This excerpt from About Us – Belcastro Agency
Kaitlyn Johnson – Literary Agent
After receiving a BA in Writing, Literature, and Publishing from Emerson College, Kaitlyn refused to leave the concept of nightly homework behind. A literary agent for Belcastro Literary Agency, she is also a freelance editor at her own company, Strictly Textual.
Kaitlyn started her literary journey as a copyeditor for academic publisher codeMantra, a YA editor for Accent Press, a Conference Assistant for GrubStreet, Boston, and has been agenting since 2016. She has written various articles for Writer’s Digest and has had a flash fiction story published in the anthology A Box of Stars Beneath the Bed.
Some of Kaitlyn’s favorite books: Cornelia Funke (Inkheart series); Michael Buckley (Undertow series); John Green (more Looking for Alaska, less An Abundance of Katherines); Gayle Forman (Just One Year and Just One Day); Lois Lowry (The Giver series); Scott O’Dell (Island of the Blue Dolphins).
Her favorite tv shows are Doctor Who, Buffy, Supernatural, Firefly, basically the nerdier the fandom the better.
WISH LIST
Historical Fiction
- All ages
- Not a huge fan of Henry VIII, Shakespeare, roman/greek legends and retellings
- Would love non-Western world setting and situations
- Would love some with a humor bend but open to the dark and decadent as well
Horror
- All ages
- Less gore, more psychological/haunting
- LOVE ghosts
- Would love lesser known creatures/legends (think vast stretch of shows like Grimm)
- Horror Media I love: sinister, the conjuring, Cabin in the Woods, Yellowjackets, A Quiet Place, Hereditary, Oculus, Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass
- For MG, would love Goosebumps vibe; also enjoy feels like Beetlejuice, Hocus Pocus, Coraline, Corpse Bride, The Pagemaster. The Curse of Bridge Hollow
Contemporary
- All ages
- Dark, light, fun, sad, gimme!
- Love to find LGBTQ+ storylines
- Interested in mental health angles
- Enjoy romance, though it doesn’t need to be central
- Enemies to lovers, rivals to friends or lovers, sibling rivalry/loyalty stories
- Still looking for an escape room story!
Fantasy
- All ages (heavier on MG/YA & crossover)
- Very selective at the moment
- Looking for marginalized/BIPOC voices and settings/POVs
- Not a fit for fae/fairies, elves, trolls/ogres/orcs, or most werewolves
- Into vampires (Buffy always!) but need it to be super unique and strong writing
Suspense/Thriller
- YA & Adult
- Think gothic, spooky, and psychological
- Not into Crime fiction or procedurals
- Craving a locked room concept (whether contemporary, historical, or paranormal!)
Graphic Novel
- All ages, though hunting for more kid lit
- Interested in mental health stories, humorous MG, queer relationships, quirky casts and found families, and harrowing creatures/survival plots
- Hoping for commercial hooks on MG titles
For all ages, I really want historical that focuses on perspectives and places not in the mainstream. Give me legends, myths, events, battles that aren’t the everyday titles we see all the time. I’m not huge on retellings unless it’s in-depth and really makes me dig to figure out what story we’re rediscovering.
I also really want more LGBTQ+ storylines and mental health themes and love stories where the people are just PEOPLE and it doesn’t have to be expressly about an issue.
Kaitlyn is NOT accepting
– Nonfiction
– Chapter or picture books
– Romantic Suspense
– Novellas, poetry, or short story collections
– Storylines heavily dependent on religious motives/events/themes
– Storylines heavily dependent on sexual/physical/drug abuse
Twitter @RedPenKaitlyn
Submission Guidelines
Query Submission (querymanager.com)
Click HERE for how to create a query letter
Click HERE for the ultimate list of literary agents