Mary Elizabeth
Literary Agent
Mary Elizabeth Colton joined Ami McConnell Literary Agency as the Agency Administrator in 2024. After receiving her undergraduate degree from Bucknell University, she completed an International MBA program where she graduated with Distinction from St. Mary's University, Twickenham. After years working in Human Resources, she decided to pursue her passions and (to no one’s surprise) found herself drawn to the publishing industry.
Reworking a manuscript and problem-solving uses her creative mind to its fullest advantage. While writing is a solitary practice, getting a book out into the world is a collaborative one, and Mary Elizabeth enjoys working closely with her authors on edits in an effort to ensure the manuscript is as good as it possibly can be.
Mary Elizabeth is an aspiring writer who dreams of her books being on shelves one day. She is a native Nashvillian who is agog at the changes taking place in her hometown, and (despite perpetual fear of not finding a parking space) tries to take advantage of the new restaurants and shops popping up all over the city.
Find Mary Elizabeth on LinkedIn.
Here’s what I’m looking for:
Fiction:
I am looking to represent all kinds of commercial fiction, women’s fiction, book club and general fiction. In any genre, I am interested in stories that are character-driven.
I am interested in all things romance: romantic comedies, period romances, romantasy. I love all the tropes: slow burn, enemies to lovers, sunshine and grumpus, etc. Favorites are Ali Hazelwood, Abbi Waxman, Lyla Sage, Ruby Dixon, Emily Henry, Marianna Zapata (you get the gist!).
I also love all fantasy, high and low. My favorites are cozy, easy-reading fantasies like Travis Baldree, Kimberly Lemming, and T.J. Klune. But my favorites also include works from Naomi Novik, Susanna Clark, Carissa Broadbent, and others.
I do like some science fiction, but the science has to be secondary to the story. I don’t want to read a manuscript about physics or space time continuums, but am happy for those things to be a part of the story.
I’m also a HUGE fan of myth or fable retellings, like The Song of Achilles and The Bear and the Nightingale.
I’m a fan of historical fiction, especially (but not exclusively) taking place in Europe and North America. I especially love stories that bounce backward and forward in time. Some favorites are The Weight of Ink, People of the Book, The Birth of Venus, and The Guernsey Literary and Potato-Peel Pie Society.
I am not interested in crime or psychological thrillers, mystery, or horror.