Bio

Hannah VanVels Ausbury is an editor and literary agent. She has worked various bookish jobs including a stint as a bookseller at Barnes & Noble, a freelance editor for scholarly and academic essays and journals, and as the acquiring editor at a young adult imprint with HarperCollins Publishing.

Hannah's editing business was born out of a love for working closely with authors and coming alongside them to make their vision come to life on page. Hannah lives in West Michigan with her partner, two German Shepherds, and two cats.

Pronouns: She/Her

MSWL

This year, I’m open to Young Adult and Middle Grade submissions. I love identity-driven and intersectional stories that reflect the first-hand, lived experiences of the creators.

Markets:

• Middle Grade (readers 8-12)
• Young Adult (readers 13-18)

Things I love:

• BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, neurodivergence, mental health, fat positive, disability rep, and other historically underrepresented groups!
• Stories inspired by mythology, folklore, and legends
• Magical schools
• Empathetic villains and morally gray heroes/antiheroes. Bring on the thieves, assassins, and characters with questionable pasts
• Evergreen themes: body positivity, self-love, coming-of-age, girls supporting girls, friendship and friendship breakups, sex positivity
• Ghosts, creepy crawlies, witches, and things that go bump in the night
• Isolated settings such as islands, carnivals, and boarding schools and novels with a survival component
• Characters growing up in unconventional or nontraditional settings
• Revenge stories with unreliable narrators
• Strong sibling relationships and misfit friends
• Well-researched historical novels featuring underrepresented people and time periods
• Novels-in-verse
• Heists
• Banter
• Angst
• Himbos

Comps I love:

• Oceans 11
• Sex Lives of College Girls
• Great British Baking Show
• Leigh Bardugo
• Animorphs
• Pretty Little Liars
• Gossip Girl
• The Legend of Zelda
• Turning Red
• Encanto

Do not send:

• Sports as main focus
• Longer than 110k words
• Epic fantasy
• Superheroes
• Retellings of classical literature
• Death of pet
• Pregnancy/pregnancy loss

Q&A

How can a manuscript’s first five pages make you sit up and take notice?

I want to see a main character with agency, who happens TO the world rather than the world happening to them. We're looking for main character energy here. I also want to see promise of conflict and what could happen if your main character fails (or succeeds) with their goals.

What can writers expect from working with you during #RevPit, including communication?

Writing is inherently personal, so I am always aware of what a privilege it is for an editor to be entrusted with a story. It is an editor’s job to help make an author's words shine, so I make sure that I have a clear idea of the author's editorial vision, and then I come alongside to help bring that vision to life. Editing is a collaborative effort, and I’m here to freak out, brainstorm, and fangirl all over your story.

What do you expect from writers during the #RevPit revision process, including communication?

The biggest thing for me is a willingness to kill your darlings for the sake of story if/where needed. I expect writers to be open to criticism and feedback and to be transparent in communication.

What hobbies do you have outside of writing and editing?

I love baking. I also love critiquing contestants on cooking and baking shows from my couch while eating Cheetos, asserting my opinion like I'm Paul Hollywood.