Zachary Honey is a FinePrint Literary Management associate agent who specializes in adult thrillers, mysteries, and select horror — with a particular hunger for stories set in rugged, remote, or rural landscapes and a growing interest in supporting Indigenous and underrepresented American voices.
In brief
Zach's wishlist is highly specific geographically: rural Americana, mountain settings, and the American South are recurring themes across his stated interests — writers with vivid, distinctive sense of place have a real edge here.
He is a former author himself (published short fiction) and an active member of writing communities, which suggests he engages with craft closely and values prose quality alongside story mechanics.
His non-fiction lane is unusually specific — sports, golf, music, board gaming, video gaming, and the outdoors — making him a rare agent for niche hobbyist non-fiction that most generalists pass on.
He is explicit about what he cannot champion: military, political, and spy thrillers; fantasy; science fiction; and manuscripts outside the 70K–120K word-count band. Writers in those lanes should not query him.
Query window is seasonal (April 26–June 30 per his stated guidelines) — confirm the current window on his live submission form before sending anything.
Lately
His public wishlist emphasizes adult thrillers with rural or mountainous settings and stories rooted in the American South, while flagging historical fiction and select horror as growing secondary interests. He has also called out a desire to actively support underrepresented writers, with particular mention of authors from Indigenous American communities.
What Zachary is looking for
This is his primary focus. He wants commercial adult thrillers with strong narrative momentum and characters readers won't forget. He has a clear preference for rural, mountainous, or otherwise remote settings — think hard-to-reach places that feel almost like a character themselves. The American South is a particularly welcome backdrop. He is NOT the right fit for military, political, or spy thrillers, so writers in those subgenres should look elsewhere.
Crime fiction and mysteries sit squarely in his wheelhouse alongside thrillers. He gravitates toward psychological depth and strong atmosphere. Neo-Western and Western crime fiction are explicitly listed as interests, which is unusual and worth noting for writers working in those hybrid spaces.
He is selectively open to horror — specifically psychological horror and Southern Gothic. The 'select' qualifier is meaningful: he is not a broad horror agent. Projects that blend gothic atmosphere with literary sensibility or that are rooted in a specific American regional tradition (particularly the South) are more likely to resonate than straight-up supernatural or extreme horror.
He notes interest in select historical fiction, but gives no further specificity. Given his overall taste profile — rural settings, American landscapes, strong atmosphere — historical fiction that shares those qualities is the safest bet. This is a narrow opening, not a priority lane.
Beyond genre fiction, he welcomes commercial and literary adult fiction more broadly. Southern fiction is singled out as a favorite sub-genre. Strong writing and a compelling sense of place matter as much as plot mechanics in this lane.
His non-fiction interests are unusually personal and specific: sports (including golf as its own called-out category), outdoor adventure, music, board gaming, and video gaming. He is open to pitches in all of these areas. This makes him a genuinely rare option for writers working in niche hobbyist or participatory non-fiction that mainstream agents overlook.
Not the right fit
Taste fingerprint
How to query Zachary
He only accepts queries during a defined seasonal window (April 26–June 30 per his stated guidelines) — check his live submission form to confirm the current window before submitting; querying outside it is likely wasted effort.
Your query letter must include four things: a book blurb, your author bio, the opening chapter, and a query letter — assemble all of these before hitting submit.
Lead with setting. He is drawn to rural, mountainous, and remote landscapes as well as the American South — if your book has a strong, unusual sense of place, make that the first thing he encounters in your pitch.
Word count is a hard filter: manuscripts below 70K or above 120K words will not be a fit. State your word count clearly and make sure it falls in range.
If you are an Indigenous American or another underrepresented author, his wishlist explicitly names supporting those voices as a priority — it is appropriate and worthwhile to briefly note this in your bio.
Do NOT query him with military, political, or spy thrillers, fantasy, or science fiction — he is explicit that he is not the right representative for those projects, and querying them signals you have not done your research.
He came up as an author himself and values craft — a polished opening chapter matters as much as the pitch. The first pages are part of the submission, so treat them with as much care as the query letter.
For non-fiction, having a strong platform or demonstrated expertise in the specific hobby or sport (golf, music, board gaming, outdoor adventure, video gaming) will strengthen your pitch significantly.