Kelsey Evans is a marketing-and-editorial hybrid agent at Rosecliff Literary who specializes in emotionally resonant genre fiction, speculative work, and narrative nonfiction — with a particular eye for self-published breakouts ready to cross into traditional publishing.
In brief
Kelsey's background blends a decade of brand marketing (AAA, Dannon, Target) with developmental editing before she moved into agenting — meaning she thinks about both craft and commercial positioning simultaneously, which is rare.
She has explicitly interned at two agencies (Triada US and CMA) before landing at Rosecliff Literary, making her a newer agent actively building her list — an opportunity for debut authors.
Her wishlist signals genuine category breadth: adult romance, horror, SFF, and nonfiction all appear with equal specificity, suggesting she will not pigeonhole herself into a single genre lane.
Her enthusiasm for scouting indie/self-published authors with demonstrated platforms is a stated strategic priority — a meaningful signal for writers who have already built a readership outside traditional publishing.
No confirmed sales record is available to cross-reference against her stated wishlist, so the wishlist itself is the primary intelligence here; treat her genre preferences as her current intent rather than a proven track record.
Lately
Kelsey has made explicit her interest in identifying and signing self-published authors who have demonstrated readership, platform, or sales momentum and are ready to transition into traditional publishing — a proactive scouting posture rather than a passive query-only approach.
What Kelsey is looking for
Kelsey wants romance with a strong hook and emotional core across several distinct flavors. Sports romance is a top priority — specifically lacrosse, basketball, rowing, and Formula 1 or Premier League soccer; she has explicitly ruled out hockey and football, and she especially welcomes queer sports stories. She also wants grumpy-sunshine pairings with genuine wit, dark academia and gothic-flavored romance with emotional complexity, action-adventure romps (Pirates of the Caribbean / National Treasure energy) that weave romance through the plot, and speculative romance. Fanfic writers with sharp banter voices are explicitly invited.
Cult narratives are her single loudest request in horror — she lists them three times with visible enthusiasm. Beyond cults, she gravitates toward horror that fuses religion or spirituality with dread, slow-burn stories with unreliable narrators, BIPOC-centered horror, and atmospheric weird fiction in the vein of The X-Files or Twin Peaks. She wants a creeping, unsettling tone rather than pure shock.
She is drawn to supernatural investigator narratives and ensemble heist-style stories with a genre edge. Cozy fantasy that blends romance and a thread of mystery is a genuine yes — she specifically invokes a Studio Ghibli sensibility. Romantasy is welcome but only if it charts genuinely new territory; she is not interested in work that reads as a retelling of already-dominant romantasy authors' styles. High-concept, plot-driven work with immersive settings will land best.
Physics and hard science made accessible to general readers is a clear passion — she names specific science communicators as the benchmark. She also wants nature-based nonfiction with quiet, observational depth, and uplifting animal or natural-world stories.
Kelsey comes from a food background and brings genuine personal investment here. She wants narrative cooking memoir and culinary journalism — funny, heartfelt, and immersive. She frames it as 'the world beyond The Bear,' meaning the real, unglamorous, human side of food culture rather than prestige-television polish. Both personal memoirs and broader food-culture investigations interest her.
She is specifically interested in women's rowing and women's basketball narratives, both personal memoir and wider cultural surveys. A book-length look at the WNBA's growth as a cultural and institutional story is something she calls out as a gap she wants to fill.
She has one clearly defined social-investigation interest: a rigorous, well-reported deep dive into the 'tradwife' phenomenon, examining its intersections with social media mechanics, capitalism, economic precarity, and right-wing political ideology. This is a specific, timely project she is actively looking for — writers with platform or reporting credentials in this space should note it.
Not the right fit
Taste fingerprint
How to query Kelsey
Lead with your genre, word count, and a one-sentence high-concept hook — her marketing background means she will immediately be thinking about positioning, so make that work easy for her.
If your work is sports romance, name the sport prominently in your query's opening line; she distinguishes sharply between the sports she wants (lacrosse, basketball, rowing, F1, EPL) and those she does not (hockey, football).
Queer sports romance gets a specific callout — if your sports romance features queer protagonists, say so clearly and early.
For horror, the word 'cult' is your best opening signal; if your book features a cult or cult-like structure, lead with it.
If you are coming from a self-publishing background with demonstrated readership or sales, mention your platform and sales metrics explicitly — she has named this as a deliberate acquisition channel, not an afterthought.
For SFF, articulate in one sentence what makes your romantasy or cozy fantasy fresh relative to existing dominant works in the subgenre; she is selective here and wants proof of a new angle.
For food nonfiction, frame your project around the human, personal, or unconventional side of food culture rather than technique or prestige — her stated benchmark is work that goes beyond the glamorized restaurant narrative.
For science nonfiction, your query should demonstrate that complex material will be made genuinely accessible to a general audience; name your intended reader, not just your subject.
Always verify her current query status on Rosecliff Literary's live submission page before sending — statuses change and the cached observation may not reflect today's reality.