MSWL

At my critique group the other day, a member mentioned the #MSWL on twitter. This stands for “manuscript wish list” and is all tweets from agents/publishers about what they are looking for. I checked it out today and it’s pretty cool. People are discouraged from pitching their books with the # obviously, but several agents–even one I queried!–put up what they are interested. For non-twitter people there’s also http://www.manuscriptwishlist.com with more detailed info about what agents are interested in.

While looking around #MSWL I felt nervous. I could not find anyone interested in something similar to Charley’s Dragons. I feel like my MS does not fall into an easy category which makes it hard to find out who would be the best person to query. It’s not as simple as a paranormal romance or coming of age or book that deals with the issues of race and gender. It is a story that is supposed to be realistic but with a “fantasy” twist that is actually hallucinations–not like The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I know there is someone who would want to represent it, but I’m worried on how to find that person. I’ve tried querying women’s fiction people, fantasy people, commercial fiction people, but no one has bitten. I want to query the right people but it’s so hard to find someone who is interested.

Has anyone else faced and/or conquered this problem? There are so many books that defy common genres that have been published, and I hope to be one of them! What are you writing? Having trouble finding your audience too?