Uplit Fiction: Voice-driven stories with a high concept hook and book club appeal that end on an optimistic note. While these books may have a romance (or could with different positioning be considered romcoms), the romance doesn’t overpower the other themes or relationships.

Magical Realism: Twisting, atmospheric tales with a touch of the otherworldly. I am a sucker for books that weave threads of magic seamlessly into a book club-style story.

Romance & Women’s Fiction: Unique, engaging, risk-taking romance and women’s fiction in all sub-genres. I love taking chances on unusual books and appreciate fresh approaches to familiar tropes.

Horror: Atmospheric, compelling horror with something new to say. I’m especially interested in hearing from voices that tend to be underrepresented in the genre. I’m a sucker for a good haunting.

New Adult: Gripping stories about characters in their early to mid-30s with a high concept hook. These can be high, mid, or low heat.

Graphic Novel: I’m just beginning to look for compelling graphic novels for the adult and new adult audience.

Non-fiction or inspirational fiction. I’m also not interested in horror that relies on killing women as shock value.

The first book I remember loving was The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. I was obsessed with the idea of finding Narnia and spent the summer checking every closet I came across just in case. Not too long after that, I found my way to The Last Unicorn and The Hobbit. (And let’s not forget hours spent wading through longboxes of Marvel comics.) I’ve been a dyed-in-the-wool geek ever since.​

I have pretty wide-ranging tastes. Guy Gavriel Kay (Tigana and The Lions of Al-Rassan) is one of my favorites, though I’ll always be in the mood to read Lisa Kleypas (The Wallflower Quartet). Every few years, I end up revisiting classic horror such as Stephen King’s The Shining and The Stand. I’m obsessed with Fun Home and have recently fallen in love with Lore Olympus.

It’s easy to get lost in the wilderness of a novel—a good editor plays navigator, field medic, companion, and nagging backseat driver, keeping an eye on all the details that could go wrong along the way and guiding the book toward its final destination.

I get to work with creative people and change lives with books. There’s nothing better than that.

Playing unusual board games with my friends, checking out the latest Bioware releases (I’ve spent countless hours on the Dragon Age franchise alone), poking through Archive of Our Own, and plotting my next world adventure. You can find me in comic book stores and tea shops…or with my headphones on listening to Critical Role or Dimension 20.

Publishers Lunch, Smart Bitches Trashy Books, Dear Author.

mary.altman@sourcebooks.com