Rachel Cone-Gorham || Literary Agent

I dug into 2,000+ PM deals to see what editors were actually buying. Check out The 2025 Fiction Market open.substack.com/pub/rachelcone…

Publishing runs on polite shorthand. One of the biggest? “Voice.” What sounds like a style note is often a much deeper signal that the book hasn’t fully committed to its point of view. In this week’s post, I unpack what that really means, and how to tighten focus so the writing hits harder. rachelconegorham.substack.com/p/why-your-boo…

#amwriting #querying #query #fiction

@NassiveraMia Select YA, happy to take a look.

@Rachel_RXD Are you taking YA? I saw MG on your query tracker but not YA 🥺

A bit specific... #mswl I'm looking for commercial fiction that treats feminine lineage + forgotten power as serious, political, alive in the modern world. Not goddess-core... something with the gravity of Mists of Avalon, but contemporary and propulsive. #litagent

Writers are often told their book needs to be “timely.” But in publishing, timeliness is a trap. Writing to the news cycle might feel urgent, but it rarely lasts. By the time a book is written, sold, edited, and released, the moment has passed, and what felt fresh now reads as flat. But why now? is still one of the most important questions an author can answer. The problem isn’t the question. It’s how we’re defining “now.” In my latest Substack, I unpack what agents and editors really mean when we ask for urgency—and why your book doesn’t need to be “of the moment” to matter. 🟡 How to answer “Why this? Why now? Why you?” 🟡 What the market is actually rewarding (in fiction and nonfiction) 🟡 Why relevance always outperforms trend If you’re a writer, strategist, or publishing professional thinking about the long arc of what makes a book matter—this one’s for you. open.substack.com/pub/rachelcone…

The Non-fiction Forecast: Q3–Q4 2025 What's selling, what's not. open.substack.com/pub/rachelcone…

The Fiction Forecast: Q3–Early Q4 2025 open.substack.com/pub/rachelcone…

Wow!! USA Today AND the New York Times best seller list!!! Congratulations Meagan Church, proud lit agent over here 🥰❤️🥳🙌🤩😭

We've got a bestseller!! ✨ Congratulations to Meagan Church and @Sourcebooks on THE MAD WIFE becoming an Instant National Bestseller, debuting at #14 on the @USATODAY Bestseller list, selected as the October Fiction pick at @BNBuzz and climbing the charts. ✨ #rxdagency

Pinch me. ✨ The Mad Wife by RXD Agency author Meagan Church is the official October Fiction Pick at Barnes & Noble! Couldn’t be prouder to see Meagan’s talent recognized at this level. Thank you to @Sourcebooks and to @BNBuzz for spotlighting this unforgettable novel.

🚀 Happy Book Birthday to RXD author Marian Dealy! Rise of the G.E.M.S. started as a script and—thanks to the amazing @LBeguiristain, @MacmillanUSA @MacKidsBooks, & illustrator Pablo Ballesteros—is now a dazzling MG graphic novel taking readers from NASA HQ into deep space.

Fiction Forecast Q2 TL;DR ✅ Romantasy is fragmenting—dark, cozy, folkloric ✅ Midlife narratives are rising ✅ Horror is doing social work ✅ Vibe is the hook ✅ Structure is the differentiator 📌 Save this if you track culture through story or story through culture.

Here’s the full Q2 analysis: what’s selling, what’s breaking through, and what it means for anyone building stories. 📖 rachelconegorham.substack.com/p/the-fiction-… Or keep scrolling for the TL;DR…

What fiction editors bought in Q2 tells you everything about the culture right now. It’s not just romantasy and horror. It’s bodily autonomy, maternal rage, and nonlinear time. It’s storytelling as survival strategy. 🧵