Kristina Pérez is a Cambridge-trained medievalist, published YA and adult author, and founder of Pérez Literary & Entertainment, who hunts for horror in all its social and folkloric forms, sweeping YA/NA fantasy with genuine romantic tension, paranormal romance and urban fantasy, and platform-driven popular science.
In brief
Her deal record skews literary horror and upmarket fiction — MY DARLING DREADFUL THING, BURN THE NEGATIVE, and WE DON'T SWIM HERE all confirm horror as her most active selling category, making it the single strongest match for new queries.
Alexia Casale appears twice in her confirmed sales — a YA deal with Faber and an adult debut with Viking/Pam Dorman — making Casale her most demonstrably committed repeat client and signalling she is willing to follow an author across age categories and markets.
She sells simultaneously into the US and UK markets and has placed books at Orbit, Sourcebooks, Putnam, Head of Zeus, Faber, Viking, and Holiday House — a genuinely transatlantic footprint that is rare and valuable for authors wanting dual-market exposure.
Her personal background — PhD in Medieval Literature, feminist and postcolonial academic work, journalism across Asia — is not decoration; it shapes a very specific taste for folklore, feminist theory, and culturally specific world-building that should be front-and-center in any pitch.
She founded Pérez Literary & Entertainment in February 2023, making this a boutique agency still in active growth mode; debut authors appear throughout her sales record, so being unpublished is not a disadvantage here.
Lately
Her current agency page positions her as actively seeking horror, YA/NA fantasy with romance, paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and popular science — and explicitly excludes prescriptive non-fiction and picture books.
What Kristina is looking for
Horror is Pérez's most active selling category and a declared top priority. She has a lifelong genre affinity rooted in GenX pop culture and sharpened by serious academic work in folklore. Folk horror and Gothic stories that reframe familiar tropes are especially welcome. She is also eager for horror-fantasy hybrids that blend the two genres rather than sitting squarely in one. Social horror, feminist horror, and queer horror all align with her scholarly background in postcolonial and feminist theory. Dark comedies that drift into horror territory are a particular draw. Her one stated aversion is extreme body horror.
She wants sweeping, world-building-first fantasy where a romance genuinely drives the plot forward rather than serving as decoration. She is drawn to brooding-but-not-insufferable leads and particularly wants to see queer romances set in alternate timelines or fully realised secondary worlds. Enemies-to-lovers arcs that result in authentic character growth (interdependence, not codependence) are a strong hook. Her taste skews toward the epic and adventurous with emotional stakes as high as the plot stakes — corsets optional but appreciated.
She views PNR and UF as genuinely resurgent and is actively seeking fresh entries. She wants updated takes on the classic UF heroine — sharp, capable, navigating a world layered with supernatural lore — and is drawn to dark fae mythology, feminist world-building, and morally complex mythic systems. A zombie protagonist in the mold of a character-driven redemption story would also catch her eye. The through-line is genre energy refreshed with a contemporary sensibility.
She is actively seeking expert- and platform-driven popular science, with a specific lean toward neuroscience. She wants accessible, intellectually rigorous books in the smart-thinking tradition — works that reframe how readers understand behaviour, productivity, or the mind. Cultural history, particularly narratives centred on overlooked or under-documented women, also interests her. She does not take prescriptive non-fiction.
She has publicly flagged feminist commercial fiction and book club reads as an active area of interest. Her own adult debut is a book-club thriller, and she lists Liane Moriarty and Taylor Jenkins Reid as reference points for that register — character-driven, emotionally layered, commercially packaged. Women's fiction with a feminist core sits squarely in her wheelhouse.
Not the right fit
On Kristina's list
Taste fingerprint
How to query Kristina
Her form was closed as of 31 May 2026 — check the live form on her agency website before preparing materials, since she may reopen without broad announcement.
Lead with your horror or fantasy credentials: her busiest category by sales is horror, and she has stated folklore/Gothic/folk-horror as a specific gap she wants to fill. Make that connection explicit in your opening paragraph.
Her academic background is not incidental — she holds a Cambridge PhD in Medieval Literature and her scholarly work centres on feminist and postcolonial theory. If your project engages folklore, mythology, medieval-inspired world-building, or any of those critical lenses, name it directly; she will recognise and value the specificity.
For YA/NA fantasy, do not describe your romance as a subplot — she wants to see how it propels the plot. Articulate the stakes of the relationship as clearly as the stakes of the adventure.
For paranormal romance or urban fantasy, signal where your mythology comes from and what feminist or culturally specific angle you bring. Vague 'fae romance' pitches will not stand out; precise mythological grounding will.
She represents authors globally and sells directly into both US and UK markets. If your setting or perspective is international, mention it — she has explicitly stated eagerness to work with writers from around the world.
Client testimonials uniformly emphasise her editorial involvement and commercial instincts. She is not a hands-off agent; pitch to a collaborator, not a gatekeeper. Mentioning that you want substantive editorial input is likely to resonate.
Non-fiction queries should lead with platform and credentials. She wants expert-driven narrative science — if you have an academic post, clinical background, or specialist expertise, put it in the first line.
Do NOT submit prescriptive non-fiction, picture books, or extreme body horror — these are explicitly excluded.