Beth is the owner and Lead Agent at Ladderbird Literary Agency. She has a BA in Literature and a Masters in Business Administration and is always looking for new and exciting ways to bring more diversity into publishing and beyond. Outside of agenting, Beth teaches writing in her local community with a focus on bringing reluctant writers and readers into the magical world of books. She is always on the lookout for more ways to encourage writers to create stories that matter! Outside of books, she loves the outdoors, all things water related, and has a strong attraction to abstract art.
For added emphasis, in all areas Beth would like to see more works from disabled writers, LGBTQIA+ writers, Black writers, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, Middle Eastern, and all other groups who do not regularly get to see their stories in print. She would love to see more non-binary and Ace representation across categories as well.
Across categories she would love to see more works that show joy in marginalized communities. She is not looking for stories of trauma, and cannot accept works that feature sexual violence, or violence to children or animals. This is not to say these stories are not important, but rather she must protect her own mental well-being.
In both fiction and non-fiction, she is not a good fit for books on the Judeo-Christian religions.
ADULT
ADULT
Beth is actively seeking narrative nonfiction centering around cultural phenomena, hidden or weird histories, issue-driven books, and books that offer new ways to look at spiritualism, witchcraft and paganism. She has a strong affinity for the history of fashion and secrets of the fashion world, a great love of the evolution of gaming, and fascination with all manner of activism!
YOUNG ADULT/ MIDDLE GRADE
Biographies of celebrities who have changed culture, particularly those who come from marginalized backgrounds.
Prescriptive books on mental health and self-care for teens and tweens.
Pop culture
Picture Books
Biographies on forgotten leaders from marginalized background
Forgotten stories of interesting historical events, particularly if it has a cute animal bent (think The Cat Man of Aleppo)
ADULT
Literary Fiction
She is looking for work with exceptional voice and beautiful style, unusual settings, and works that involve clever plots with dynamic characters. She wants to see work that brings to light new perspectives on old ideas. Of particular interest are multi-generational stories that show family dynamics, stories centered around found family or friendship, She is especially interested in seeing works by and about BIPOC communities, especially Latinx and Indigenous writers.
Mainstream/Commercial Fiction
She'd love to see more multicultural Meet-Cutes/RomComs (especially LGBTQ+), Family Drama, stories about friendships of any kind, work that is light and fun, but emotionally poignant.
Mysteries
Would to love see more atmospheric mysteries with a twist. It might be an unusual setting, or simply written from BIPOC perspective to give this genre a new voice.
Thrillers
She loves a thriller that really keeps you on the edge of your seat guessing! She's particularly looking for thrillers set outside of the United States. She does not love thrillers that feature violence towards women as their main plot.
Fantasy
Books that are fast-paced with wonderful (ideally non-European) characters. She'd love to see more dark fantasies based on non-European folklore, especially Latinx (new imaginings of El Cucuy, El Sombrerón, Duendes, etc...)!
YOUNG ADULT
Contemporary
She is very actively looking for stories about found family, the difficulties of friendship, LGBTQIA+ Rom Coms, anything that is really poignant and pulls at your heart strings, especially if it is set outside of the U.S.Mysteries
Thrillers
Stories with high stakes and complex friendships stretched thin. In YA, Mysteries/Thrillers of almost any kind are appealing as long as they are emotionally focused and bring a new point of view. She is not a fan of the unreliable narrators, but is a huge fan of group heists.
Fantasy
Very similar to Adult Fantasy, she prefers dark folkloric tales, but is very glad to have a happy ending! Tales that feature friendships rather than romance as their base and really dig in to the full emotions of that particular love and struggle.
Beth is starting to acquire a very select list of MG and PB:
Middle Grade
She's looking for contemporary stories that have fun, compelling characters dealing with real problems that Middle School kids face: friendship, divorce, gender identity, budding feelings of attraction or a lack of those feelings, feelings of isolation, and found family stories. She's also interested in Fantasy that explores similar themes. Books she's loved are: Lalani and the Distant Sea, Wonder, Pet, and Lily and Dunkin
Picture Books
She's dying to find books with really cute hooks like The Day the Crayons Quit, or nice messaging like Not Quite a Narwhal. She'd love to find a book that brings parents and kids together with language simple enough for a young child to read, but engrossing enough for an adult to enjoy.