A former Big Publishing executive and award-winning editor turned agent at DeFiore & Company, Elise Howard pursues immersive literary fiction, twisty mysteries, and narrative nonfiction with a publishing pedigree that includes two Newbery Medals and two Edgar Awards.
In brief
Elise Howard is a rare agent who spent decades on the editorial and publishing side — as founding publisher of Algonquin Young Readers and SVP at HarperCollins Children's Books — before transitioning to agenting at DeFiore & Company. She knows exactly what editors want because she was one.
Her editorial track record skews heavily toward children's and middle grade literary fiction, including two Newbery Medal winners. Writers querying adult fiction should note that her agenting wishlist now emphasizes adult literary and narrative nonfiction alongside kids' projects.
Despite describing herself as 'generally not looking for genre fiction,' her background champions books that blend literary sensibility with genre elements — particularly fantasy threads and mystery — so the real bar is quality of execution, not genre avoidance.
She is explicitly hunting for a mystery with a compelling, recurring sleuth, suggesting she wants to take on a series — a strong signal for mystery writers with a multi-book concept.
Her nonfiction appetite is specific and substantive: she gravitates toward narrative works illuminating overlooked people, events, or the natural world (including science, climate, ecology, the human body and mind) — not memoir-lite or prescriptive how-to.
Lately
Her current wishlist emphasizes fiction that is immersive and world-building-rich alongside narrative nonfiction tied to the natural world and overlooked histories — a dual focus that mirrors the editorial taste she honed over a decade running a literary children's and YA imprint.
What Elise is looking for
Elise wants fiction that earns a permanent place on a reader's shelf — emotionally immersive, beautifully crafted, and built around a world (familiar or invented) that feels fully realized. She is not chasing commercial genre formulas, but she welcomes a powerful love story woven through a literary novel, or a book that incorporates fantasy elements as part of a larger literary vision.
This is a stated priority. She specifically wants a well-constructed, twisty mystery featuring a distinctive new detective or investigator with the depth and momentum to anchor multiple books. A series concept is a genuine plus here — she is looking for the next great recurring sleuth, not a standalone whodunit.
Given her years leading Algonquin Young Readers and her role in championing Newbery and Edgar Award-winning titles for younger readers, children's and middle grade literary fiction is clearly central to her taste. She is drawn to work with rich storytelling, emotional depth, and the kind of imaginative world-building that resonates with both young readers and the adults who champion books to them.
Elise is actively seeking eye-opening narrative nonfiction that brings the natural world to life — ecosystems visible and invisible, climate, ecology, gardening, and the environment. She is equally interested in books about the human body and mind approached through a narrative lens. The common thread is discovery: she wants books that make the reader see something they thought they understood in an entirely new way.
History, biography, and cultural nonfiction that restores forgotten or marginalized voices to the record. She is drawn to stories that feel urgent precisely because they have been invisible — women's and gender issues, African American history and experience, and events that have been sidelined by mainstream historical narratives.
Not the right fit
On Elise's list
Taste fingerprint
How to query Elise
Lead your query letter by naming the category clearly — literary fiction, mystery, children's, or narrative nonfiction — so Elise can instantly orient to her wishlist before reading your pitch.
If querying a mystery, make the sleuth the centerpiece of your pitch and gesture toward series potential; she has explicitly framed this as a long-game interest, not a one-book acquisition.
For literary fiction with fantasy or romance elements, don't bury those elements — but frame them as serving the story's emotional and thematic core rather than as genre hooks. She welcomes these as flavors, not as the primary sell.
For narrative nonfiction, the pitch should convey discovery: what does the reader learn that they could not have learned elsewhere, and why has this story gone untold? Tie it to the natural world, overlooked history, science, or women's and gender issues if possible.
Given her background as a publisher and editor, she will read your prose closely. A polished, confident first page matters enormously — her taste runs to writing that is savored, not skimmed.
She is a relatively new agent building her list; this is an unusually good moment to query someone with deep industry relationships and editorial expertise who is still actively seeking new clients.
Always verify the current submission status on her agency's live query form before sending — cached statuses can change without notice.