John Cusick, Literary Agent John Cusick is an active literary agent with Folio Literary Management, specializing in middle-grade and young adult fiction, including science fiction, fantasy, and horror. He is currently open to submissions from writers.
Represents: Middle Grade, Young Adult, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror
About John Cusick
John Cusick is a Senior Vice President and literary agent at Folio Literary Management and Folio Jr.
He represents middle grade and young adult novels, new adult and adult romance, and commercial fiction. An author himself, he has published young adult novels with Candlewick Press and the middle grade Dimension Why books with HarperCollins.
His clients include Julie Murphy, Laura Sebastian, Abdi Nazemian, and Joan He.
Cusick is interested in emotionally resonant stories with memorable characters, active young protagonists, and unusual approaches. His adult romance interests range from romantic comedy to dark romance and genre blends incorporating fantasy, horror, or suspense. He welcomes work from underrepresented voices and accepts queries through his QueryManager form.
John Cusick
Submission Address
Queries accepted via email to john@foliolit.com.
Submitting Your Work to John Cusick
Before submitting to John Cusick
The Market List recommends you verify the query and/or submission guidelines for each literary agent and literary agency before sending a query or submitting your manuscript. Most agencies require a completed manuscript prior to queries or submissions. Review and verify the agency requirements for working with new or unpublished writers as well as their specific areas of interest.
If you have recently submitted to John Cusick, please submit a comment below.
Submission Guidelines Details for John Cusick
Current wishlist:
Cusick wants emotionally engaging, page-turning stories with memorable characters. He welcomes unusual work and underrepresented voices, and particularly likes proactive middle grade and YA protagonists. For adult romance, he mentions humor, inclusive perspectives, sex and body positivity, romantic comedy, dark romance, and blends with fantasy, horror, or thrillers. Folio Jr.’s client list includes Julie Murphy, Laura Sebastian, Abdi Nazemian, Joan He, and Mindy McGinnis.
How to submit:
His form requires an author biography, book title, word count, genre, query letter, one-sentence pitch, and the first 10 pages pasted into the form. For nonfiction, the form asks for a full proposal instead. Folio asks writers to query one Folio agent at a time about one project at a time; novels should be finished and polished.
Cusick says he tries to respond to all queries, but after 30 days without a reply, consider it a pass.
Market Types Represented: Juvenile Fiction, Children's books, Suspense/Thriller, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror
Email: john@foliolit.com
Accepts: Middle Grade, Young Adult, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror
Web Address: www.foliolit.com