Jennifer Laughran is a veteran children's and YA specialist at Andrea Brown Literary Agency who hunts for high-concept, voice-driven middle grade and young adult fiction — with a deep personal pull toward joyful, funny, and LGBTQIA+-inclusive stories.
In brief
Laughran's submission form was confirmed closed as of December 4, 2024 — verify the live form before querying, as status can change without announcement.
Their client roster reveals a clear pattern: they consistently place both picture book author-illustrators (Sergio Ruzzier, Calef Brown, Daniel Pinkwater) and older-YA novelists (Stephanie Oakes), signaling genuine range across the children's age spectrum even though MG/YA fiction is the stated priority.
The sales record shows real commercial muscle: Sergio Ruzzier's *Good Boy* earned a New York Times Best Children's Books nod, and Stephanie Oakes's *The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly* was a Morris Award finalist and Golden Kite Honor Book — evidence Laughran can place both critically recognized literary work and commercially successful titles.
Laughran's repeat-client relationships are a standout feature of the list: Pinkwater, Brown, Ruzzier, and Oakes each appear with multiple titles, pointing to long-term career partnerships rather than one-off deals — consistent with Andrea Brown Literary Agency's stated philosophy of cultivating careers over time.
Despite saying they want 'fun SF/F,' the wishlist strongly disfavors heavy high fantasy and hard science fiction; their sweet spot is grounded, character-forward speculative fiction with humor and romance — writers pitching epic world-building should look elsewhere.
Lately
Laughran's wishlist makes their personal history explicit as a submission signal: boarding school upbringing, a background in theater arts through both high school and college, Louisiana roots, and years living in New Orleans all translate directly into story preferences. Books set in theaters, boarding schools, or the modern American South have a genuine edge.
What Jennifer is looking for
This is Laughran's core category. They want voice-forward stories with a clear hook — protagonists whose interiority is vivid enough to make readers laugh and cry. Upbeat outcomes are strongly preferred: characters can face serious adversity, but the arc should trend toward resilience and earned joy rather than unrelenting bleakness. LGBTQIA+ representation is explicitly welcomed. Settings with personal resonance — boarding schools, theaters, New Orleans, the American South — are a plus, though not required.
Laughran wants YA with a distinct narrative voice and stories or perspectives that feel genuinely fresh. Contemporary YA with emotional range (funny and heartbreaking) is a priority. Fantasy YA should lean toward accessible, 'cute magic' adventure — think relatable human or humanoid leads, an earth-adjacent setting, romance, and humor — rather than sprawling epic world-building. YA SF is welcome if it stays rooted in a recognizable version of our world. LGBTQIA+ stories across the full spectrum are actively sought. Diverse perspectives and authors from marginalized communities are explicitly encouraged to query.
Laughran is open to picture books but specifically from author-illustrators, not from writers who do not also illustrate. The client list — which includes Sergio Ruzzier, Calef Brown, and Daniel Pinkwater — skews toward whimsical, offbeat, and poetic voices. If you write-and-draw in that vein, include a portfolio link in your query. Writers without illustration skills should not submit picture book manuscripts.
Graphic novels across the children's age spectrum are welcome. No additional specifics were stated beyond the general tone preferences that apply to all of Laughran's list — voice, humor, and a degree of uplift will all serve a graphic novel pitch well here.
Laughran approaches historical fiction cautiously and only under specific conditions: the setting must predate roughly 1929, and there needs to be something distinctive or theatrical about the premise. Tudor, Regency, Victorian, WWI, and 1920s settings are all acceptable. Mid-to-late twentieth-century historical settings (1950s–1990s) hold essentially no appeal. Holocaust narratives are generally a poor fit. A writer with a flashy historical hook in an approved era might succeed; a quiet literary period piece almost certainly will not.
Not the right fit
On Jennifer's list
Taste fingerprint
How to query Jennifer
Do not email — queries sent directly to Laughran's email address are likely to be deleted unread or lost to spam filters. The submission form is the only accepted channel.
Confirm the form is open before spending time on your query package; as of December 2024 it was closed, and reopening may not be publicized widely.
Include genre, category, and a brief author bio alongside your pitch — Laughran specifically wants all of these in the query letter, though the order is flexible.
Paste the first ten pages of your manuscript directly into the form body — do not attach them as a separate file unless you have a picture book dummy or illustration portfolio to upload.
If you are an author-illustrator querying a picture book, link to your portfolio website in the form; without that link, your submission is incomplete.
Query only one Andrea Brown Literary Agency agent at a time — agents at ABLA share submissions and duplicate queries within the agency are discouraged.
If you haven't received a personal response within eight weeks of your auto-confirmation, treat it as a pass and move on.
Lead your pitch with what makes your story's voice or perspective genuinely different — Laughran is explicit that they want stories they haven't read before, so a 'comps-only' pitch that doesn't convey distinctiveness is a missed opportunity.
Lean into joy: if your story has a funny, warm, or triumphant dimension, make that visible in the query. Laughran is drawn to emotional uplift and will notice if a pitch reads uniformly grim.
If your story has a theater, boarding school, New Orleans, or American South setting — or centers an LGBTQIA+ character — flag it early. These are genuine personal interests, not checklist items.