Opening for submissions from unagented writers
Very exciting news from the Wild Hunt Books team - we’re opening to unagented manuscripts from 13-26 January 2025. While we are always open to agent submissions we also like to periodically read work from new and emerging authors. Also, please note that any unagented submissions sent outside of this window will be deleted, unread.
For this submission period we are looking for novels only (~ 50K-90K words). We are not seeking short story collections or novellas this time. We are not a home for poetry, non-fiction, screenplays, and children’s or YA fiction.
The editor has set up a #mswl which she will periodically update so best to head over there to get a good sense of what she’s looking for. The list is not meant to be exhaustive but to give writers an idea of the sorts of manuscripts we are looking for…
From our editor:
I consider authors from around the world but I do prioritise authors living in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
Ariell Cacciola is the editorial director of Wild Hunt Books. She is always open to agented submissions and opens up periodically for unagented authors. She is seeking manuscripts that speak to the heart of the company: Our mission is to foster strong and distinct literary voices and those who experiment with narrative, plot and structure. We are also a home for authors dabbling in the darker genres and liminal spaces.
She loves language that evokes place, voice and mood, and loves when this works as a visceral entry point for the reader into a story. Some of her favourite writers are: Shirley Jackson, Daisy Johnson, Charlotte Brontë, Margaret Atwood and Franz Kafka.
I love books that have clear, engaging prose from the start, and don’t sacrifice on character or story. I’m looking for novels that are close to their characters and worlds. I also like a strong authorial voice. I tend to gravitate towards fiction rooted in reality even if it incorporates genre. While I’m not the perfect editor for pure genre, I do cling to novels that play with genre and upend genre expectations or motifs. Some of my favourite recent reads have been:
The Last House on Needless Street
Sundial
Follow Me to Ground
Our Wives Under the Sea
The Harpy
Piranesi
Just Like Home
Death of a Bookseller
Starve Acre
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead
Boy Parts
Penance
The End of the End of Everything
My Sister, the Serial Killer
The Vegetarian
His Bloody Project
The Examiner
Some of my favourite genres are literary mystery, magical realism, horror, Gothic, epistolary, folk horror and speculative fiction. I really need a book to grab me from the first page (first line is even better!). I also really like to be surprised by a book, i.e., does the story or character spin in an unexpected way? I’m particularly taken with modern and contemporary set books but wouldn’t be put off by something pre-1850.
I would be very happy to receive manuscripts that involve:
Folk horror
Unconventional locked rooms
Modern day set Gothic stories
Unexpected ghost stories
Literary novels that upend genre expectations
Unreliable POVs
Mysteries with an unexpected sleuth or mystery at its core
Isolation on an island
A mysterious item or ritual
Everyone in a village goes mad
The land has turned on people and soured
Eco or climate fiction, especially with an uncanny plot or elements
I especially would love to hear from writers outside of London, BAME, disabled, neurodivergent, LGBTQ+, writers over 40, working class and non-Brits living in the UK.
What I’m not looking for:
YA or Children’s fiction
Most fantasy like high fantasy, urban fantasy or epic fantasy; erotica; hard science fiction and space operas
Racist or abusive material
Translations
No AI produced material
The submission page will be open from 13-26 January. We require a query letter, one-page synopsis and your full manuscript.