Kim Carson Bodie is a former journalist and MFA-trained editor at Susan Schulman Literary Agency who hunts for audacious, voice-driven fiction and nonfiction with weird edges, dark humor, and structural ambition — the kind of book that refuses to behave.
In brief
Kim is a brand-new associate agent (joined Susan Schulman in 2025) actively building her list — she is early in her career but arrives with genuine editorial depth: MFA from University of Montana, journalism background, fiction editing at CutBank, and an internship at Coffee House Press.
Her agency page currently reads 'NOT accepting submissions' with a note to check back — this overrides any cached 'open' signal. Her wishlist describes a query window that is typically the first full work week of each month, so timing your submission precisely to that window is essential.
Her taste fingerprint is unusually specific and literary: the comp list she published leans heavily toward cult-canonical and prize-winning literary fiction (Kingsolver, Ward, Saunders, Carter, Coetzee) alongside edgier contemporary voices — this is not a commercial-genre list; she wants books that use genre as a lens on something larger.
Her two confirmed current clients work in very different registers — a literary journalist with an award-winning story collection, and a nonfiction author blending memoir, self-help, and spirituality — suggesting she is comfortable bridging the commercial/literary divide and is genuinely building a varied list rather than narrowcasting.
She has staked out clear specialty territory almost no other agents explicitly claim: carnival settings, weird westerns, extreme-climate horror, and nautical fiction with a dark turn — writers in those niches should consider her a primary target.
Lately
Kim joined Susan Schulman Literary Agency in 2025 as an associate agent, marking her formal entry into agenting after a career spanning journalism, university-level creative writing instruction, literary magazine fiction editing, and editorial work at an independent press.
What Kim is looking for
This is the core of her taste. She wants fiction that takes risks — formally daring, voice-forward, thematically chewy. Her comp list runs from Jesmyn Ward and Barbara Kingsolver to Mona Awad and Angela Carter, signaling she's equally comfortable with grounded realism and the surreal, as long as the prose has teeth. Recurring thematic draws: adolescence, monstrosity, class, otherness, the body, memory, home, and community. Humor is non-negotiable — the book doesn't have to be a comedy, but it must have a sense of one.
She wants horror that is grounded, socially textured, and willing to go somewhere unexpected. She has specifically called out a desire for horror set in extreme climates — very cold or very hot environments — suggesting she's drawn to atmosphere-as-dread rather than pure plot mechanics. The horror should have something to say beyond the scare.
She welcomes speculative work that keeps its feet on the ground — genre elements used as a lens to illuminate class, identity, the body, or social dynamics rather than as world-building for its own sake. High fantasy and speculative work that floats free of real-world stakes are not a fit. Similarly, thrillers and pure romance are out unless suspense or genre convention is the vehicle for exploring something larger — scientific, cultural, political, or social.
She has flagged this explicitly and enthusiastically as a category she actively wants more of. The 'weird' qualifier matters — this is not straightforward genre Western but the stranger, genre-blending, often dark or surreal end of the form.
Commercial fiction pitched at reading groups — but with a sharper, more unsettling or formally adventurous quality than the typical four-women-at-a-crossroads novel. Think books that feel accessible but leave a bruise.
She's interested in nonfiction with a strong writerly voice and structural ambition — essays, cultural criticism, pop culture analysis, and narrative nonfiction that take a surprising angle. Her journalism and editorial background make her a credible home for reported nonfiction as well as personal essay collections.
She will consider memoir only when the book is organized around a genuinely singular structural and thematic focal point — not a broad life overview. The unique architecture of the memoir must be evident in the pitch itself. She has current clients working in memoir-adjacent nonfiction, so this is a real if narrow lane.
She accepts graphic novel submissions, which she handles with a distinct submission format (10 illustrated pages as a PDF plus a synopsis). The same taste profile applies — voice, edge, thematic ambition.
She is open to New Adult — but this is distinct from her closing the door entirely on YA/MG/children's. NA must still satisfy her core requirements: voice, humor, thematic weight, and no pure genre categories (no pure romance or high fantasy).
Not the right fit
On Kim's list
Taste fingerprint
How to query Kim
Time your submission to her query window: she is generally open only during the first full work week of each month. Check her live agency page immediately before submitting — windows are enforced strictly, and anything submitted outside them is deleted unread.
Her agency page currently shows she is closed. Do not query until her page confirms she is open again.
For fiction: send a query letter with a brief synopsis and the first ten pages pasted into the body of the email (not attached).
For nonfiction: send a query letter, a full outline, and the first ten pages pasted into the body of the email.
For graphic novels: attach 10 illustrated pages with text as a PDF and include a synopsis in the body of the email.
Lead your query with voice and theme, not plot mechanics. She gravitates toward pitches that convey the book's emotional and thematic stakes — what it's really about underneath the story.
If your book has a niche she's explicitly flagged — carnival setting, weird western, extreme-climate horror, nautical darkness — name it clearly and early. These are invitations, not accidents.
Humor must be evident in the query itself, even for dark or literary projects. If the book has wit, let the pitch demonstrate it.
For memoir, your query must articulate the specific structural and thematic focal point of the book. A broad life overview is an immediate pass.
She welcomes submissions from writers with diverse backgrounds and explicitly invites OwnVoices projects — this is a genuine priority, not boilerplate.
Do not send high fantasy, pure romance, pure thrillers, YA, MG, or children's books — these are hard nos regardless of how the query is framed.