Sara Wigal

Executive Director

I am the Editorial Director of Ami McConnell Literary Services. I am also an Associate Professor and Director of Publishing at Belmont University. I’ve served on the leadership council of Next Chapter Society a section of the Nashville Public Library Foundation. I am also the founder of the Nashville Publishing Meetup (now WriterFest Pros), a group for industry contacts to network without being client-facing. I fundraise for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library through our annual event, A Dolly Good Time.

I am an aspiring historical fiction novelist and writer of the personal essay. Find me on Instagram to get to know me more, but please do not pitch or query me there.

I am a rigorous editor and enjoy working with my authors on their manuscripts, but do expect writers will have been through many drafts already before querying—if not, we're both wasting our time (and I mean that with love and care).

Here’s what I’m looking for:

Adult Fiction: I am interested in fiction featuring complex female protagonists within the mystery/thriller genre (think Liz Moore, Megan Abbott, Peter Swanson, Silvia Moreno-Garcia) and contemporary literary fiction (Lisa Taddeo, Ann Patchett, Maggie O'Farrell, Liz Rigg).

I'm looking for historical fiction, especially set during Tudor England, and/or involving witches, and during the 17th century in the Caribbean or Americas (think Philippa Gregory, Diana Gabaldon, Hilary Mantel, Alice Hoffman, Lucy Jago, Charmaine Wilkerson, and not fantasy). I do want to read Jewish voices in particular in any time period, as well as Latin American viewpoints in the historical fiction.

I am not interested in reading science fiction, fantasy, horror, middle grade or YA. 

Adult Nonfiction: I love narrative nonfiction as well as nonfiction focused on helping women in some way, or about music. I am interested in faith-based and spiritual nonfiction if the theology is somewhat liberal, such as with many Episcopal or Jewish thinkers.

I welcome submissions from cocktail and cookbook writers with previously published works or other metrics for indicating platform reach.

I love gardening books (such as those by Amy Smith) and self-help books in the psychology, creativity, and relationship space (examples being Big Magic, Grimoire Girl, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone and Marry Him: The Case for Settling for Mr. Good Enough by Lori Gottlieb)

I also like nonfiction that’s more like journalistic reportage such as Girls & Sex: Navigating the Complicated New Landscape by Peggy Orenstein and Three Women by Lisa Taddeo.


I am not interested in business books. 

Sara’s Current List of Client’s Includes: