Alyssa Maltese is a literary agent at Root Literary seeking young adult fiction, adult fiction, and adult nonfiction.

Getting to be an early champion for authors’ work is a huge privilege, and a responsibility for which I am deeply grateful. I am proud to represent books that you can’t put down, books that surprise you, books that make you think, and, above all else, books that help people. I joined the agency in 2019 and live in New Jersey with my husband, son, and disobedient cat.

Across the board, I welcome books about marginalized characters, by marginalized creators.
In the YA space, I’m seeking contemporary coming-of-age stories that help burgeoning readers discover their own voice and sense of self-worth. I’m open to genre elements (specifically speculative, fantasy, romance, horror, and historical), but in general I prefer fiction grounded in our world.

I’m casting a wider net for literary adult fiction and upmarket book club fiction. Above all I’m drawn to contemporary or lightly speculative novels with literary prose and hooky commercial concepts/execution.

My very favorite kind of historical fiction reveals untold stories of interesting women, ideally in non-Western settings.

I’m also seeking thrillers, suspense, and horror. I’m open to sci-fi elements in these genres.

In the adult nonfiction space, I’m seeking both prescriptive and research-driven narrative nonfiction from authors with an established expertise and platform. Topics of interest include psychology, mental health, media criticism, pop culture, taboo topics such as death and sex, and science pertaining to nature and animals.

I am not accepting submissions for poetry, screenplays, middle grade, early reader books, chapter books, picture books, graphic novels, or illustrations.