Projects that capture personal growth, complex relationships, and innovative takes on classic tropes in fiction; nonfiction projects focusing on pop culture, social justice, and cultural criticism.
Gracie Freeman Lifschutz is a literary agent at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret who represents fiction and nonfiction across multiple genres. She prioritizes underrepresented voices, #OwnVoices works, and intersectional perspectives. She is drawn to fiction that explores personal growth and complex relationships, as well as nonfiction focused on pop culture, social justice, and cultural criticism.
Query via QueryTracker after reviewing company submission guidelines at https://www.dystel.com/submission-guidelines Fiction: - Contemporary Romance and romantic comedies: particularly those that feature body positive/neutral rep, demi-spectrum rep, late bloomers - Folk horror or Gothic horror that examines issues in our world while still being accessible - Young Adult: thrillers, contemporary fiction, and rom-coms - Stories that feature demi-spectrum representation, mental illness, and disability authentically - Deep friendships, friends as family, non-traditional families (think: family is who you choose, the complexity of having difficult bio family, etc.) - Jewish representation where religion isn't the focus (think: Crossing Delancey or The Nanny, moreso than Unorthodox) - Feminist psychological thrillers - Complicated and messy heroines - Light magical realism - Grounded genre fiction Nonfiction: - Cultural criticism - Pop Culture-focused social analysis - Social Justice narratives - Food systems and culture - Deep dives! Give me your books on weird conspiracy theories, cults, metaphorical wikipedia wormholes - The intersection of all of the above Please no: - Second world sci-fi - Hard fantasy - Post-climate apocalypse narratives - Military fiction - Legal or political espionage thrillers - Holocaust fiction - Stories featuring assault or abuse - Redemption of hate group members - Dystopian fiction
Last verified: March 21, 2026