About me / Sobre mí
Welcome to my profile site! / ¡Bienvenido!My name is Jonathan Villegas, and I am a Literary Associate at Olswanger Literary. Here you will find brief information about who I am, my genre focus, where to submit, and so on.I do my work from Puerto Rico, where I have lived all my life. I am a Hispanic (trigueño) gay man and native Spanish speaker. So yes, English is my second language. I have been building my list in adult fiction and nonfiction since 2025.I am interested in representing writers from marginalized communities and cultures — including Hispanic, LGBT+, Native American, writers from Hawai'i, Asian, African, and diaspora voices. However, allies are welcome to submit as well.
💡 Please note that I am only interested in writers who work more than one genre. And writers who can create stories from varied concepts and bring something fresh.
💡 I am not the right fit as an agent if your story is focused on a specific culture or diverse perspective but you have no connection to that culture. (This does not apply when your characters travel, vacation, visit friends, or take part in specific activities in other countries, or when second characters belong to these communities. )
💡 If you are not committed to writing and do not genuinely enjoy literature — the craft — and you come with the mindset of becoming a bestseller overnight without months or years of effort and dedication, I am not your agent.
Genre Focus
I would love to review manuscripts in the following genres: magical realism, historical fiction, fantasy, mystery, romance, epic/high fantasy, and grounded science fiction.Please only send manuscripts that blend literary prose with a commercial plot (upmarket fiction). And they must teach something, explore social themes, have some philosophical or psychological depth, and intersect with history or culture. I want to represent stories that bring people from different backgrounds together and help readers understand others beyond their own bubbles — and entertain, of course.For nonfiction, I am interested in non-illustrated works on cultural history (not war history), neuroscience, pop culture, mindfulness, and esoteric or witchcraft topics.
Specifics
As a reader, I am very eclectic when speaking about literature — from classic to contemporary fiction. But as an agent, I am conscious of the things I can give my time to and the things I cannot, whether because of personal preferences or current industry shifts.
💡At the moment I am not interested in hard science fiction, dark academia, love at first sight romances, nonlinear stories (unless well-written), stories based on rape, drug abuse, or alcohol abuse, or incest.
💡I am not the best agent for straight horror. But if it is added lightly to the genres I represent, then that is perfect.
💡Please do not submit political, procedural, medical thrillers, or slasher mysteries. It is not what I am looking for right now.
💡I am not the right agent for LGBT+ fiction that focuses solely on sex, hook-up culture, or one-night stands, or over-sexualized content. I am interested in stories that genuinely teach, explore, or develop meaningful gay emotional relationships.
💡I prefer heterosexual fiction stories written by women, and m/m stories by gay men. The stories can be vanilla or include some level of spiciness. I am also interested in interracial and diverse relationships, and the struggles they might face.
💡I love pure literary fiction, but I am being picky with it. I want the language to stay accessible yet inteligent, and preferably works focused on diverse voices.
💡I am not a fan of retellings in epic/high fantasy or historical fantasy, or contemporary fantasy. However, I support bringing folklore, legends, and myth-related traditions from marginalized communities into these genres.
💡I am open to dark epic/high fantasy, but it must address important topics — not just give gore and violence for just satisfaction.
💡 I am not currently looking for epic or high fantasy featuring assassins, princesses, or races such as elves, faeries, or orcs, nor the traditional fantasy many of us grew up with. However, if these stories come from a diverse perspective, I would be interested in reviewing them.
💡 Submit sci-fi that is grounded — set in our contemporary or near-future world. I would like to see topics like machines, cyborgs, climate change, virtual realities, etc.
💡I am open to reviewing sport-related manuscripts (fiction) only if connected to martial arts. I do not review boxing, hockey, baseball, or basketball works.
💡I would like to see stories connected to the humanities or liberal arts — such as drawing, sculpture, music, dancing, writing, and related disciplines.
💡 I love historical fiction, but I would prefer if it is set in Latin America (including the Caribbean and Brazil), Asia, Africa, Italy, France, Scotland, Ireland, or moving between those places. I want stories that focus on the characters and the narrative rather than wars, ideally with a touch of magical realism or fantasy. However, do not hesitate to submit historical fiction set in any part of the world.
💡I am open to historical fiction set in ancient or mythological times — ancient Egypt, ancient China, ancient Greece, the Celts, the pre-Columbian era, Norse mythology, etc. But the stories need to be well-written and crafted.
