Mara Hollander is an associate agent at Azantian Literary Agency whose PhD in public health and lifelong love of immersive fiction shape a list that spans adult and YA fantasy, romance, mystery, horror, and upmarket fiction, alongside platform-driven nonfiction with a particular pull toward health care policy and narrative nonfiction that reframes how we see the world.
In brief
Mara is a relatively new agent — she joined Azantian in 2025 after starting her publishing career at FinePrint Literary Management — so her sales record is still forming, but her wishlist is among the most detailed and specific at the agency, giving writers an unusually clear target.
Her academic background (PhD, public health research, former professor of health care policy) is a genuine differentiator: she is likely one of very few fiction-and-nonfiction agents who can evaluate health-care proposals with real domain expertise, making her a standout fit for writers in that space.
Her fiction taste runs toward emotionally intense, voice-driven genre work — fantasy (including romantasy and epic), romance, mystery, and horror — rather than quiet literary or historical fiction without a speculative element; writers who lead with atmosphere and feeling will resonate more than those who lead with prose style.
She is notably restrictive within her open categories: she explicitly rules out police/detective procedurals, several common romance tropes, AI/android protagonists, competition-as-plot-device in fantasy, and several sensitive-subject treatments — read her exclusions carefully before querying.
Her submission form was confirmed closed as of early February 2026; always verify the live form before submitting, as a new agent's status can shift quickly.
Lately
Her wishlist makes explicit that her background in health care research is a direct driver of her nonfiction interests — she is actively seeking proposals that interrogate the US health care system and related policy issues, and she frames figure skating as an area of personal passion where she would welcome a serious cultural critique immediately.
What Mara is looking for
This is the top of her list. She wants political fantasy, epic fantasy, and romantasy — immersive worlds with high emotional stakes and a confident, distinctive voice. She writes fantasy herself, which means she brings genuine craft-level knowledge to manuscripts in this space. She is picky about pirates, noting her standards there are elevated. Competition/trials as a core fantasy plot device (think magical tournament structures) are a hard pass, but fantasy sports are welcome.
She wants romance that surprises her. Certain well-worn tropes are explicitly off the table: pregnancy/secret baby, bully romance, and fated mates without a genuinely fresh angle. Beyond those gates, she is broadly open and enthusiastic. Emotional impact — making her laugh, cry, and scream in the same book — is the clearest through-line.
Mystery is among her top priorities, but with a meaningful restriction: she does not want detective or police point-of-view narratives, nor procedurals. Mysteries that center civilian investigators, ensemble casts, or unconventional perspectives are a much stronger fit.
Horror sits alongside fantasy and romance as one of her most actively sought categories. She has not itemized sub-genre preferences here beyond her general appetite for hooks that land hard and deep point of view, so writers in any horror lane — psychological, supernatural, body horror, quiet horror — are welcome to query.
She is especially drawn to commercial and upmarket fiction when it carries a speculative thread — a touch of the uncanny, a near-future premise, a magical realist undercurrent. Pure realist upmarket fiction is less compelling to her; giving it a genre dimension significantly raises the odds.
Welcomed on her list alongside the higher-priority genre categories. Voice and emotional authenticity matter most here.
She is open to both categories but self-describes as considerably more selective here than in her core genres. Manuscripts in these spaces need to be exceptional to cut through. Notably, main characters who are droids, androids, or AI-centered narratives are a hard no regardless of the genre label.
She is looking for nonfiction that reorients how readers understand the world — paradigm-shifting ideas delivered through compelling storytelling, not prescriptive self-help. Her specific domains of genuine expertise and enthusiasm include: US health care policy and system navigation, mental health care and substance use disorder treatment, sports (any sport, including a particular passion for competitive figure skating), gender and sexuality with a focus on queer identities, psychology and neuroscience, parasocial relationships, multilevel marketing, cults and scams, politics and policy, climate change, and academic research translated for general audiences. She does NOT represent memoirs under any circumstances.
Not the right fit
Taste fingerprint
How to query Mara
Confirm the form is open before doing anything else — her status was closed as of early February 2026 and may change without announcement; check the Azantian Literary Agency website directly.
Lead with voice and emotional range. She has described wanting a book that makes her laugh, cry, and scream in the same reading experience — your query letter and opening pages should signal that tonal range upfront.
If you are querying in one of her more selective categories (thriller, sci-fi), acknowledge it briefly and make the case for why your book transcends genre conventions. A generic thriller pitch will not move her.
For nonfiction, platform and credentials are non-negotiable. If you have domain expertise — especially in health care, public health, or sports — make that visible immediately. A compelling narrative hook matters as much as the argument.
She is explicitly seeking writers from underrepresented communities (BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, disabled and/or chronically ill authors). If you identify with these communities, it is appropriate and welcome to mention this in your query.
Do NOT query with a memoir, even a creative one — this is among her hardest nos and applies without exception.
Double-check your manuscript against her exclusion list before submitting. Her 'do not send' list is unusually detailed; a query that violates one of those gates (police POV, AI protagonist, Holocaust theme, competition plot device in fantasy) will be rejected regardless of writing quality.
If your fantasy involves romantasy or political stakes, say so clearly — these are her highest-priority sub-genres and naming them precisely helps her recognize the fit.
For nonfiction on figure skating specifically, her wishlist is essentially an open invitation — she described this as a category she would want 'immediately,' suggesting it is a genuine gap in the market she is hoping to fill.