Laurie McLean

About Laurie McLean

***SCAM ALERT: A scammer is impersonating me, sending unsuspecting writers an offer of representation along with the promise of a deal in progress at a major New York publishing house. Then they tell the recipient that their self-published book/manuscript needs developmental editing before the publisher will sign the contract, for which this scammer will charge thousands of dollars. You will get nothing in return once you pay. Do not be fooled. Agents are prohibited from offering editing services for a fee if they are also representing the author. And it is fishy that an agent would offer representation to an author whose work they have not even read! These offers are not from me if they’re from lauriem.fuseliterary@gmail.com and others. My email address is laurie@fuseliterary.com. Be alert!***

Laurie is a founding partner at Fuse Literary representing New York Times and international bestselling authors, as well as indie published authors who want to also publish traditionally, and debut authors with promise. She spent 20 years as the CEO of a publicity and marketing agency, and 8 years as an agent and senior agent at Larsen Pomada Literary Agents in San Francisco before co-founding Fuse Literary in 2013 with Gordon Warnock.

Laurie was well known in the early days of the Apple Macintosh phenomenon as the CEO of the successful Silicon Valley public relations agency bearing her name. After 20 years there, she switched gears to immerse herself in her personal writing. Laurie had been writing professionally since high school–first as a journalist, then as a public relations agent–but now she could finally spread her wings as a novelist. She penned three manuscripts before deciding that she missed using the shark part of her brain and that the life of a literary agent was her perfect match. Prior to all this, she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from the State University of New York and a Master’s Degree at Syracuse University’s prestigious Newhouse School of Journalism.

Fiction

Laurie specializes in representing authors of entertaining and interesting middle-grade, young-adult, and adult genre fiction. Her clients include the New York Times and international bestselling YA and middle-grade author Julie Kagawa, epic fantasy bestseller Brian D. Anderson, debut modern Asian fantasy author team Julia Vee and Ken Bebelle, historical mystery and romance author Heather Redmond/Hiestand, hotshot up-and-coming Latinx activist author Nonieqa Ramos, Afrofuturist, children’s book author and poet B. Sharise Moore, award-winning steampunk and fantasy author Pip Ballantine, award-winning middle-grade author Melissa D. Savage, street lit author OG Rev, award-winning kid lit and mystery author Penny Warner, cyberpunk science fiction author Kimberly Unger, and award-winning romance novelist Linda Wisdom, who has had more than 100 romance novels published in her career.

Genres Represented

  • Fantasy
  • Science Fiction
  • Mysteries
  • Thrillers
  • Suspense
  • Psychological and Supernatural Horror
  • Weird Westerns

Laurie Does Not Represent

  • Nonfiction
  • Commercial Fiction
  • Literary Fiction
  • Women’s Fiction
  • Children’s Picture Books
  • Graphic Novels
  • Comics
  • Traditional Westerns
  • Anything featuring rape, pedophilia, racism, bigotry, or gratuitous violence

Submission Guidelines

***LAURIE IS CURRENTLY OPEN TO A NARROW RANGE OF FICTION FOR MIDDLE-GRADERS, YOUNG ADULTS, AND ADULTS. SEE BELOW***

Please submit to Laurie via the button below.

Laurie has a near-full client list who actively submits new work, as such she is always busy. So she is open only to the following sub-genres of fiction at this time:

  • Romantasy (YA & Adult)
  • Rom-Com (MG, YA, Adult)
  • Cozy Fantasy (MG, YA, Adult)
  • litRPG (YA & Adult)
  • Progression Fiction (YA & Adult)

Laurie’s normal reading time is 3-4 months, sometimes longer if client work is exceptionally busy. If 4 months have passed and you haven’t received a reply from Laurie, feel free to send her an email at laurie@fuseliterary.com to check on the status of your submission.

Meet Laurie McLean

Laurie has not scheduled any conferences for 2025.

Contact

For conference, press, or rights inquiries, email laurie@fuseliterary.com. Unsolicited submissions via this address or social media will be deleted unread.