Eloy Bleifuss Prados is a Brooklyn-based literary agent at Neon Literary who hunts for dark, strange, and funny fiction that defies easy genre categorization, alongside nonfiction from obsessive experts who can make complex systems feel urgently human.
In brief
Eloy is relatively early in his independent list-building, having moved to Neon Literary in April 2024 after five years at Janklow & Nesbit and two at Simon & Schuster editorial — his editorial background means he engages deeply with craft and voice, not just marketability.
His wishlist is unusually specific and comp-heavy: queer narratives, literary gothic/horror, atmosphere-soaked literary thrillers, and character-driven fantasy with strong prose all get named as distinct priorities, each backed by a dense list of published comps — writers should match their manuscript to those touchstones with precision.
The breadth of his nonfiction interests is notably wide — science, cultural criticism, economics, history, and politics — but the through-line is consistent: he wants deep expertise made legible, not pop-journalism lightness; journalists and academics writing authoritatively about complex systems are his sweet spot.
A recurring thematic through-line across both lists is cross-cultural and transnational experience: he lists Spain, Latin America, and stories about 'crossing or existing between countries and cultures' as genuine affinities, likely reflecting his own time teaching in Madrid and studying in Montevideo.
He also serves as Neon Literary's Foreign Rights Coordinator, meaning clients he signs may benefit from a direct in-house path to international rights deals — an unusual structural advantage at a boutique agency.
Lately
In his agency biography, Eloy describes seeking writers who are 'clear-eyed about the realities of the world but still hold onto a certain amount of hard-earned hope' — a phrase that functions as a quiet filter: nihilism for its own sake is unlikely to land, even in dark or horror-inflected fiction.
What Eloy is looking for
Queer narratives set in any era and any country are a clear top priority. He's drawn to the full range of queer experience — intimate domestic dramas, sweeping historical romances, transgressive literary experiments, and genre fiction with queer protagonists. He names comps spanning contemporary British literary fiction, American Southern voices, Scottish working-class tragedy, and trans narratives, signaling he's not interested in a single 'type' of queer story.
He wants gothic and horror novels that earn their dread through emotional grounding — not pure shock value but fear that emerges from character and place. His comps run from Mexican Gothic atmosphere to Indigenous cosmic horror to trans-horror, suggesting he's open to culturally specific horror and politically charged terror as much as classic dread.
Atmosphere and a distinctive authorial voice matter far more to him than plot mechanics. He's drawn to thrillers with a literary sensibility — unreliable perspectives, psychological unease, stylized prose — rather than conventional whodunits or procedurals. His comps include campus-thriller energy, obsession narratives, and slow-burn espionage, all united by a strong narrative voice.
He's open to both epic-scope and smaller-scale fantasy, but the bar is high: prose quality and character depth are non-negotiable, and world-building must feel inventive rather than derivative. His comps lean toward literary SFF — Clarke's puzzle-box mysteries, Jemisin's formally ambitious trilogy, Dickinson's political intrigue — rather than commercial fantasy conventions. Cozy-in-scope fantasy is explicitly welcomed alongside epic, which is an uncommon openness.
He gravitates toward nonfiction that uses science as a lens to reveal the strangeness of the world — not textbooks or popular-science primers, but immersive inquiries into biology, ecology, and natural history that carry the intellectual rigor of academic work while remaining accessible to a general reader.
Sharp cultural criticism with a strong intellectual and social justice thread — he's drawn to essayists and cultural historians who challenge received narratives about identity, power, and community, particularly around queerness, race, and religion.
Narrative nonfiction that makes large, abstract systems — capitalism, global commodity markets, political ideology — legible through deep reporting and human-scale storytelling. He favors writers with genuine domain expertise who can also write with urgency and clarity.
Revisionist, argument-driven history that reframes conventional narratives — particularly American empire, pre-modern civilizations, and the political underpinnings of how we understand the past. He favors histories that read as intellectual adventures rather than comprehensive surveys.
He has a stated affinity for books about under-explored subjects where the writer's obsession is palpable and infectious. Named areas of personal interest that could anchor a pitch include: Spain and Latin America; Chicago and the Midwest; the lives of obscure or forgotten writers; small-town corruption and local politics; the fine art world; technology; the near future and distant past; running; film; climate change; pop music; nightlife; masculinity; decolonialism; and drugs and addiction. These are genuine enthusiasms, not just hedges — a compelling proposal in any of these areas is worth a query.
Not the right fit
On Eloy's list
Taste fingerprint
How to query Eloy
He lists a direct email address (eloy@neonliterary.com) publicly — confirm via Neon Literary's current website whether email querying is preferred or whether a submission form has since been implemented, as agency processes can change.
Lead with the comp titles most relevant to your manuscript — his wishlist is among the most comp-specific of any agent actively building a list, and demonstrating that you've engaged with those specific books (not just the genre broadly) signals genuine fit.
If your work is queer, transnational, or set partially or entirely in Spain or Latin America, say so early and directly — these are personal affinities, not just market considerations, and specificity here will catch his attention.
For nonfiction, frame your proposal around the obsessive center of your argument: what is the single topic you are exploding outward? He is looking for multidisciplinary inquiry anchored to a strong specific subject, not wide-ranging cultural essays without a spine.
Avoid pitching anything with 'dark' or 'literary' as its sole selling points — those are table stakes for his list. Emphasize the specific tension your book holds (high vs. low, real vs. imaginary, serious vs. trashy) and why your voice is the one to hold it.
His role as Foreign Rights Coordinator at Neon Literary is worth acknowledging if your work has international scope or has already attracted overseas interest — it signals direct alignment with his in-house responsibilities.
Do not query with dystopian fiction, post-apocalyptic narratives, cozy mysteries, police procedurals, military thrillers, YA, or children's books — these are explicitly off his list and querying them wastes both parties' time.