This is Sadler's core focus. She wants accessible literary fiction that still moves — propulsive hooks, skillfully engineered tension, and prose that is stylish without being precious. Themes should feel timeless yet reframed. She is particularly drawn to work that dismantles or subverts the conventions of its own genre or structure. Liminal, geographically unusual settings (islands, rural pockets, places that seem to float outside ordinary time) are a genuine passion point, as are morally complex, unreliable, or 'unhinged' narrators. She actively welcomes debut voices, especially from Indigenous and First Nations, BIPOC, and queer writers.

High-concept hooks married to nuanced socio-cultural commentary. Characters must feel unmistakably human and emotionally specific. She is looking for the kind of upmarket novel that earns its commercial appeal through insight and emotional honesty rather than formula. Genre-blended projects described as 'X meets Y with strains of Z' genuinely excite her — she treats cross-genre ambition as a feature, not a liability.

Listed explicitly as a 'white whale,' meaning she is actively hunting for this. She does not want reverent or decorative retellings — she wants work that sours, warps, or consumes the conventions of its source material. Non-Western tales and non-Western settings are of particular interest, likely reflecting the gaps she sees most often in her submission pile. Her St Andrews and MUL academic background in folklore studies gives her sharp editorial instincts in this space.

She specifies a restrained, grounded approach: the fantastical should feel like a possibility flickering at the edge of perception rather than a confirmed supernatural fact. Lush, atmospheric prose that keeps the reader slightly off-balance. She cites Karen Russell, Julia Fine, Kirsty Logan, and Hayao Miyazaki as reference points for tone and sensibility — the common thread is lyrical strangeness rooted in the everyday.

She wants intelligent, carefully constructed Gothic — simmering with dread and uncanniness, painstakingly crafted rather than atmospheric by default. One meaningful gate: she explicitly does not want Gothic set in the American Deep South. All other settings are welcome, and non-Western or under-explored Gothic locales would likely appeal to her cross-cultural instincts.

She is drawn to historical fiction that centers perspectives and geographies that are routinely overlooked or suppressed — not the standard Eurocentric narrative. She also has a specific interest in a well-researched, character-driven take on the Golden Age of Piracy, noting that the hook and character complexity matter more than historical fidelity alone. She cites John Silver from the series Black Sails as a tonal reference for the kind of morally textured protagonism she wants. Note: she explicitly does not want fiction set during WWI, WWII, or the Vietnam War.

She is actively seeking translated adult fiction across all the fiction categories she represents. This is a stated priority, not a passive openness — writers and translators working with non-Anglophone literary or upmarket fiction should take note.

She wants nonfiction that feels urgent and revelatory — stories not yet told, anchored by genuine expertise and authorial passion. Her topical interests are specific: travel, health and wellness, ecology and nature, and cultural criticism. She reads nonfiction as a lifelong student; the work should leave her with meaningful new knowledge or a transformed perspective. Projects that blend these topic areas or bring an unexpected angle are welcomed.