook' and 'strong, unusual voice' as her filters.
If your manuscript touches musical theater or competitive sport (especially gymnastics), mention it clearly — she has flagged both as personal passions that will earn extra attention.
Her touchstone titles (Mexican Gothic, Babel, Dial A for Aunties) all have strong cultural specificity and a sense of deep community or world — if your work shares that quality, draw the connection explicitly in your query.
She is an associate agent still building her list, which means she has more incentive than a senior agent to take on debut and early-career writers. Frame your query professionally but don't be intimidated by her profile.
For thrillers and nonfiction — the newer additions to her list — her taste in those areas is less documented publicly, so anchor your query to concrete genre comps and make the 'smart, fast-paced' or 'political/sociological' angle unmistakable from the first paragraph.