Maeve MacLysaght is an Aevitas Creative Management agent who specializes in queer and POC-centered genre fiction—fantasy, horror, romance, and graphic novels—across adult, YA, and middle grade, with a sharp eye for myth-bending, manga-influenced storytelling, and worlds that center marginalized identities as a given rather than a statement.
In brief
MacLysaght's wishlist is unusually precise in its cultural reference points—The Untamed, Yuri on Ice, Bloodborne, Dragon Age 2—signaling she wants work that feels fluent in anime, manga, and game culture, not merely 'inspired by' them in a surface way.
Her academic background includes an MLitt in Ancient Greek Monsters from the University of St Andrews, which explains the mythological depth she demands: reworked gods, strange grammars of magic, and monsters with philosophical weight are genuine passions, not trend-chasing.
She explicitly wants normalized trans and non-binary existence baked into worldbuilding at the structural level—not as a plot point or 'issue'—so querying writers should demonstrate this is architectural, not ornamental.
MacLysaght's wishlist skews heavily toward queer romance (M/M and F/F both named) with high emotional stakes, and she has a specific appetite for 'queer cozies'—a niche but growing subgenre where competition in the slush is still relatively low.
She received over 700 queries in two weeks following a public update in late May 2026, suggesting demand is high; a tight, culturally literate query that speaks her reference language will stand out more than a generic pitch.
Lately
Over 700 queries in 2 weeks!!
Opening to queries tomorrow!!
#Amquerying authors, it’s time for 2026 #MSWL refresh! As always, I am looking for YA, Adult, Graphic Novel, and select Nonfiction titles with a focus on commercial genre fiction from marginalized voices. My reading taste is eclectic, but to give you some vibes, think of me for projects that are..
#amquerying authors, I will be reopening to queries on May 15th! Keep an eye out for my updated MSWL coming next week. For those with pending queries: I'm very close to responding to all 2025 queries, thank you for your patience if you're still waiting on feedback!
MacLysaght publicly noted receiving more than 700 queries within a two-week span, signaling her inbox is under significant pressure. Writers should ensure their submissions are polished and precisely targeted before sending.
I used to say middle grade through adult and graphic novel, but I'm such a magpie that I acquired a picture book, so now I do picture book through adult and graphic novel — largely in the sci-fi fantasy space, genre fiction. The goal of my list is really to increase the amount of queer and BIPOC joy in the world, so that's kind of the through line. I do everything, but with that focus in it.
It has to be a balance of two things: either stakes and frame — you get into a story about pirates and you can kind of see where it's going, and then I get to see how you're going to twist that — or it has to be character. You kind of have to have both in the end, but it's fifty-fifty for me whether a character voice grabs me on the first page and then I get into the stakes and the overall arc, or I see a very cool frame and then fall in love with the characters.
Authors are authors — they're not necessarily good marketers. If you write just a couple of sentences of a query and then I read the book and think it kicks ass, that's fine. I always say don't think jacket copy, think poster copy. Lord of the Rings has five world-building books and the poster is basically: will the hobbit get to the Shire? Thinking about it that way is a very good way of condensing it down to just that one thing that's going to hook someone immediately — especially in genre, where you want that hook.
You don't write fiction on spec, but you do write a graphic novel on spec because they're very labor-intensive and hard to change once they're inked. You write a pitch for a graphic novel in a very similar way to a non-fiction pitch: you have to drill down into the arcs and the character growth points. It's not enough to say 'here are my five characters' — you have to say here are my five characters, these are the challenges we're going to see, these are the ways they're going to grow. Thinking of graphic novels as adaptations of novels is fundamentally incorrect; it'll lead you to 'my book with a bunch of illustrations,' which is just an illustrated novel. A graphic novel is really about the way words and images work together.
I should be open to submissions by May 1st. I was closed since last August — I had people who'd been sitting in my inbox since February and I couldn't in good conscience take new things on if I hadn't responded to them. But I'm down to six queries left, I'm fully emptying out, and I'm hungry and excited to see new stuff.
What Maeve is looking for
MacLysaght is hunting for dark, layered adult speculative fiction with real literary texture—think necromantic or body-horror aesthetics, queer villains who are fully realized, and mythologies that don't default to European frameworks. She wants worldbuilding that rewards rereading and magic systems with an almost grammatical internal logic. Historical revision that decenters Western history—bringing in Chinese, Mongolian, Confucian, or other non-European timelines as primary rather than exotic—is a particular passion.
Both M/M and F/F romance with genuine emotional stakes—not low-conflict slice-of-life, but relationships tested by plot. She is specifically excited about queer cozies as an emerging form, and F/F stories built around tight female friendships and 'girl gangs against the world' dynamics. Fanfic and manga-influenced pacing and intensity are welcome; the Foxhole Court's shamelessly fandom-native energy is a touchstone.
YA fantasy and horror that normalizes trans and non-binary identity at the level of worldbuilding infrastructure, not as a coming-out narrative. She wants silk-punk aesthetics, Asia-centered histories, and subversions of tired colonial tropes in genre. Rich, immersive worlds are essential; low-stakes or purely realistic YA is not what she's looking for.
MG protagonists who are allowed to fail and fall apart before finding their footing—emotional honesty over tidy competence. She gravitates toward adventure-forward stories with wit and warmth, and steampunk or comedic-fantasy settings feel well-aligned with her taste.
She seeks graphic novels that are genuinely manga-influenced in their visual grammar and emotional register, or that channel the atmosphere of Studio Ghibli—not superhero work. Queer stories in particular, and projects that play with gender in their visual design. This is a selective category: she is not interested in superhero GNs under any framing.
A specific niche: she wants tightly constructed mysteries with a supernatural or folkloric overlay—the mood and logic of Japanese supernatural-detective anime translated into novel form. This is a narrow ask; only projects that genuinely match this atmospheric blend should query into this category.
Not the right fit
On Maeve's list
Taste fingerprint
How to query Maeve
Do not email queries—MacLysaght explicitly directs all submissions through her online form only; unsolicited emails will likely go unread.
Send the first three chapters, a detailed synopsis (she wants spoilers and plot specifics, not a jacket-copy tease), and a query letter as a package—all three are required.
Her inbox is under serious pressure (700+ queries in two weeks as of late May 2026); be ruthlessly specific about why your book fits her taste, using her own cultural reference points where genuinely applicable.
Lead your query with the queer identity or POC perspective that shapes the story—this is her primary filter, and burying it reads as unsure of your own work.
If your world normalizes trans or non-binary identity structurally, say so explicitly and briefly explain how it's woven into the worldbuilding rather than foregrounded as conflict.
Manga, fanfic, or anime influence is a feature, not something to apologize for—if your work comes from that tradition, name it; she responds to writers who are fluent in that culture.
Avoid pitching anything with a primarily European historical setting as though it's the default; if your work decenters that, flag it as a selling point.
Do not submit nonfiction, superhero graphic novels, or work that treats intersectionality as optional—these are firm exclusions.
Verify the form is still open immediately before submitting, given the high query volume following her recent public update.