Leah Pierre is a literary agent with Ladderbird Literary.

Leah graduated from Rosemont College with a B.A. in English and History and soon after became an agent at Ladderbird Literary Agency. She then went on to receive her M.A. in Publishing from her alma mater. Leah likes to spend her time enjoying the company of fictional characters more than people.

A Texas native, Leah briefly moved to the East Coast to attend Rosemont College to pursue her dream of working in publishing. Not long after graduating with her B.A. in English and History, Leah found an agency home at Ladderbird Literary Agency where she has grown to become a Senior Agent. Leah has since gone on to pursue and receive her M.A. in Publishing from her alma mater. And having accomplished her dream of working in publishing, she moved back to Texas to begin her next adventure and continue searching for the next PB, YA, or Adult project that will hook her (or make her cry). Leah likes to spend her time enjoying the company of fictional characters more than
people. But when not in the company of fictional characters, she likes to crochet, travel,hang out with friends and family, and catch up on the movies and tv shows she is always behind on.

Her projects include forthcoming books from H.D.Hunter, Ravynn K. Stringfield, Kay Sohini Sen, a number of IP projects, and more! She is a tenacious advocate for BIPOC writers and is always looking for ways to bring more diverse intersectionality to the publishing industry.

She is seeking:

Leah is exclusively looking for Black, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, and Pacific Islander voices with or without LGBTIQA+ intersectionality—basically anyone underrepresented and/or marginalized.

For Picture Books, she is selectively searching for an author who is writing diverse, heartfelt and emotionally resonant stories about family, heritage, and tough, complex topics (i.e loss, identity, divorce, disabilities, etc). She is also looking for stories that are fun, adventurous, and creative.

For Young Adult/Crossover/Adult, she is looking to acquire across the following genres:
● SFF/Speculative
● Contemporary
● Romance
● Mystery/Thriller/Suspense
● Fairytale or classic retellings/reimaginings

She is specifically interested in stories that contain elements of and are in the vein of
the following:

● The Half of It
● Behind Her Eyes
● Crimson Peak x Yellow
Wallpaper x The Haunting of Bly
Manor
● Reality dating rom-com
● Reimagined Macbeth (or even
just a take solely on Lady
Macbeth)
● MC with Lizzie Borden vibes
● Emily in Paris
● Schitt’s Creek

● Archive 81
● The Mummy
● Sex Education
● Sadie
● Roll Bounce or a skate rink
setting
● Julie and the Phantoms
● Leverage or anything heist
related
● Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
● Circe x The Lost Queen
● Atlantis

● Cruella and/or Black women
getting to be angry and/or evil
● Knives Out
● Practical Magic
● Addams Family
● Derry Girls
● Jumanji
● Nancy Drew/Enola Holmes
● Social horror (something similar
to MASTER but better executed
or anything with Jordan Peele
vibes)
● Reimagined Picture of Dorian
Gray
● Edgar Allan Poe
● Sex Lives of College Girls
● Do Revenge
● WandaVision

More generally, she loves diverse and unique work that is fast-paced and has a complex cast of diverse characters. She loves a good plot twist and is a huge sucker for camaraderie, banter, and the tight-knit, family-like group of friends trope. She is pretty much a fan of all the tropes.

She loves a good romantic meet-cute, coming of age, and/or self-discovery story, especially in or post-college. Specifically, how one’s expectations drastically differ from reality or how a recent college grad is blindsided after entering the adult world, the working force, and how they slowly manage to navigate it and get on their feet. She is also really interested in plots that deal with the struggles of today’s online dating culture, about how couples deal with growth and life pulling them in two different directions, or how society’s views can impact interracial relationships. This can also apply to platonic friendships (especially F/F friendships) as she thinks they are affected in the same ways. She’d also love something realistic, raw, introspective, and family- centered. Think To All the Boys I’ve Loved, Just One Day, Darius the Great Is Not

For mystery, thrillers, and suspense, she is here for unreliable narrators and dark academia! She’d also love something along the lines of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, Behind Her Eyes, And Then There Were None, When No One is Watching, One of Us is Lying, Sadie, and anything Tiffany D. Jackson. She’d also really love a heist in the veins of Leverage, Now You See Me, or Six of Crows.

For fantasy, she loves it with elements of myth and legends; preferably lesser-known myths/legends i.e. Middle Eastern, Indigenous, African, and South American. I would love a fairytale retelling or re-imagining. For sci-fi, something in the vein of Red Rising, Black Mirror, The Fifth Wave, and Orphan Black. She’s also searching for gothic and atmospheric horror—think Mexican Gothic, Year of the Witching, The Addams Family, The Yellow Wallpaper, White Smoke, Edgar Allan Poe, The Haunting of Hill House and of Bly Manor, The Bloody Chamber, and Crimson Peak.

No’s for her would be MG, dystopian, legal or spy thrillers, and non-fiction. Please no cliche romances where the plot is centered around cheating, parental disapproval, or high school drama. Give me something out of the ordinary, and conflict that’s hard- hitting and really makes me wonder if anyone is right.

Note: While Leah is open to SFF, she is being extremely selective in the works she
takes on due to her wish to expand in the romance, mystery/suspense, and gothic
spaces.