Heather Osborn is a Spencerhill Associates agent with a deep editorial background who specializes in popular fiction—particularly romance in all its forms, romantasy (dragons welcome), and fantasy with romantic heart.
In brief
Her editorial past spans romance, science fiction, fantasy, cozy mystery, and women's fiction at multiple publishers—she brings acquisition-side instincts to the agenting table, which matters when she's pitching editors.
Her current agency page makes romantasy, humorous contemporary romance, and paranormal romance her top stated priorities, and she explicitly flags dragons as a plus—a rare, concrete signal worth taking seriously.
She also actively wants cozy fantasy, urban fantasy, and science fiction with strong romantic elements, broadening her list well beyond straight romance.
She draws a hard line at inspirational romance—this is a firm exclusion, not a soft preference.
Query status requires verification: a social post from December 2024 announced an imminent closure with a planned reopening 'early next year,' but a separate snapshot dated April 2026 shows her as open. Confirm the live form state before submitting.
Lately
In early December 2024, she publicly announced she was closing to queries within hours to work through her backlog, and indicated she did not expect to reopen until sometime in early 2025.
What Heather is looking for
This is her most explicitly flagged priority. She wants romantasy across its full range, and she singles out dragon-featuring stories as especially welcome — one of the few agents who says so in plain terms. Think sweeping romance woven into secondary-world fantasy.
A named top interest alongside romantasy and humorous contemporary. Her editorial background in both romance and fantasy gives her strong market instincts here.
She specifically calls out humor as a distinguishing quality she seeks in contemporary romance — a light, witty voice and comic timing are likely to stand out in her inbox.
Explicitly named as a particular interest within fantasy. Low-stakes, warm-toned, character-driven fantasy — the gentler cousin of epic fantasy — is a growing market and she's positioned for it.
Welcomed as part of her fantasy range. Her prior editorial work in fantasy and SF gives her credibility with editors in this space.
She wants SF only when romance is a genuine structural component — not a subplot. Writers pitching science fiction without a prominent romantic throughline are likely misaligned.
Her agency page frames romance as the core of her list, welcoming all genres and sub-genres with the single hard exclusion of inspirational romance. Historical, erotic, category, multicultural — all are fair game as long as they are not faith-centered.
Not the right fit
Taste fingerprint
How to query Heather
Confirm the submission form is currently active before querying — her open/closed status has shifted at least once in recent months and the live form is the only reliable indicator.
Lead your query letter with a clear genre label: she represents a wide range of romance sub-genres, so naming yours precisely (e.g. 'paranormal romance,' 'romantasy,' 'humorous contemporary romance') helps her place it immediately.
If your romantasy features dragons, say so early — she has signaled this explicitly and it is a genuine differentiator in her inbox.
For science fiction submissions, make the romantic elements impossible to miss in your pitch. Framing the book as 'SF with a strong romantic throughline' rather than 'a romance set in space' is more precise and more convincing.
Do not pitch inspirational romance under any framing — this is a firm exclusion, not a soft preference, and mislabeling will not help.
Her editorial background in both romance and SF/F suggests she responds to craft-level discussions in query letters; briefly noting what's emotionally or structurally distinctive about your book (beyond the plot) is worth a sentence.
She has stated that discovering new authors is one of her greatest joys — unpublished and debut writers should query with confidence rather than treating their lack of credits as a liability.