What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

I think interest in psychological suspense and fiction featuring real-life historical figures will continue to be popular, at least until the next unexpected breakout success pushes editors to search for books with similar themes. I would like to see the continued interest in diverse books expand to include more works on class—both in terms of our society and categories of fiction. Our last election showed us there’s a great divide between the East Coast “snowflake” and the middle-American “silent majority.” There’s plenty of category fiction out there for the snowflakes, but where are the books about the factory workers worried about losing their jobs or the independent farmers facing a loss of income due to industrialized takeovers? Publishing will do a book about anyone who works in the White House except for the guy who fixes the electrical socket and the woman who does the president’s laundry.

Books aren’t just for intellectual enlightenment—they’re for plain, flat-out fun, too. You can find plenty of category fiction about spies and politicians but no easily accessible, escapist takes on the garbage collector who solves the murder of somebody on his route. So I’m hoping that this will be the year where editors take on novels that reflect all walks of life.

What book/genre/topic would you like to see cross your transom?

1. A Western that’s more Larry McMurtry than Cormac McCarthy.

2. Something set in ancient Greece or ancient Rome with a lot of battles.

3. An Irish crime writer (one as compelling as Ken Bruen and as smart as Alan Glynn).

4. I love Southeast Asia—I’ve traveled there at least a dozen times—so I’m always looking for thrillers set in that part of the world.

5. I’d love a good, tough biker-gang thriller with a lot of martial arts.

6. Upscale, accessible women’s fiction (not literary) that focuses on issues particular to women, such as sexual harassment (particularly in the high-tech world) and women grappling with complex emotional questions.

What topic don’t you ever want to see again?

It isn’t so much a topic as it is the fact that writers neglect to check my agency’s website before they query me. I don’t represent YA or sci-fi, etc., and really hate wasting time receiving those pitches. Talk about setting yourself up for rejection! If a writer doesn’t bother to check our website and has written a book in a category I don’t represent, it’s guaranteed to be a pass from me.

What is unique about your corner of the publishing industry?

In the case of the Rees Agency, all three agents read both their queries and requested manuscripts themselves. I work out of a home office and have an intern with me one day a week. Among other things, he or she helps me with queries, but the final decision is always mine. In other agencies, interns either decide whether or not to pursue a query or make the decision to pass along a requested manuscript to the agent they’re working for.

Anything else you’d like to add?

I don’t see why, when publishing is continually changing, agenting has to stay the same. Agents may love their jobs, but that doesn’t mean we don’t see room for innovation. If an agent fails to sell a manuscript, she makes no profit from what could be months of work. I’d like to see a change in the outdated standards for how an agent’s time is valued. In a profession where someone is expected to do the overwhelming majority of her work for free, there must be a middle ground where an agent can earn even a modest living while being fully committed to her clients.

Ann Collette was a freelance writer and editor before joining the Rees Literary Agency in 2000. Her list includes the New York Times bestseller The Art Forger (Algonquin) by B.A. Shapiro; The Muralist (Algonquin) by B.A. Shapiro; the Amory Ames Mystery series, including the Edgar-nominated Murder at the Brightwell (Thomas Dunne) by Ashley Weaver; Hollow Man (Seventh Street) and the Hugo Marston mystery series (Seventh Street) by Mark Pryor; the Vampire Empire series (Pyr) by Clay and Susan Griffith; and work by Macavity Award winner and Anthony nominee Craig Faustus Buck. Upcoming titles include Publishers Lunch 2017 Fall/Winter Buzz Book I’ll Stay (Kensington) by Karen Day; Toronto Star columnist Uzma Jalaluddin’s first novel; and new work by established authors Jay Brandon (Severn House, 2018), Steven Cooper (Seventh Street, 2018), and Steven Sidor (Angry Robot, 2018).