Stefanie joined Ladderbird Literary Agency in April 2021 after spending her early career advocating for marginalized folks in publishing as a technical editor at a national laboratory, senior editor at the literary journal F(r)iction, and book coach and editor for women of color. She is one-half Mexican, one-quarter Japanese, and one-quarter Irish. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Bachelor of Arts in Communications, both from the University of California at Davis. Aside from reading, she enjoys hiking, swimming, baking strange new things, and playing the piano. Her favorite place in the world is Yosemite National Park. You can find her on Twitter @agentstefanie, on Instagram @agent.stefanie, or on BlueSky @agentstefanie.bsky.social.
Stefanie is open to PB, MG, YA and Adult and is primarily seeking work from BIPOC authors. She is exclusively taking on clients who are underrepresented in publishing. In PB, MG, and YA she loves gutsy, messy main characters exploring confusing feelings, navigating complex relationships, playing sports, having unique hobbies, and saving the world. She's open to all genres in these age groups and loves a story that will make you laugh, cry and sigh with happiness. In Adult, she is specifically seeking cozy mysteries, grounded fantasy, and romantic suspense helmed by BIPOC protagonists. Across the board she appreciates anticolonialism and decolonization; non-Western-centric perspectives (and folklore); and protagonists that disrupt the status quo.
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In all genres, she adores stories that incorporate food, animals, the outdoors, and intergenerational relationships. She also loves when stories explore "messy" feelings like rage, fear, guilt, grief, etc. in empowering ways.
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Right now, she is especially looking to fill out her MG, YA and Adult lists.
Picture Books
Her picture book list is perpetually at capacity, and she is being extremely picky with what she takes on. It’s especially nice if an author is also interested in expanding into early readers, chapter books, MG or YA, although this is not a must. Here’s what she is looking for:
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Fiction
She loves heartfelt stories about family, facing your fears, and/or finding your place in the world. She especially loves brave, quirky heroines. She's interested in humor that can be enjoyed by both kids and adults, with plenty of wittiness, wordplay, and silliness. And ANYTHING outdoorsy and/or sporty could be a fit for her especially if it features BIPOC protagonists and families. She also noted a lack of PBs exploring positive relationships between boys and their fathers or other male role models, and would love to see more of these.
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She would also love retellings of traditional folktales from all cultures, including stories that somehow reflect the oral storytelling tradition.
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Nonfiction
Anything having to do with nature or the environment, or anything that provides a new perspective on a historical or current event. Unsung heroes, women and nonbinary folk doing incredible things, BIPOC achievements, activism--these are all her jam! She loves titles that take on STEM in various ways, but her heart belongs to music and the arts.
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Not For Her
She is not typically a fit for rhyme off the bat, although she has enjoyed working on rhyme with established clients. She leans toward lyrical, poetic work, or commercial work with a strong command of voice. She loves universally-relatable but culturally-specific hooks.
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She is not typically a fit for animal protagonists, but she will give them a try! She generally prefers animals to feature in relationship to child MCs. She is also being extremely choosy with food-centric PBs at the moment
Middle Grade and YA
She likes contemporary fantasy, adventure, coming-of-age, mystery, and thriller. She is tentatively open to horror. Also, if you think it could be a fit for Rick Riordan Presents, try her!
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Much of her PB wishlist applies here:
She loves heartfelt stories about family, facing your fears, and/or finding your place in the world. She especially loves brave, quirky, imperfect heroines. ANYTHING outdoorsy and/or sporty could be a fit for her especially if it features BIPOC protagonists and families. Add in a nerdy hyperfixation, and she's sold.
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She is generally not a fit for stories that center around illness or death of a family member, although these are not hard no’s. Instead (or in addition), try her with complex and difficult family dynamics, including tough sibling relationships.
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A note about YA:
She finds an angsty voice difficult to get through. For this reason, she gravitates toward younger YA. In older YA, she needs something strong and hooky to pull her through the angst; or a really unique voice that leans more rage/power and less angst (or is somehow cheerful/upbeat while still maintaining that authentic teen voice).
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Three pitches she still thinks about:
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MG about a girl in a mariachi band
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YA about a girl who wants to hike the PCT
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YA about a female athlete in a male-dominated sport (it’s so specific she doesn’t want to share)
Adult
She is specifically seeking cozy mysteries, mysteries, grounded fantasy, and romantic suspense/thrillers helmed by BIPOC protagonists. In general, bonus points for a steamy love story, either front and center or as a subplot. She loves Mia Manansala, Vivien Chien, and Peggy Ehrhart. She would love a cozy mystery or mystery series featuring a Latine central character, especially.
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In fantasy, she looks for strong voice and characterization, and she's likely to get bogged down in heavy world building. She wants to be able to see clearly through to the characters and relationships at the heart of these stories. If you query her with fantasy, she LOVES to know more about those dynamics than about the world, which she will inevitably learn about if she read on.
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In romantic suspense/thrillers, she loves an emotionally intelligent protagonist. She wants her main character to be a badass who cries sometimes. She's not interested in emotionally-constipated MCs or love interests (although she's enjoyed her fair share as a reader!). Give her pining, banter, and romantic tension alongside heart-pounding stakes and stunts. Bonus points for antagonists-to-lovers or friends-to-lovers. Zutara stan here!
Nonfiction
She is open to cookbooks and baking books. She prioritizes systemically excluded creators and is seeking books that center rich, colorful foodways and cultures by descendants of these cultures. A strong voice is a must. She's an extremely visual person, and recipes that create blasts of life and color on the page always grab her. She loves fusion cuisines and new twists on culinary traditions.
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She's interested in finding a cookbook or baking book framed by an intuitive eating approach to health. She also loves books that aim to provide fuel for athletes (COOK FAST. RUN FAST. EAT SLOW. is a favorite). Please do not send her “diet” cookbooks (e.g. keto, whole30, etc.) unless they are somehow framed by a weight-neutral, food-neutral approach.
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Recent favorites include MAYUMU (Abi Balingit), COOK REAL HAWAII (Sheldon Simeon), MOONCAKES AND MILK BREAD (Kristina Cho), and FILIPINX: HERITAGE RECIPES FROM THE DIAPSORA (Angela Dimayuga).
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Old favorites include FRESH MEXICO and MEXICAN MADE EASY (Marcela Valladolid), CHOCOLATIQUE (Ed Engoron) and CRAVINGS (Chrissy Teigen).
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She is open to nonfiction about the experiences of women athletes such as UP TO SPEED by Christine Yu or GOOD FOR A GIRL by Lauren Fleischman.
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Email proposals to stefaniemolina@ladderbird.com.
Note any fiction queries sent to this email will be deleted without reading.
Not for Her
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portal fantasy unless it’s a very different take on the genre
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epic fantasy
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books where the protagonist dies at the end
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religious work
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literary fiction
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sci-fi
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military/espionage
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political fiction
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capital R Romance
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Please don’t send me books that center abuse, suicide, or self-harm (although they can feature briefly or be in a character’s past, in which case please include a content warning).