Paula Weiman

I’m most actively seeking YA rom-coms. I want to see rom-coms with teeth, I want to see joyful romances following girls and queer protagonists whose stories are rooted in a larger social or cultural topic — but still full of shenanigans. I’d love something in the vein of Felix Ever After, TJ Powar Has Something to Prove, This May End Badly, or Six Times We Almost Kissed (And One Time We Did).

In YA suspense, I want to see well-developed plots with beautiful prose following teenagers who tackle systemic injustice and corrupt power systems. I’m looking for books like Sadie, A Long Stretch of Bad Days, Where There’s Smoke, Not Like Other Girls, and Margot Mertz Takes it Down.

For YA thrillers I’m exclusively interested in heists, either contemporary or historical, where the team is trying to fight injustice or right a wrong from behind the scenes – think Anatomy of a Thief for a teen audience. Recent favorites are Thieves Gambit and Medici Heist.

Across middle grade categories I want to see clever adventures with active narrators whose voice is so strong that they direct the plot; think of the spectrum between Lemony Snicket and Catherynne M. Valente. I’m drawn to contemporary stories with an engaging adventure that is later revealed to connect to a deeper emotional lesson, the way my favorite Sharon Creech novels do. I’m really eager for a middle grade story that tackles child labor rights or student activism. Some recent favorites include King and the Dragonflies, The Best Liars in Riverview, The Probability of Everything, and The Hunt for the Nightingale.

High fantasy in both adult and young adult categories makes up a large percentage of my current list so I’m more selective about taking on new fantasy projects. I’d love to see more contemporary fantasy in the vein of Legendborn, When the Moon Was Ours, and Ink Blood Sister Scribe. I’m open to genre-benders where it’s unclear if the magic is a metaphor, unreliable narration, or has actual influence on the setting. Good examples of this are The Wilderness of Girls, Strange Creatures, and Wink, Poppy, Midnight. I’m always interested in eco-fantasy and settings inspired by Asia, Africa, Latin America, and indigenous cultures. Recently, I’ve loved So Let Them Burn, A Magic Steeped in Poison, Skin of the Sea, Little Thieves, A Deadly Education, and The Naming Song.

Across these genres and age categories, I welcome stories about marginalized characters and stories written by marginalized authors.

Submission Guidelines

Please send the first three chapters of your manuscript and include a note in your query letter if your manuscript includes depictions of sexual assault or dead children.

Paula can be queried through QueryManager or submissions@ashliterary.com. Submissions sent elsewhere and those sent to both QM and the email simultaneously will be deleted unread.

Guidelines & Details