Jessie Devine is a D4EO Literary Agency agent who hunts exclusively for YA fiction—fantasy, sci-fi, historical, and contemporary—with a sharp bias toward marginalized voices, eccentric premises, and stories too strange and specific to ignore.
In brief
Jessie Devine operates in a narrow lane—YA only, across four subgenres—but within that lane, they want the most daring, tonally distinct work they can find, not safe market-facing pitches.
Their stated wishlist leans heavily into diversity and ownvoices representation; marginalized creators are not an add-on preference but a core acquisition priority.
The 'eccentric taste' framing is meaningful: Devine consistently names cult-favorite touchstones (The Labyrinth, Black Butler, Drop Dead Diva, Suckerpunch) that skew weird, stylized, and genre-blending—writers pitching straightforward, trope-heavy narratives are likely misaligned.
Competition as a narrative engine is a high-signal hook for contemporary submissions; Devine has named dance, academic, and even absurd-niche competitions as specifically desirable frameworks.
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Lately
Devine has articulated a clear aesthetic framework: the ideal submission is 'so weird, it works'—prioritizing eccentric, boundary-pushing premises over commercially safe, trend-chasing pitches.
What Jessie is looking for
Devine wants fantasy worlds that feel genuinely lived-in and immersive—layered, internally consistent, and emotionally real. The strongest signal here is a desire to move away from Western-default tropes and archetypes; specifically, they call out YA fantasy rooted in East Asian or Southeast Asian folklore as a high-priority target, and also flag Southern US settings that engage meaningfully with Hoodoo. Morally complex protagonists and a diverse cast are non-negotiable across the board.
Devine's sci-fi taste runs narrow and specific. They want laser-focused plots driven by high technology and urgency—a ticking clock is essentially required. Aesthetically, they're drawn to two poles: sleek, clean chrome-and-glass futures or gritty, industrial dark-and-dirty dystopias. Middle-ground, vaguely speculative premises are unlikely to land.
Devine uses the word 'charming' to describe the historical fiction they want—meaning warmth and personality, not just rigorous period accuracy. Settings should be freshly chosen; overworked eras and locales will struggle. A historical fantasy hybrid set in the American South exploring Hoodoo is explicitly named as a current want. Research depth matters, but so does the emotional and cultural specificity of the setting.
Voice is the single most important element Devine evaluates in contemporary submissions—it has to be immediate, distinctive, and impossible to put down. The range is wide (issue-driven to light and fun), but the clearest hook is competition: a story organized around any kind of competitive arc—dance, academics, sports, arts, or something unexpected—is a high-priority submission. Multiple-POV love triangles in which the two competing love interests end up together (ideally in a queer pairing) are also explicitly on the wishlist right now.
Not the right fit
Taste fingerprint
How to query Jessie
Send to devinequeries@gmail.com with the subject line formatted exactly as: 'Query: [Title of Book]' — deviating from this format risks being overlooked.
Paste a short query letter, a synopsis, and the first ten pages directly into the body of the email; do not send attachments.
Lead with the element that makes your book strange or specific — Devine's self-described 'eccentric' taste means a conventional, market-safe pitch framing will underperform. Name the weirdness up front.
If your story involves competition, say so immediately and be concrete about what kind. This is a named high-priority hook and should appear in the first sentences of the query.
Identify your own position as a marginalized creator if applicable — Devine explicitly prioritizes representing queer, disabled, and POC authors, and ownvoices context is directly relevant.
State the cultural or folkloric tradition your fantasy draws from if it applies — East Asian, Southeast Asian, or Southern US Hoodoo settings are active wants and should be named clearly.
Avoid pitching from a defensive angle ('this isn't like other fantasies…'). Instead, name your world's specific rules, cultural grounding, or tonal aesthetic — Devine's touchstones (Miyazaki, Leigh Bardugo, Labyrinth) suggest they respond to distinctive atmosphere.
Confirm that the submission window is currently open before sending — status is unverified and the inbox may have changed.