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…this ENTIRE LIST is fantastic!! Unique, fresh, compelling premises, and all with clear markets—I’m so energized by everything you have here. Incredible work.

Michelle Kaatz(former) Director of Original Content, Rakuten Kobo Inc.

I took a bit of an unconventional path to publishing. I hold a PhD in justice-oriented social work with a focus on critical animal studies from McMaster University, with additional peer-reviewed publications in public health and psychology. I even studied professional circus arts in a former life, but I really fell in love with this industry while working as an indie bookseller at Another Story. Because of my background in social justice and the arts, I bring a deep appreciation and unique perspective to my work as an agent. When someone picks up a book, they are opening their mind to new ideas and feelings that they think are important and worth spending their time on. There is so much magic in that.

I am an advisor for the Festival of Literary Diversity. I am a queer, trans, non-binary colonizer originally from Ktaqmkuk (Newfoundland), the ancestral homelands of the Beothuk and the Mi’kmaq, now based in Tkaronto (Toronto, Ontario), which is unceded territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Mississaugas of the Credit. I live with my partner, a Deaf Dalmatian, and two formerly feral Maine coon cats. I keep busy with thread painting embroidery, crochet, wholesome video games, snail mail, my sticker collection, and… obviously, reading.

What I’m Looking For

I grew up on fantasy novels and 90’s kidlit horror like Bunnicula and Goosebumps. I primarily represent authors of upmarket fiction and narrative nonfiction, across age ranges. I specialize in identity-driven stories based on lived experience, particularly from LGBTQ2S+ and disabled or chronically ill authors.

You know that feeling when you have to go somewhere, and you’re reading, and you have to close the book, but it is just the tiniest bit physically painful to do it? That’s my aim, with every book that I have a hand in. I want it to be just a little bit devastating to put down.

Murder is my comfort read.

For more details about what kinds of queries I am seeking, please visit my Manuscript Wishlist page. I prioritize queries from trans and/or non-binary, Black and/or BIPOC, and/or disabled authors. My clients can be found on social media as the #SpineSquad.

Member of PACLA.

Selected Clients

@emmy_of_spines