WENDY MCCLURE
Senior Editor, Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, Sourcebooks Young Readers, and Sourcebooks Fire
WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR
Picture books that truly feel like gifts—not just the kind of books you can give as gifts (though yes, I’m looking for those!), but stories that offer kids a fun reading experience, an immersive journey, or an affirmation of who they are. I’m interested in new takes on classic themes, especially from BIPOC creators, and joyful celebrations of identity. I love laugh-out-loud characters but want to see them in thoughtful stories—I need a hook, not just humor for its own sake. For middle grade and YA, I love stories with atmospheric settings—spooky, moody, glamorous—and hard-to-put-down pacing. I’m into a range of fiction categories: realistic, funny, light speculative, magical realism, horror. I like different historical eras but prefer to see them paired with fantasy or something else that lends additional interest. For contemporary stories, I want things that are fresh and fun, with new and diverse perspectives. Please send me YA thrillers with real stakes and action, especially ones with unique angles or cool backdrops. |
RIGHT NOW PLEASE DON'T SEND ME... Picture book biographies or nonfiction of any kind; anthologies, epic fantasy, space opera sci-fi, sports stories, or gross-out humor.
HOW I GOT INTO BOOKS... I started out wanting to write books, so I got my MFA in creative writing at the University of Iowa. But after grad school I worked for a reading textbook company in Chicago and became interested in children’s books, which led to my first editorial job at Albert Whitman and Company. Eventually I became an author too, but being an editor is a little more fun.
SOME FAVORITE BOOKS AND AUTHORS I DIDN'T PUBLISH... The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson; Doll Bones by Holly Black; Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love; Under the Egg by Laura Marx Fitzgerald; Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy; The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert; The Cousins by Karen McManus. Plus every few years I re-read a few childhood faves, like Ellen Raskin’s The Westing Game.
ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS AN EDITOR DOES FOR AN AUTHOR IS... help them recognize their best instincts and show them the brilliant moves they didn’t even know they were making.
I KEEP MY READING PILE... on four different shelves in different parts of the house, three different e-readers, my iPad, my phone, and my nightstand.
BOOKSTORES YOU SHOULD VISIT BEFORE YOU DIE... The Book Cellar in Chicago’s Lincoln Square has hilarious and brilliant events, and you can get a glass of wine there.
WHEN I'M NOT READING, I'LL BE... seeing old movies at the Music Box Theatre with my husband, tromping around nature trails by the Chicago River, and taking blurry photos of the goldfinches that visit my backyard.
I FOLLOW READING, WRITING, AND PUBLISHING NEWS AT... Publishers Lunch, PW Daily, the Book Riot podcast, and Twitter.
SOME FAVORITE BOOKS AND AUTHORS I DIDN'T PUBLISH... The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson; Doll Bones by Holly Black; Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love; Under the Egg by Laura Marx Fitzgerald; Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy; The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert; The Cousins by Karen McManus. Plus every few years I re-read a few childhood faves, like Ellen Raskin’s The Westing Game.
ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS AN EDITOR DOES FOR AN AUTHOR IS... help them recognize their best instincts and show them the brilliant moves they didn’t even know they were making.
I KEEP MY READING PILE... on four different shelves in different parts of the house, three different e-readers, my iPad, my phone, and my nightstand.
BOOKSTORES YOU SHOULD VISIT BEFORE YOU DIE... The Book Cellar in Chicago’s Lincoln Square has hilarious and brilliant events, and you can get a glass of wine there.
WHEN I'M NOT READING, I'LL BE... seeing old movies at the Music Box Theatre with my husband, tromping around nature trails by the Chicago River, and taking blurry photos of the goldfinches that visit my backyard.
I FOLLOW READING, WRITING, AND PUBLISHING NEWS AT... Publishers Lunch, PW Daily, the Book Riot podcast, and Twitter.
AGENTS CAN CONTACT ME AT wendy.mcclure@sourcebooks.com; Twitter @Wendy_Mc