Projects with fresh takes on familiar themes, featuring marginalized creators taking on tired tropes in various genres including YA, romance, mystery/thriller, science fiction/fantasy/horror, and literary fiction with speculative elements. The agent is particularly interested in works with LGBTQ+ and/or BIPOC protagonists, heists/cons, fantasy tapping into gaming culture/fandom, witches, and reluctant flawed heroes.
Dystopian/big government stories, Christian romance or 'clean' romance, police/law enforcement heroes, plots with gaslighting of female characters, dystopian/big government settings, superheroes, steampunk, military SFF, traditional Tolkien-esque high fantasy.
Laura Zats is a literary agent at Headwater Literary Management representing a diverse range of genres including YA, science fiction, fantasy, horror, romance, mystery/thriller, and literary fiction with speculative elements. She is actively building her adult client list while maintaining a strong presence in YA representation.
Submit query and first three chapters to https://querymanager.com/query/laura_headwaterliterary
Last verified: March 4, 2026
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