Literary agents who want dark writing — page 2
Phrasemill lists literary agents who want dark, based on what they say on their public websites. “dark” is a tone tag; its identifier is dark. 73 agents currently want it. Agents whose websites say they are closed to submissions are omitted. The quoted evidence for each tag is on the agent's profile. How it works.
Or paste your synopsis into ChatGPT or Claude with this prompt; it can read your whole manuscript.
Agents (26–50 of 73)
Says: “deeply edgy content”
Says: “things with dark depth like Sadie”
Says: “on the dark side”
Hannah is looking for literary and upmarket fiction, as well as select nonfiction. In fiction, she gravitates toward nuanced and compelling work that digs deep into a wide range of emotions. She’s automatically drawn t…
I'm a Vice President and literary agent at Folio representing literary and upmarket commercial fiction and narrative non-fiction. Voice-driven, idiosyncratic and searing novels in the vein of the books of Melissa Broder…
Says: “dark and humorous”
She is primarily looking for upmarket fiction, literary fiction, and narrative nonfiction narrow and deep in scope that might play with unreliable narrators, interrogations of power and violence, reclamations of identity…
A lover of the bizarre, the profane, the unsettling, the dark, and the darkly funny, he is drawn to writing that occupies a literary uncanny valley and to writers who move the cultural needle through direct confrontation…
Says: “a little darkness”
Says: “a streak of darkness too, so long as it is handled with care and control”
Says: “clever novels with a dark edge”
Says: “dark, gritty narratives”
Says: “dark and captivating”
Says: “playful on the surface but dark underneath”
Says: “Anything that deals with hard hitting truths or the darker aspects of humanity”
Adult romance and romantasy; select women's fiction, genre fiction and nonfiction She is excited by strong voices and compelling stories across the sub-genres of fiction, with a specific interest in romance, fantasy, th…
Says: “psychologically dark and twisted”
For fiction, Jo is seeking books that subvert genre expectations or combine genres in innovative and twisty ways. They’re particularly searching for speculative fiction/light sci-fi (Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro,…
Says: “Dark, twisty narratives”
A story I haven't heard, told well, that surprises, that puts me under its spell. Actively building my client list, I’m looking for fiction, namely, novels in these general categories (in no order of preference): commer…
Says: “Dark and brooding”
In fiction, she is seeking stories that will draw her in with a unique voice, make her miss her bedtime with a thrilling plot, and characters that will stay with her long after she turns the last page. Bonus points if yo…
Says: “stories with darker themes”
Says: “something pacy, dark, yet emotional”
Bri cultivates an omnivorous list and represents both children's and adult fiction. Across genre, she loves unique narrative structures, unreliable narrators, alternative lifestyles, and dark humor.
More literary agent lists
- Literary Fiction (456)
- Narrative Nonfiction (431)
- Memoir (364)
- Young Adult (357)
- Romance (276)
- Thriller (265)
- Fantasy (241)
- Historical Fiction (232)
- Middle-grade Books (206)
- Horror (193)
- Mystery (186)
- Children's Books (169)
- Science Fiction (163)
- Women's Fiction (147)
- Crime Fiction (115)
- Humor (105)
- Romantasy (91)
- Magical Realism (90)
- Debut Authors (72)
- True Crime (72)
- Contemporary Romance (66)
- Cozy Fantasy (32)
- Cozy Mystery (28)
- Dark Academia (27)
- Poetry (26)
- Dark Romance (19)
- Paranormal Romance (17)
- African American Fiction (6)