Susan Hawk is a Upstart Crow Literary agent with 25+ years in children's publishing who hunts for literary-commercial hybrids across picture books, middle grade, graphic novels, and YA — with a particular gift for finding emotionally resonant humor, historical fantasy, and neurodivergent or LGBTQ+ narratives that break out commercially.
In brief
Her submission form was directly observed as closed on 2026-05-24 — do not query until you confirm she has reopened.
Her deal record reveals YA historical fantasy as a current hot spot: Autumn Krause alone accounts for three recent YA deals, all blending history, folklore, and romantic tension, signaling a strong editorial relationship and a clear taste for atmospheric, high-concept YA fantasy.
Picture books are a bigger slice of her actual sales than her wishlist emphasis might suggest — Ruth Spiro appears across a dozen-plus picture book deals, making her arguably Susan's most prolific client and proof of a deep, long-running partnership with Charlesbridge and Harper Children's.
Graphic novels are a growing priority: three recent deals (including two at Harper and one at First Second) and Stonewall Honor-winning client Rachel Elliott confirm real traction in this category, not just stated interest.
Her background spans children's marketing at Penguin and Holt, bookselling, librarianship, and editorial work at Dutton — this is an agent who reads with both a commercial eye and a reader's gut, and her deals with Abrams, Knopf, Simon & Schuster, Delacorte, and Candlewick demonstrate reach across the major houses.
Lately
Her wishlist emphasizes that she is especially hungry for YA with a female protagonist who is passionate about STEM — science, math, or engineering — as well as a YA set against the backdrop of 1980s Moscow during Perestroika and Glasnost. Both feel like specific gaps she has been watching for over time.
What I love about agenting is that you get to wear so many different hats — there's a little bit of sales, a little bit of marketing, there's editing, there's just letting me indulge who I am as a reader. It's working very closely with creative people, which I love. All those things — a little bit of libraries, some bookstores, some publishing — it all comes into it really nicely.
Having sat in weekly editorial meetings for about two years, I got a real window into how much of an editor's job is actually being a marketer and a publicity person — they're trying to get people excited about a project from that very first meeting. That perspective has been really helpful for me when I work with clients now.
What matters most, at the end of the day, is that the pages — whether it's a picture book, a YA novel, a graphic novel, whatever it is — are as strong and as compelling as they can possibly be. That's what I work on hardest with my clients: refining and revising the project until it's really shining. We know the editor will do more work when it's acquired, but we want to get it as close as we can.
I always write a pitch letter that goes with the project. I try to include a really snappy story description that grabs attention, but also covers the pertinent sales hooks I see in the story. I use competitive titles so an editor can instantly understand the kind of book it is. And sometimes, depending on the project, there are other market points worth including — for example, I sold a picture book about plants and gardening last year, and we pulled together numbers about how many millions of people were buying houseplants and joining Facebook groups about them, just to give the editor ammunition when she went into her acquisitions meeting with sales and marketing.
Children's books have always been a home place for me — from growing up two blocks from a children's-only bookstore, to working in libraries, to library marketing, to acquiring a picture book and a short story collection at a children's imprint. It's the space I've always gravitated toward and where my agenting is focused.
What Susan is looking for
Her recent deal record makes this her most active category right now. She gravitates toward YA fantasy that is rooted in real historical moments and non-Western mythology — WWII incarceration, Japanese folklore, Perestroika-era Moscow. She wants cinematic scope, romantic tension, and richly realized worlds that feel earned rather than decorative. The history should create genuine stakes, not just backdrop.
She consistently reaches for YA that sits at the intersection of literary voice and commercial momentum. She is drawn to unreliable or sharply distinct narrators, stories about the families we build versus the ones we're born into, protagonists passionate about STEM fields, and narratives set in small, insular communities — boarding schools, cults, or tight-knit towns where culture creates pressure. Humor that flows organically from a specific character's worldview is a consistent pull. She actively wants LGBTQ+ protagonists and characters woven throughout.
She has sold YA speculative thrillers and is actively seeking MG and YA with magical realism elements, selkie mythology, American folklore as a fantasy foundation, and epic fantasy that draws from non-Western or non-European traditions. She also wants more structural experimentation: epistolary novels, stories-within-stories, found-document narratives, and other inventive formats.
She wants MG that balances genuine emotional weight with humor — layered, funny, and heartbreaking in equal measure. Caper novels with a historical dimension (think heist-style plots), MG mystery and detective stories (especially historical), contemporary stories with a magical or fantastical thread, first-generation American protagonists, and stories with LGBTQ+ characters are all on her active wish list. She also loves 'dark' or 'edgy' upper MG that pushes genre boundaries.
Her sales record shows genuine and growing investment here. She has closed multiple graphic novel deals at major imprints and has repeat clients working in the format. She favors character-driven stories with heart, including LGBTQ+ narratives and ensemble or mystery-driven plots.
Despite being listed last in her wishlist, picture books represent the single largest category in her confirmed deal record. She is actively seeking author-illustrators and is also open to writers — she explicitly says she wants smart, funny, character-driven stories, succinct but expressive texts, and characters with the staying power of classic picture book icons. Conceptual picture books are a particular draw. She represents illustrators as well as authors, and several of her recent deals are illustrator-only arrangements.
She is drawn to narrative nonfiction that connects to children's daily lives or to underrepresented chapters of history — particularly social justice, progressive movements, and stories of civic courage. She has a strong track record with P. O'Connell Pearson at Simon & Schuster. Science-adjacent nonfiction for younger readers is also well-represented in her list.
She wants lush, atmospheric historical fiction for YA with genuine tension — not just period costume on a contemporary story. For MG, she especially wants 20th-century settings. She is drawn to historical narratives that illuminate marginalized or overlooked perspectives.
Not the right fit
On Susan's list
Taste fingerprint
How to query Susan
Her submission form was confirmed closed as of May 24, 2026 — check the Upstart Crow Literary submissions page for the current status before sending anything.
When she reopens, submissions go directly to her dedicated email address (available on the Upstart Crow submissions page) with the query letter and the first twenty pages pasted into the body of the message — no attachments will be opened.
If you are an author-illustrator submitting a picture book, include a link to your online portfolio and/or a downloadable dummy in the body of your email.
Her wishlist is unusually specific — reference a concrete element she has named (e.g., a STEM-passionate female protagonist, selkie mythology, American folklore fantasy, an epistolary structure) rather than pitching generically to 'children's fiction.'
Her sweet spot is the intersection of literary and commercial: your query should articulate both the emotional core and the market hook. Pitching only one or the other undersells the project.
Comp to her actual sales record where honest — she has strong editorial relationships at Candlewick, Simon & Schuster Children's, Abrams, Harper, Delacorte, and Peachtree Teen, so comps drawn from those houses' lists resonate.
Humor is a genuine priority, not a soft preference — if your book is funny, make that unmistakable in the query voice itself, not just in describing the plot.
Repeat client patterns (Rachael Allen, Autumn Krause, Ruth Spiro, Rachel Elliott, P. O'Connell Pearson) suggest she invests deeply in long-term author relationships. A query that signals professional seriousness and series potential will stand out.