Jennifer Grimaldi is a Chalberg & Sussman agent and former St. Martin's Press/Thomas Dunne editor who pursues voice-driven, genre-bending fiction—particularly SFF, horror, romance, and historicals—with a strong bias toward LGBTQ+ perspectives and the kind of gloriously specific obsessions only a true enthusiast can write.
In brief
Grimaldi returned to Chalberg & Sussman (where she began her career in 2012) after a stint as an acquiring editor at St. Martin's Press/Thomas Dunne, giving her unusually deep relationships on both the editorial and agenting sides of publishing.
Her editorial background is traceable and significant: she edited S. Jae-Jones' New York Times bestseller WINTERSONG and worked with Kate Forsyth — signaling genuine commercial muscle in gothic, fairytale-adjacent, and historical fantasy.
Her wishlist doubles down on categories she demonstrably knows from the inside: YA fantasy with dark/romantic edges, historical genre fiction, and horror — these are not aspiration categories for her.
She explicitly wants LGBTQ+ and own-voice writers across every genre she represents, and non-binary and trans leads in particular — this is a recurring theme, not a token bullet point.
Heists and 'weird obsession' books (niche expertise woven into genre fiction) are named enthusiasms — writers with highly specific research obsessions or caper plots should lean into that in their query.
Lately
Grimaldi's current wishlist emphasizes that she reads broadly across genre and encourages writers to query even when their project doesn't fit a neatly listed box — as long as it touches one of her core interests. She frames her list as actively under construction and signals genuine openness to cross-genre work.
What Jennifer is looking for
Fantasy is at the core of Grimaldi's list and editorial identity — she grew up on Holly Black and Philip Pullman, acquired a NYT-bestselling gothic YA at St. Martin's, and continues to prioritize the genre across age categories. She gravitates toward dark, romantic, and voice-driven work, with particular enthusiasm for historical fantasy and fairytale retellings. Epic fantasy, gothic, and speculative strands all welcome.
Grimaldi actively wants historicals woven into every genre she represents — historical horror, historical romance, and even historical sci-fi are all on the table. This is not a soft interest; she names it explicitly as a building block of her current list. The more the period setting shapes the story's tension and stakes, the better.
Romance is a named priority, with historical romance listed among her favorite sub-genres. Her broader taste for dark themes and gothic atmosphere suggests she skews toward romantic fiction with emotional depth and some edge. LGBTQ+ romance is especially welcome given her stated enthusiasm for diverse leads.
Horror — and especially horror aimed at a YA readership — is one of her named top interests. Gothic horror is a favorite sub-genre, and her editorial past in gothic YA reinforces this is an area where she has real taste and relationships. Adult horror is also welcome, but YA horror is where her enthusiasm is most specific.
SFF is treated as a paired interest, and space opera and speculative fiction appear among her listed sub-genres. She is open to historical sci-fi, though she acknowledges it's a challenging category — writers attempting it should feel encouraged rather than deterred. Her SFF taste runs toward the literary and voice-driven end of the spectrum.
This is a cross-genre priority, not a standalone category. Non-binary and trans leads, queer protagonists, and own-voice LGBTQ+ writers are explicitly called out as of particular interest across every genre she represents. Writers in this space should feel strongly encouraged to query regardless of genre, as long as the work fits one of her other categories.
Not the right fit
On Jennifer's list
Taste fingerprint
How to query Jennifer
Email jennifer@chalbergsussman.com with a query letter (including a short author bio) and the first ten pages of your manuscript pasted directly into the body of the email — no attachments for the sample pages.
Verify her current open/closed status on the Chalberg & Sussman agency website before sending, as no confirmed live status is available at time of writing.
Lead with what makes your book specific: if you have a deep, unusual research obsession at the center of your story, say so — she explicitly names 'your weird obsession that you know too much about' as a draw.
If your protagonist is non-binary, trans, or otherwise LGBTQ+, and/or you are writing own-voice queer content, say that clearly and early in your query — it is a genuine priority for her, not a checkbox.
If your book is a heist or contains a significant heist element, put it in the first paragraph of your query — she names it as a specific enthusiasm.
For historical projects, make the period setting's stakes and atmosphere central to your pitch rather than treating it as backdrop — she responds to history as a structural and emotional force in fiction.
Her editorial background means she responds to voice — your query letter itself should model the voice and tone of the manuscript rather than reading as a flat plot summary.
She was formerly known as Jennifer Letwack; if you queried her under that name previously, note the name change to avoid confusion.