Lexie Krauss is a rising Marsal Lyon agent building her adult fiction list around atmospheric, genre-blending novels with strong sense of place — from literary horror and dark romantasy to grounded speculative fiction and historical storytelling rooted in underrepresented cultures.
In brief
Krauss joined Marsal Lyon in 2022 — she is actively building her list, which means she is genuinely hungry for new clients in a way more established agents are not.
Her taste fingerprint is 'literary with genre bones': she loves the atmospheric, the folkloric, and the weird, but always anchored in strong prose and real-world emotional stakes.
Her wishlist skews toward diverse and underrepresented settings — California stories, Latinx historical fiction, Indigenous-centered narratives, and non-Western folklore — making her a strong match for writers working outside the default Anglo-European frame.
She operates on an every-other-month query window (open: odd months; closed: even months in 2026), so timing your submission correctly is essential — do not submit blind.
As of June 1, 2026, her form is CLOSED. Per her published 2026 schedule, the next open window is July 2026. Verify the live form before submitting.
Lately
Krauss confirmed she accepts queries only through her online submission form — email queries are deleted without review. She also issued a public warning that scammers have been impersonating her and other agents at her agency; no legitimate MLLA agent will ever request money or charge a reading fee.
What Lexie is looking for
Krauss wants adult literary and upmarket novels with compelling voice, layered character arcs, and the kind of prose that earns re-reading. She is drawn to work that blends the commercial and the literary — stories that have book-club resonance but refuse to be easily categorized. Themes of family, generational trauma, nature, and human evolution are recurring draws.
Horror is clearly a priority. Krauss is open to a wide range of horror modes — literary and feminist horror, cosmic and eco/nature horror, 'bubblegum horror' (fun and unsettling in equal measure), and stories built around folklore, ghosts, cryptids, or fresh spins on familiar monsters. She is NOT seeking slashers. The unifying thread is atmosphere and a sense of dread that emerges from character and setting rather than gore.
She gravitates strongly toward speculative concepts rooted in the real world or tethered to it by strong cultural or scientific logic — think evolutionary biology, ecology, or folklore as the engine of the speculative premise. Pure space opera or high-concept sci-fi untethered from human grounding is less her speed; she wants the weird to feel earned.
Krauss has notably specific fantasy taste. She loves low fantasy and gaslamp fantasy, cozy fantasy with real stakes, and dark fantasy with an unmistakable 1980s cult-film atmosphere (think practical-effects creature worlds and mythic dread). She will consider high fantasy as long as it doesn't sacrifice accessibility. She is NOT seeking most mythological retellings.
Krauss welcomes dark romantasy and paranormal romance, along with tragic romance and unconventional HEAs, slow-burn dynamics, and star-crossed lovers. She references the emotionally complex romance writing found in story-driven RPGs as the bar for what she wants in romantasy. She is NOT seeking most contemporary romance or romcoms, and has a high bar for the genre overall.
Historical fiction earns a spot on her list when it explores diverse or underrepresented settings and time periods — she has a particular soft spot for California history and Latinx/Indigenous historical narratives. She is explicitly NOT seeking most WWII settings, which is a clear signal she wants history off the beaten path.
Literary suspense is on her radar, but the bar is tight: she explicitly does not want whodunnit mysteries, police procedurals, detective fiction, or anything centered on the FBI, CIA, military, or spy tradecraft. The suspense she wants is atmospheric and character-driven, not plot-mechanism-driven.
Not the right fit
On Lexie's list
Taste fingerprint
How to query Lexie
Time your submission to an open month — her 2026 schedule opens odd months (July, September, November) and closes even months. Submitting during a closed window wastes your query; her form will not accept it.
Do NOT query by email under any circumstances — she explicitly deletes all email queries and accepts submissions only through her online form.
Lead with setting and atmosphere in your query letter. Her stated primary draw is novels that 'wholly transport you to another place or time' — if your book has a distinctive, immersive world or time period, foreground that before plot mechanics.
Silvia Moreno-Garcia is the single most-cited author in her wishlist (three separate titles). If your work shares DNA with Moreno-Garcia — Latinx history, folkloric horror, atmospheric genre-blending — say so explicitly and specifically.
Genre-blending is a feature, not a problem, for this agent. If your book resists easy categorization, don't apologize for it; frame the blend as a strength and give her a precise 'A meets B' that reflects the actual tonal mix.
If your manuscript is set in California or the American West, or features Indigenous, Pacific Islander, or Latinx communities, mention it — she has a documented soft spot for these settings and has cited multiple books in this space.
Dark fantasy queries should evoke the specific 1980s cult-film aesthetic she names (The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, Willow) if that registers for your work — it's an unusually specific signal that, if it fits, is worth using.
Avoid querying anything that touches police, detective, FBI, CIA, military, or spy frameworks — even a subplot heavy in these elements may disqualify an otherwise strong manuscript.
Beware of impersonators: the real Krauss will never contact you unsolicited asking for money. Any email requesting fees is fraudulent.