💡 I welcome any fiction set in Europe, but it must offer something unique, fresh, with meaningful diversity of any kind. If the writer comes from any of these countries, that would be great.
💡I would like to review nonfiction works that explore both the benefits and drawbacks of topics such as neuroscience, the vagus system, the brain and memory, ghosting culture, multitasking, negativity on social media, and fake or performative online communities. I am interested in works that approach these subjects from a holistic or contemplative perspective.
💡 Submit nonfiction works that explore the history, evolution, and cultural influence of videogames, anime, K-pop, J-pop, comics, manga, cinema, BL series, Latin American culture (including the Caribbean and Brazil), LGBT+ culture, internet, streaming, and related areas.
💡 I also welcome nonfiction focused on European, Asian, African, or Latin American traditions and spiritual practices. These may include healthy diets, herbs, meditation, traditional and modern practices, intuition, tarot and oracle cards, spiritual planes, manifestation, power animals, archetypes and symbology, channeling, and more.
💡 Works on history, psychology, diets or the brain must be written by experts.
💡 Works on spirituality or witchcraft must be written by people who truly have meaningful and real experience.
💡Please do not submit nonfiction that portrays celebrities' lifestyles or personas as life examples. But if they come from really marginalized communities and reach success through hardships, then yes.
💡You do not have to be part of an specific diverse group to submit, but you must be an ally. If you are not comfortable being led by a gay man who is very structured in a work environment, then I am not the right fit.
💡At the moment I do not work on YA and children's works. Only adult fiction and nonfiction.
💡 I am not looking to represent works within the Christian sphere.
Guidelines / Normas de envío de manuscritos
I appreciate you writers reaching out with questions, but I cannot answer all of them. Please read the list below to understand my querying process.
🌟 Only submit fiction manuscripts that are complete and fall between 70,000 and 85,000 words.
🌟 Nonfiction manuscripts must fall between 55,000 to 65,000 words.
🌟 The sample pages must be submitted as an attachment. If you forget to attach the document, feel free to reach out through the same email thread. If it is not through the same thread, it will be considered spam and deleted.
🌟 The email subject line must follow these examples: QUERY — Magical Realism [for fiction] QUERY — History [for nonfiction]
🌟 Fiction sample pages must consist of the first 40,000 words of your manuscript. The reason is simple: my strength is content editing. I focus on how your pages, chapters, and scenes are structured and how they move the story forward.
🌟 Nonfiction sample pages must consist of the first 20,000 words of your manuscript.
🌟 You can submit your query and synopsis in Spanish, French, or Portuguese, but the manuscript must be written in English.
🌟 You can definitely add your social media accounts or any website you use as a portfolio.
🌟 I do not provide feedback on manuscript requests. I only offer feedback if I request an R&R.
🌟 If you do not get an auto response confirming receipt of your query, reach me through the same email thread. If it is not through the same thread, it will be considered spam and deleted.
🌟 As a general rule, do not submit your work to every agent at the same agency simultaneously. Wait for one response, and then try another.
🌟 If you submit your work and then make some edits (no content changes), please do not submit it again — unless I requested otherwise.
🌟 If you want to submit another manuscript after getting a rejection for a previous work, please wait three months to do so — unless I requested otherwise.
🌟 If after three months of requesting your full manuscript you do not hear from me, feel free to follow up.
🌟 Do not reach me out to inform me you received a full request from an agent (that is good news for you, though!). Only follow up if you get an offer of representation.
🌟 Do not submit first or second drafts. That is unprofessional. Only submit work that has truly gone through deep revisions.
Submit / Envía tu propuesta literaria
Query status: closed to submissions.Only submit when the window is open. If you send your work during the closed window, your email will be treated as spam or deleted. I do not use QueryTracker — it complicates the process for me. I use the agency email to respond to queries, or the Gmail account it forwards to.Submitting is important, so make sure your work follows a standard formatting. I advice against including your physical address and phone number in the query and manuscript — please do not do that. And it is not required to personalize your query at all; I find it unfair to ask you to do so when I will be responding with an unpersonalized rejection.Before submitting, please visit my Instagram to get updated, detailed information about submission guidelines, genre focus, and more.
💡 As an agent I only do content editing and line editing. I will not do proofreading or copy editing. I am expecting you, the writer, to be capable of them. It is important to remember that writing is rewriting. If you dislike doing revisions, avoid collaboration, or disregard feedback when your ego feels hurt, do not submit to me. If you struggle to understand that this industry moves slowly, or if you easily feel overstressed, I am not the right fit.