Monica Odom is the founder of Odom Media Management and a mission-driven agent whose editorial sensibility fuses literary ambition with a deep commitment to intersectional diversity — hunting for bold voices across adult literary and upmarket fiction, narrative nonfiction, and illustrated projects.
In brief
Her submissions are closed as of March 2024 — confirm the live form status before querying.
Her taste skews strongly literary and upmarket: she gravitates toward voice-driven, character-rich fiction with a speculative or psychological edge, and nonfiction with a strong platform and cultural urgency.
Diversity is a structural commitment, not a wishlist bullet — she serves on AALA's DEI committee, leads Literary Agents of Change, and explicitly ties her acquisitions philosophy to authentic, intersectional representation.
Her named clients include Keiko Agena, Morgan Jerkins, Victoria Blanco, and Camille Chew — a roster that signals she sells across pop culture, essay-driven nonfiction, and illustrated/visual work with real commercial range.
Her media diet (podcasts about money, race, identity; prestige TV with sharp social comedy; literary fiction spanning Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie to Emily St. John Mandel) maps directly onto what she buys — pitch projects that live at that intersection of smart, funny, culturally aware, and emotionally resonant.
Lately
Monica founded Odom Media Management in 2019 after tenures at two established agencies, signaling she built a boutique shop around her specific editorial vision rather than inheriting a list.
What Monica is looking for
This is Monica's core territory. She wants work with a distinctive, fearless voice — particularly women's voices that are fresh or formally adventurous. Unreliable narrators, dark psychological undercurrents, and stories that quietly dismantle stereotypes are all signals she responds to. Historical fiction and alternative histories are welcome when the setting is richly rendered and not merely decorative. Her named favorites (from Americanah to Eileen to Station 11) reveal a preference for literary fiction that carries genuine cultural weight without sacrificing readability.
Monica is drawn to speculative work that is compelling rather than genre-formulaic — the kind where the fantastical element serves as a lens on character, society, or psychology rather than as an end in itself. Magic realism and alternative histories are especially welcome here. The emphasis on 'dark and edgy' suggests she is not looking for cozy or adventure-driven fantasy.
Monica's interest in psychological thrillers is specifically literary — she is after domestic suspense and psychological complexity, not procedural crime. An unreliable narrator, a claustrophobic domestic setting, or a story that implicates the reader in the protagonist's moral ambiguity would all be on-brand for her.
For nonfiction, Monica requires authors who can demonstrate an established platform — she is not building platforms from scratch. Subject areas she actively pursues include pop culture, food and cooking, illustrated or graphic-design-forward books, humor, history, and social issues. She loves when a personal project transforms into something original and larger than itself. Memoir is also welcome but appears to be a smaller slice of her nonfiction appetite than cultural or social nonfiction.
Illustrated nonfiction, graphic novels, and picture books all appear in her wishlist and client roster. For picture books specifically, her focus appears to be author-illustrators or illustrated projects rather than picture book text-only manuscripts. Visual storytelling that carries cultural specificity or humor is particularly welcome.
Monica is primarily adult-focused but will consider YA and middle grade if the project is nonfiction or has a strong illustrated component. She applies the same exacting standards as she does for adult work: original voice, vivid setting, narrative tension, and authentic diverse representation. Standard YA genre fiction is unlikely to be competitive here; the stronger case is for formally distinctive or nonfiction-driven YA/MG projects.
Not the right fit
On Monica's list
Taste fingerprint
How to query Monica
Confirm the submission portal is open before writing a single word of your query — it was closed as of March 2024 and may reopen without wide announcement.
Address Monica directly and lead with the manuscript's hook: voice, premise, and the cultural or emotional stakes in the first sentence. She is an editorial agent who responds to interiority and specificity, not high-concept loglines alone.
If your work touches on race, identity, feminism, socioeconomics, or intersectional diversity, make that explicit and authentic — do not bury it. This is central to her list, not a nice-to-have.
Nonfiction writers must quantify their platform in concrete terms: audience size, media reach, credentials, or institutional affiliations. 'Building my platform' is not a platform.
For fiction, name the voice and the emotional texture before naming the genre. Avoid generic genre labels; show where your book sits on the literary-commercial spectrum.
Reference her taste signals with care — if your novel genuinely lives in the space between Americanah and Station 11, say so briefly and specifically, but do not name-drop her favorites as flattery.
If your project has an illustrated component or visual dimension, flag that immediately — it is a distinguishing feature she actively welcomes.
She has indicated interest in 1990s nostalgia, road/travel narratives, unreliable narrators, and the collision of high and low culture — if any of these are genuinely central to your book, surface them in the query.