Paula Weiman

Ever wonder what happens when an agent is interested in signing you and your manuscript? Here’s a few steps you and the signing agent usually take during the process!

#writing #author #amquerying #amwriting #writingcommunity

London Book Fair by the numbers:
35 meetings, 2 stand parties, 2 happy hours, and 3 dinners over 4 days.
All 3 ASH Literary agents in 1 room for our 5(and a half!)-year anniversary celebration.
2nd year in a row that a ceiling fell on someone.
1 coffee with a client to end the fair on a high note.

Have said this before in other forms, but will reiterate it here: if you're doing long-form writing of any sort, reading the words aloud into a microphone is a completely unparalleled cheat code. It's free, easy, and so effective it feels like it shouldn't be allowed. I do it in a few stages...

Reminder that we're doing a query critique donation drive for a shelter-in-place program here in MSP. Going well so far--we're at about $1700 and would love to get to like $2500. Come get your pitch critiqued!

#amquerying writers: very cool opportunity to donate money to mutual aid efforts in Minnesota and receive query feedback! Laura and Erik have set up gift slots, too--you can donate to fund a critique for someone else, or DM them to request a critique if you're not able to donate right now

We’re doing a query drive to raise money to help relieve acute food insecurity among families sheltering in place. Come through!

Jason Low, publisher of Lee & Low Books, issues a call to action to fellow members of the industry to focus their efforts on fighting book bans buff.ly/Jc7UGNu

#mswl it would be fun to see a labor organizing romance. maybe they have a professional rivalry at different companies but they connect while trying to unionize their respective workplaces. maybe something else! maybe labor rights in a fantasy setting!

#mswl weird and beautiful YA where I may not be sure what's really happening, but the storytelling is so skillful I trust that it will take me where I need to go. books like Strange Creatures, Ink Poppy Midnight, When the Moon Was Ours, Among Others, Places No One Knows

A few of my evergreen requests for #mswl day: women who are knights! women with swords and an unhealthy relationship to the concept of chivalry, who maybe haven't done enough introspection on their proximity to power!

HEY, I AM DOING ANOTHER FUNDRAISER FOR MINNESOTA RENT FUNDS! AND GIVING AWAY ANOTHER SIGNED ARC (Advance Review Copy) OF OBSTETRIX!!!

YOU COULD GET TO READ IT EARLY (it doesn't come out until June) AND HELP MINNESOTA FAMILIES STAY HOUSED!!!!

Hello Writing Community! We are delighted to announce our Second Official Bluesky *** #MSWL Day *** February 26, 2026. 🎉🎉🎉

Agents + editors can post what they ✨wish✨ they had in their inboxes; writers can find their next best fit for querying.

Learn more: manuscriptwishlist.com/2025/01/the-...

iambic tetrameter ass stick

This is going to be a bit of a pep talk. I firmly believe that handling rejection is the second most valuable skill for writers (after leveling up your craft) if you want to have a career in publishing your books.

I'm teaching a virtual class tomorrow at 7 pm EST with the Orange County Library on Reframing Rejection. Registration is free even if you're not an OCLS patron: attend.ocls.org/event/14865213

Roses are red
Violets are grue
In Ancient Egyptian,
Pashto, and Zulu

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue%E2...

#mswl butch protagonists, please! Especially in YA! A YA romance with a butch love interest would be so delightful

That's all for now. I don't answer questions about queries on Bluesky so direct any questions to the ASH Literary submissions email address. Looking forward to reading!
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#mswl this is very specific but I'd like to see a contemporary YA novel about a formerly high-achieving teen athlete who has to redefine their sense of self after a physically disabling injury or illness changes their relationship with the sport

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#mswl labor rights in fiction is a big buzz word for me. Extra intriguing when someone can pull it off in middle grade, but I'm open to speculative or real-world settings, middle grade or YA or adult.

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#mswl I still haven't signed a YA rom-com and I'd love to! Send me rom-coms please. I love fun, bantery romance with thoroughly teenage priorities, especially when grounded in queer or multicultural identities.

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#mswl heists please! YA or adult, contemporary or fantasy settings. Bonus if the heist is intended to right a legal injustice in the vein of the show Leverage or the book Portrait of a Thief. Extra bonus if there's a lesbian protagonist.

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The broad strokes of my wish list is available above, but there are a few more specific and fiddly things I'd love to see! That'll be the rest of this thread.

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I'm looking for picture books, chapter books, middle grade, YA, and speculative adult fiction. I'm open to science fiction for the first time; please be gentle with me.

I'm NOT currently accepting queries for graphic novels.

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ASH Literary A full service Children's & YA literary agency founded by Alice Sutherland-Hawes

If you're #amquerying, the most comprehensive and up-to-date information about what I'm looking for and how to query me is on the ASH Literary submission page. ashliterary.com#submissions

You can also find my profile on MSWL: manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/pa...

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My query inbox reopened today! I'm not quite to inbox zero like I'd hoped, but I have either passed or requested additional material for every query I received prior to closing my inbox at the end of October 2025. If you queried me and haven't heard back, follow up over email or QueryTracker.
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lore please?

Just spitballing here but what if they gave figure skaters swords so they could duel

Here is a thing:

There were several years when I was one of VERY few journalists seriously covering harassment and abuse issues in comics (and by extension sometimes video games). During that time, I became the Person People Told Things To.

(cont'd)

it's not my fault my hobbies all cause back pain or wrist injuries