book-review

Get to Know an Agent in Attendance: Lindsey Aduskevich of Martin Literary Management

Lindsey Aduskevich is a literary agent with Martin Literary Management.

She is seeking: Picture Books, Middle Grade, Young Adult, New Adult

Lindsey is excited to build her list with passionate, kind, and hard-working authors. As an avid reader, she is open to a wide variety of genres, including picture book, middle grade, young adult, and new adult.

After graduating with a B.A. in English from the University of Connecticut, where she developed a love for books that inspire empathy and foster a deeper understanding of the world in which we live, Lindsey became determined to carve a career in the publishing industry. She attended her first SCBWI conference in 2019, and later joined several critique groups, became a member of Julie Hedlund’s 12 x 12 Picture Book Challenge, and a member of Inked Voices. She interned with Senior Literary Manager Kristen Terrette before starting her career as an agent.

As an agented kidlit writer herself, Lindsey is familiar with the ups and downs of the query trenches and submission process and hopes to emulate the same compassion and quick communication she found in several agents who helped guide her own writing journey.

Residing in Southington, CT with her husband and two girls, Lindsey enjoys borrowing unusually tall stacks of picture books from the local library, snakeboarding in the basement with her family, hiking in the summer, skiing in the winter, and celebrating all the “wins” with her favorite critique partners.

Lindsey is looking for the following genres:

Picture Books: I am open to all kinds of picture books, both fiction and non-fiction, from authors and author/illustrators. I love humor with heart (but the heart has to be big), dark humor, spooky stories, commercial fiction, lyrical texts, and hard topics.

Middle Grade: Send me fantasy, thriller, mystery, adventure, contemporary, and anything in between.

Young Adult: I want romcom, fantasy, horror, thriller, historical fiction, contemporary romance, and hard topics that make my heart ache.

New Adult: I am open here but would prefer college or just starting out with a little bit of romance or humor.

With all genres, I am looking for fresh, unique concepts, phenomenal voices, high-stakes, and emotionally driven stories that speak to current issues and leave the reader with something to think about. Make me cry or laugh (or both) and you will have my heart. ​

Get to Know an Agent in Attendance: Lee Melillo of Dunham Literary

Lee Melillo is a literary agent with Dunham Literary.

Lee  (they/she) joined Dunham Literary, Inc. in May 2024 as Jennie Dunham’s assistant, following an internship with Dystel, Goderich, & Bourret LLC. She was made an Associate Literary Agent in June 2025. Lee additionally manages the agency’s social media and website, is a second-reader for queries, handles royalty statements and permissions, and assists on preparing submissions.

Lee graduated summa cum laude from Fordham University in 2022, with departmental honors in English and Theatre Directing. Through her majors, Lee discovered her passion for advocating for writers. She believes literature is one of the most effective ways to gain empathy for and understanding of life experiences outside our own.

Originally from New Haven, Lee now resides in Queens with her cats/office assistants, Meatloaf and Muffin Man. Lee maintains her love of theatre as the Executive Artistic Director of Personal Pizza Party, an indie production company, and by performing full renditions of musical theatre classics on the glorious stage of her shower.

You can find Lee on Instagram and Bluesky at @leemelillobooks.

What Lee’s Seeking:

Lee represents YA, New Adult, and Adult Fiction written by, for, and about marginalized communities (#OwnVoices) in both commercial and upmarket categories. She looks for high-concept plots, atmospheric prose, and well-drawn universes with commercial hooks that can reel in a wide range of readers and subsequently deliver well-executed, memorable reading experiences on the sentence level. She appreciates elements of mystery or suspense, especially in historical settings; big-hearted, accessible reads that center platonic and/or romantic relationships; and sharp, weird senses of humor that appeals to a generation of readers raised online.

In Adult Fiction, Lee is searching for book club and upmarket fiction from BIPOC women, neurodiverse, and queer authors. She’d like contemporary fiction exploring complex issues that have both personal and societal implications; eclectic rom-coms with strong plots and unique hooks; ensemble-casts, ideally of women and/or queer folk; or cozy slice-of-life centered around a community space. She is also open to contemporary or historical fiction centered around myth (but NOT Greek/Roman/Norse!!), either through retellings of classics or the invention of new mythologies for the modern age; dark magical realism; bubblegum thrillers; and socially-conscious horror.

In Young and New Adult Fiction, Lee looks for YA that has crossover potential and NA stories set in college or directly post-grad. Her taste in these categories is broad, but she’s mostly looking for stories her 15-year-old self would’ve dedicated a tumblr blog to. Diversity is a must, as are well-developed, loveable (or love-to-hateable) characters. She enjoys meticulously-researched, atmospheric historical fiction with an element of mystery/suspense or other propulsive plot engines. She also loves dystopian fiction, but it must be grounded in real life issues and critique our present-day socio-political systems. For contemporary fiction, she’s open to stories centering queer characters, characters with mental illness and particularly OCD, or rom-com heroines with autism in interesting, off-beat settings.

Lee does NOT currently represent picture books, middle grade, graphic novels, or non-fiction/memoirs of any kind. Lee is also not generally a fan of: Erotica; high fantasy or space operas; very literary stories or any stories that lack high-concept hooks, anything military/police/modern politics; European/American WW1 or WW2 stories; Greek/Roman/Norse mythology; British historicals (especially Regency Era); most sports; AI-centric sci-fi; stories about gang life or the mafia; explicit depictions of sexual assault, self-harm/suicide attempts, eating disorders, or violent cruelty towards people or animals; or anything where a pet dies.