MSWL

Manuscript wish list

Determining whether I am a 'good' match as editor for your project isn't as easy as it sounds.

After all, two people can both be fans of the Fantasy genre. Maybe they even both love epics and adventure stories – but for one of them that means Game of Thrones (sex, guts, and beheadings) and the other prefers The Lord of the Rings (chaste situationships, singing elves, and not-so-gory peril). Hence, those two readers would have entirely different ideas about what a satisfying Fantasy story would be.

With that in mind, I've decided to list both the genres I like to read – and have provided a selection of titles that I hope will illustrate the styles, sub genres, topics, and styles that I prefer.

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But don't worry if you're still not sure whether your work might fit. You can always use the free Bespoke Quote option in my Ko-fi shop - and let your writing speak for itself (link here).

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GENRES

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I accept works in FICTION, NONFICTION, POETRY, SHORT STORIES, SCRIPTS.

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PROSE

Adult Commercial Fiction, Literary, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Humour, Historical, Horror, Folklore, Mythology, Young Adult, Creative Nonfiction, and Nonfiction: Memoir, Biography, Natural Sciences, Anthropology, Archaeology, History, Psychology, Art, Art History, Film, Film Theory/Criticism/History, Music.

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SCRIPTS

Drama, Action/Adventure, Sci-fi, Fantasy, Film Noir, Psychological, Thriller, Mystery, Horror, Smart Comedy, Indie, Historical, Experimental, and Animation.

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FAVOURITE TITLES (a brief but eclectic list)

FICTION

Remains of the Day by K Ishiguro, Manhattan Transfer by John Dos Passos, Zeno's Conscience by Italo Svevo, The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, Trespasses by Louise Kennedy, Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell, Milkman by Anna Burns, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by RL Stevenson, We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson, Water Shall Refuse Them by Lucie McKnight Hardy, The Princess Bride by William Goldman, Imzadi by Peter David, 1984 by George Orwell, The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin, The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman, The Earthsea Trilogy by Ursula Le Guin

NONFICTION

Baboon Metaphysics by Dorothy L Cheney, Underland by Robert Macfarlane, The Hidden Life of Deer by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben, Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat, Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern by Joshua Zeitz, The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell, Hysterical Men: The Hidden History of Male Nervous Illness by Mark S Micale, Escape from Freedom by Erich Fromm, The Seven Daughters of Eve by Bryan Sykes, The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk, Women Who Run with Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat by Oliver Sacks

SHORT STORIES

Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enriquez, Dance Moves by Wendy Erskine, Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges, Numbers in the Dark by Italo Calvino, Open Up by Thomas Morris, Dubliners by James Joyce, Collected Stories of Dorothy Parker

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POETRY (authors)

Langston Hughes, Seamus Heaney, Elizabeth Bishop, Allen Ginsburg, Ciaran Carson, Medbh McGuickian, Robinson Jeffers, Rainer Maria Rilke, Maya Angelou, Mary Oliver, Audre Lord, Walt Whitman, Ezra Pound, Sylvia Plath, etc. 

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YOUNG ADULT

Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery, Watership Down by Richard Adams, The Once and Future King by T.H. White, The Kin by Peter Dickinson, Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth G Speare, The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit

SCREENPLAYS

Some Like it Hot, The Lion in Winter, In Bruges, Good Will Hunting, Michael Collins, Harold and Maude, Raison in the Sun, The Shining, Moonlight, The Insider, The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather, Back to the Future, Superman (1978), Edward Scissorhands, The Favourite, Up, Tangled, Priscilla: Queen of the Desert, Paddington 2, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), Jaws (1977), The Others, The VVitch, The Sixth Sense, The Taking of Pelham 123, Selma, Three Days of the Condor, The Color Purple, The Mission, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Big Lebowski, Frances Ha, The Truman Show, The Life of Brian, Inception, Alien, Knives Out, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Sorry to Bother You, Friday, Mississippi Burning, Hunger, The Fifth Element, Legend, The Dark Crystal, The Fisher King, Marty, Philadelphia Story, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Dog Day Afternoon, Henry V (1989), Remains of the Day, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Men in Black 

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NOT A GOOD FIT FOR ME

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FICTION

Romance, Erotica, Body Horror/Gore, Childrens, Middle Grade, Graphic Novels, Picture books

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NONFICTION* 

Sports, Politics, Military/War, Money/Economics, Business, Self Help, Medical/Health, Religion/Spirituality, Lifestyle, Parenting, How To, Gardening

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*It depends on the style and approach, but in general I would skip these sections in a bookstore. However, I can be tempted by most topics if it relates to history, art, media, sociology, anthropology, or psychology.

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SCRIPTS

Slasher flicks, Torture porn-style Horror, Rom-Com (unless exceptionally well written), Gross out Teen/Frat Comedy, Kitchen-sink domestic dramas, Police or Medical dramas

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CONTENT I DO NOT ACCEPT

No unsolicited images, audio, or video files

No pornography, serial killers, pedophiles, demonology/satanic, abuse (physical, domestic, child, animal, SA etc), graphic self-harm/suicide, gore/body horror, misogynistic content, hate speech, gratuitous sex and/or violence, or any content not listed that's sole purpose is to shock and offend.

If your work includes some of the above content but addresses it in a way that has meaning or social/ cultural value (for example, you've written the next Angels in America, Trainspotting, or No Country for Old Men, etc), please contact me first before purchasing any editorial services.

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READY TO SUBMIT?

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Learn more about my Editorial Services here, or skip to my Ko-fi shop here.

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