I am so happy to share the news (albeit a little belated!) that debut author Tesia Tsai YA fantasy, Deathly Fates, will be published! 

Vanessa Aguirre at Wednesday Books has bought, in a preempt, debut author and Pitch Wars alum Tesia Tsai’s Deathly Fates. Siying, a priestess who reanimates the dead to shepherd them home, accepts a risky job guiding a prince’s corpse from a battlefield––only to find that he awakens more alive than dead. But as they work together to strengthen and preserve what life he has left, the truth of his death becomes a threat to the fate of the entire kingdom. Publication is slated for winter 2026; Laura Crockett at Triada US did the two-book deal for North American rights.

Once upon a time…

Way back in February 2021, back when Pitch Wars was still a thing (RIP), I requested a project titled THE ART OF DEATH. In a handful of days Tesia had received offers of rep and I was scurrying to read and throw my hat into the ring too. I do not know how many other agents offered, nor do I care––but I was over-the-moon thrilled that she chose me!

What followed in our submission journey were all of these revision requests from editors. Changing the name of the protagonist, changing the perspective from third to first, adding in more horror, adding in more romance. Tesia toiled away on this project, polishing it bit by bit. It’s been an extraordinary journey, and we knew we were finally, surely, getting close to that perfect editor match. 

I’m so glad we continued to persevere! Because we found the perfect person with Vanessa Aguirre. She adored the manuscript to pieces, she really understood Tesia’s intentions with the narrative on grand and minute scales. So much of publishing is more than hard work and revision––it’s also luck too. 

The stars aligned!

And the rest…is history.

Congratulations, Tesia! You’re going to be a published author!