Jim McCarthy is a VP and senior agent at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret who has spent two decades building a list heavy on YA and fantasy — and is now actively pivoting toward middle grade and adult fiction, with a particular appetite for queer stories, family sagas, and literary fiction from underrepresented voices.
In brief
McCarthy's submissions were confirmed closed as of January 8, 2026 — writers should verify live status before querying.
His stated list skews YA and fantasy, but his own current wishlist signals he's eager to shift toward middle grade and adult fiction — a meaningful opportunity for writers in those lanes if they catch him at the right moment.
He is a self-described theater geek who lists eight specific contemporary playwrights as unmissable benchmarks; a query that draws a credible connection to the emotional or structural sensibility of Lynn Nottage, Annie Baker, or Tarell Alvin McCraney will land differently than one that does not.
His personal reading list spans Pulitzer winners, debut literary fiction, and award-winning YA — suggesting he is equally comfortable with commercial hooks and high literary ambition, and is not interested in genre for its own sake.
Children's nonfiction is singled out as a specific area where he wants more submissions — a gap in his current list that writers in that space should note.
Lately
McCarthy has noted he is actively trying to expand his middle grade and adult fiction intake, even though his existing list has historically leaned YA and fantasy — a deliberate repositioning that writers in those categories should treat as an opening.
What Jim is looking for
McCarthy flags middle grade as an especially active priority right now — a notable signal given that his existing list leans older. He wants fresh voices and underrepresented perspectives. His personal favorites list includes Christine Soontornvat's A Wish in the Dark, which gives a strong sense of the emotionally resonant, socially engaged MG he responds to.
Adult fiction is the other category he is actively trying to grow. He is drawn to family sagas, friendship stories with genuine emotional depth, and novels that manage to be both funny and devastating. He admires work that takes structural or narrative risks without sacrificing readability. His personal touchstones here are wide-ranging — from Hernan Diaz and Bernardine Evaristo to Gabrielle Zevin and Raven Leilani — signaling he is equally at home with prize-circuit literary fiction and emotionally driven commercial work.
YA remains a core part of his list and he continues to look in this space, but his current emphasis has shifted toward categories he is underweight in. Queer YA and YA fantasy with a fresh angle are the strongest bets. He is not looking for YA that retreads familiar territory — novelty of voice or premise matters.
Fantasy is well-represented on his existing list and he still welcomes it, but the bar is originality — he wants a new take on familiar tropes rather than competent execution of well-worn ones. His personal reading list includes N.K. Jemisin's The City We Became, which points toward fantasy that is intellectually ambitious and culturally specific.
He explicitly flags queer stories of any kind as something he actively wants. This cuts across categories — queer MG, queer YA, queer adult literary fiction, queer romance — and is not limited to a single format or tone. The breadth of his film taste (Fire Island, Bros, Moonlight) reinforces that he responds to queer stories across tonal registers, from playful to devastating.
He is open to thrillers, but the qualifier is important: he wants something genuinely surprising in its plotting. Political thrillers, medical thrillers, and police procedurals are not his territory. The thriller he is looking for is closer to literary suspense or a character-driven puzzle than a genre-formula entry.
He is interested in historical fiction specifically when it illuminates eras or settings that have not been exhaustively covered in recent publishing. Familiar periods in Western European or American history are a harder sell; the emphasis is on discovery of unfamiliar territory.
He takes narrative nonfiction across memoir, history, and pop culture. His personal favorites list includes Karla Cornejo Villavicencio's The Undocumented Americans and Hua Hsu's Stay True — both works that sit at the intersection of personal narrative, cultural criticism, and reportage — which suggests he prefers nonfiction with a strong literary sensibility over straight reportage or prescriptive work.
Singled out on his agency page as an area where he specifically wants more submissions — making this one of the clearest, most direct invitations on his current wishlist. Writers working in children's nonfiction should take this seriously as a genuine gap he is trying to fill.
Not the right fit
On Jim's list
Taste fingerprint
How to query Jim
His submission form was confirmed closed as of January 8, 2026 — do not submit until you have verified it has reopened; submitting to a closed form wastes your query and may not be retrieved.
If the form reopens, query by email at jmccarthy@dystel.com, following DG&B's current submission guidelines exactly — format and professionalism matter at an agency this established.
The single most effective hook in a query letter to McCarthy is a specific, credible connection to his stated touchstones: if your book shares emotional or structural DNA with one of his named playwrights (Nottage, Baker, Jacobs-Jenkins, McCraney, Herzog, Karam, Parks, Hunter), say so explicitly and explain why — he has personally invited this comparison.
Frame your protagonist's interiority and the book's emotional register early. His favorites list runs from Slaughterhouse-Five to Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow — what unites them is that they all make you feel something large. Lead with what your book does emotionally, not just what happens.
If you are writing middle grade or children's nonfiction, note in your opening paragraph that these are categories he is actively seeking — this is not flattery, it is relevant information that signals you have done your research.
Avoid generic genre labels. 'YA fantasy' alone will not distinguish your project. Show what is new: the specific trope you are subverting, the community or perspective that has not been centered in this kind of story before, or the structural surprise that sets your book apart.
Do not query him with political thrillers, medical thrillers, police procedurals, or time travel stories — he is explicit that these are not his territory, and no amount of craft will change that preference.