Alyza Liu

I am primarily acquiring books by and about traditionally underrepresented communities, in particular by authors of color, disabled authors, queer authors, and authors from the Global South. I’m also looking for accessibly translated genre fiction, particularly romance and SFF, from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Please note that I cannot accept unagented submissions.

Picture Books

I love picture books with a sardonic, wry sense of humour, in the vein of Duckworth, the Difficult Child as well as books about family, community, and imagination in the vein of Ocean Meets Sky and Love, Z.

I’m interested in nonfiction biographies of historically overlooked women, particularly women of colour, like Sacheen Littlefeather and Grace Lee Boggs, or revolutionaries like Fred Hampton and Thomas Sankara, and activists like Bernie Whitebear.

Some other people I’d love to acquire PB biographies about include: Sophia Duleep Singh, Wong Kar-wai, Johann Trollman, Toto Koopman, Hypatia, Fatima al-Fihri, Leslie Cheung, José Rizal, Corky Lee, Mother Jones, and Ruan Lingyu—people who indelibly changed world history, but who won’t be found between the pages of an American history book.

I’d also love to acquire more picture books about or based on indigenous and non-Western fairytales, religions, and legends.

Middle Grade

I’m very selective about my MG list, looking primarily for that perfect, sparkling, authentic voice. I’m looking for books that center around themes of family (found, adoptive, birth, or otherwise), and about the increased autonomy of being a preteen.

I want anything that strikes the same notes as Studio Ghibli films, Over the Garden Wall, Diana Wynne Jones, and Steven Universe. I’m not looking for contemporary realism unless it can be comped to Bob’s Burgers. I’d love to see more low-stakes, slice of life stories set in high fantasy worlds in both middle grade and young adult.

I’m also looking for STEAM-driven, heavily-illustrated nonfiction that combine the sciences, the humanities, and the arts with a narrative about history that is engaging and accessible.