My Submissions Wishlist: Kiya Evans

Since Mushens Entertainment is open to submissions and always on the hunt for new talent, we’ve asked our agents to sit down and tell us all about what’s on their wishlist. Today’s guest: our new Associate Agent Kiya Evans.

What are you most looking forward to finding in your submissions inbox?

I would love to see some dark academia in my inbox, and am itching to sign a thriller with twisty, questionable characters in the vein of Gillian Flynn, or with a really glamourous premise – think Mr and Mrs Smith. I really enjoy books with a great sense of humour and strong voice – I’m pretty open to any genre as long as the voice is there! I’d also love a romcom that feels like a twist on the traditional love story, and am always open to queer narratives, whether fiction or non-fiction.

On the non-fiction side, I love anything that feels really human, which usually means I’m drawn to narrative non-fiction (Crying in H Mart, Educated, Conversations on Love) or something which teaches me about society or history in an accessible way (Empire of Pain, The Pink Line, The Five).

How is your taste different to the other agents at ME?

We take a very diplomatic and collegiate approach to submissions at ME – our submissions inbox is shared, so we will regularly flag projects for one another if they don’t quite fit our tastes. There’s a lot of overlap, but generally anything dark academia, queer, or historical fiction with a strong female presence gets flagged for me - I’m also open to rom-coms!

I’d say that my taste can sometimes extend to the slightly ‘quieter’, more literary end of the spectrum, more so than Juliet and Rachel, and I’m open to books with a strange gothic or horror thread - think Bunny or Our Wives Under The Sea - as long as they’re executed well. Like Liza, I love A24 films, so am open to anything that feels like that!

What 3 books do you wish you could have agented?

I would have loved to agent Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, and In The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado. I feel like they all brought something so new to their genre and tell stories which feel compelling and human at the same time!

Interested in submitting your novel to Kiya? You can find our guidelines and more information here.