Emma Loy-Santelli was born and raised in upstate New York where her artistic family encouraged her love of reading and making up stories. She earned a BA in English and Ancient Studies from Mount Holyoke College and an MA in Children’s Literature and MFA in Creative Writing from the graduate program at Simmons College. She spent a year as an editorial intern at Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, which granted her hands-on experience editing everything from picture books up to YA and cemented her passion for publishing. She worked as a freelance editor for the Jennifer Lyons Literary Agency and has been a bookseller at several independent bookstores, including the Strand in Manhattan.

Emma enjoys arm-wrestling, singing, and devising ways to fit her huge book collection into her small bedroom.

What She’s Looking For:

Emma is eager to get her hands on middle grade fantasy, science fiction, humor, horror, or any combination thereof. She is dying for a manuscript that either makes her laugh or gives her nightmares (or both…?). She is interested in young adult stories in which the protagonist’s journey is not centered around romance and would love to see projects with ace-spectrum characters. She is also seeking graphic novels on any topic, fiction or nonfiction, especially those that play with the structural versatility of the medium.