Special Guests

Sareer Khader (she/her) joined Berkley in 2019. She acquires upmarket commercial women’s fiction and romance, psychological mysteries/thrillers, and speculative/fantastical fiction with strong crossover appeal. She is particularly interested in seeing works from underrepresented voices across all genres. Sareer has worked with New York Times bestselling authors like Emily Henry, Mark Greaney, Stephanie Dray, and Dolen Perkins-Valdez. Some of her recent and upcoming projects include Nick Medina’s debut thriller Sisters of the Lost Nation, Mrs. Nash’s Ashes by Sarah Adler, and Jade Beer’s The Last Dress from Paris.

She would love to see any and all science fiction and fantasy projects, especially fantastical/speculative romances or thrillers in the vein of Ashley Poston’s THE DEAD ROMANTICS and THE HACIENDA by Isabel Canas (respectively) and action and adventure in fantasy similar to Naomi Novik’s UPROOTED, Hannah Whitten’s FOR THE WOLF, and THE WITCH’S HEART by Genevieve Gornichec.

She also has interest in upmarket horror, fresh takes on ancient mythology, and any book that features heists, conmen, and hi-jinks.

She loves her science fiction and fantasy selections to have whip-fast pacing and biting humor, in the vein of KINGS OF THE WYLD by Nicholas Eames, SIX OF CROWS by Leigh Bardugo, or even EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE, and she particularly enjoys deep character dives and vivid prose in her novels, as in N.K. Jemisin’s THE FIFTH SEASON, anything by Roshani Chokshi, and THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS by Stephen Graham Jones.

Full List of Interests: https://www.penguin.com/berkley-overview/ (scroll down to see her list)

Eva Scalzo was born in New Jersey, but has lived in Houston, Buenos Aires, San Juan, and Boston before settling down outside of Binghamton, New York. She has been reading romance since the fifth grade when she discovered the Sweet Valley High series. On inheriting her grandmother’s collection of vintage Harlequin Romances, she set a goal to someday finish reading them all on top of her already massive TBR.

Eva has a B.A. in the Humanities from the University of Puerto Rico and a M.A. in Publishing and Writing from Emerson College. Since graduating in 2002, she has spent her career in scholarly publishing, working for Houghton Mifflin, Blackwell Publishing, John Wiley & Sons, and Cornell University in a variety of roles. She has been with Speilburg Literary since 2013, and started accepting clients in 2017. Eva is a member of the AALA (formerly AAR), RWA, and SCBWI.

In Adult Fiction, Eva represents Romance (all subgenres but inspirational) and Science Fiction/Fantasy.

Eva also represents all subgenres of Young Adult Fiction and select Middle Grade.

Full list of interests: https://www.evascalzo.com/mswl

Prior to joining Howland Literary, Erin Clyburn was an associate agent with The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency. She was the general manager and director of collection development for Turtleback Books, a distributor of books to the school and library market, and she has over a decade of experience in magazine publishing, having worked for brands including Food & Wine, Cooking Light, People, and Entertainment Weekly. She received her BA in English Literature from Mississippi State University and her MA in Children’s Literature from Hollins University. She lives in Birmingham, Alabama, with her partner, Michael, and four unruly rabbits.

Erin represents middle grade fiction, YA fiction, and adult fiction and nonfiction.

In MG and YA, she is looking for horror, mystery, thriller, big-hearted contemporary, and grounded stories with magical or speculative elements. In adult fiction, she is most interested in upmarket and literary fiction, and she gravitates toward the dark and strange: horror, thriller, mystery, and grounded stories with speculative or magical elements. Send her your weirds. In nonfiction, she’s interested in intersectional perspectives and is looking for narrative nonfiction, memoir, and deep dives into topics including pop science, nature, food and culinary history, and sports and adventure. An Alabamian with Louisiana roots, Erin is particularly interested in Southern literary and upmarket fiction from diverse voices in the above genres. A more in-depth wishlist can be found on her website.

Full list of interests: https://www.erinclyburn.com/queries–mswl.html