About Naomi
Authors have always been Naomi Davis's superheroes. Growing up in Minnesota, she spent her elementary years pretending she was every character in every book she read. Now a mother, gardener, and beekeeper, Naomi loves meeting readers everywhere she goes and finding out what makes them love the books that sweep them away. A life-long writer and author-fanatic, she has a mild to moderate obsession with slippers, and sings in two philharmonic choirs.
Naomi's first steps into the world of publishing came in grade nine, when she was invited to job-shadow the Editor-in-Chief of a newspaper. She then tip-toed into the world of journalism, having an article published by a magazine in her senior year of high school. Since then, her joy in the literary industry has taken many forms: blogging, critiquing, and writing fiction. Naomi has a passion for helping authors develop stakes, voice immersion, and tension to a story's highest possible potential, and often tweets about strategies for accomplishing those goals on her Twitter.
After five years with Inklings Literary Agency, Naomi is elated to join the Bookends team and grow her client list. She seeks dynamic, character-driven middle grade, adult, and young adult titles in fantasy, sci-fi, and romance. LGBTQ+ elements and diversity in all fiction are a particular plus, and Naomi will consider picture books featuring those elements. Naomi is particularly passionate about finding new fantasy and sci-fi settings with unique magical structures that surprise the reader and change the rules readers associate with those worlds.
Naomi is currently looking for dynamic, character-driven adult and young adult titles in fantasy, science fiction, and romance. In science fiction, Naomi seeks stories that are light on the sci, heavy on the fi. Stories that let the character development take priority over tech, such as Ender’s Game and its sequels by Orson Scott Card, particularly the ‘90’s books (Xenocide; Children of the Mind; Speaker for the Dead), for the focus on challenges blending human and alien cultures into a cohesive society. The surprising time/relationship structure of the short story by Ted Chiang Story of Your Life and its counterpart film Arrival are examples of stories that really catch Naomi off-guard and drag her relentlessly into the pages.
In fantasy, Naomi seeks new fantasy settings with unique magical structures that surprise the reader and change the rules readers associate with those worlds. The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso is a strong example of world rules changing just enough to be new, while retaining its familiarity to an Earth-based historical society, with exciting twists on the way magic is used and incorporated into the world using towering, global stakes. In romance, she particularly enjoys stories that embrace diversity, with confident characters and a unique, honest voice that isn’t afraid to show vulnerability, like in Losing It by Cora Carmack.
Naomi is also seeking picture books with LGBTQ+ and diverse characters, particularly stories that normalize being on/having parents/friends on the gender and sexuality spectrum. These diversity elements are a plus in all age ranges and genres.
