Paula Weiman

You absolutely don't have to approach writing your picture book manuscripts with this level of academic pedantry! But if you're struggling to improve a rhyming manuscript, this branch of rigorous poetic analysis is helpful.

If you attended and heard me refer to the meter in The Cat in the Hat as trochaic tetrameter, I misspoke--that should have been anapestic tetrameter. Anapests are two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable. Trochees are one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable.

I'm leading a (free, online) craft talk on writing picture books tomorrow night through the Orange County Library System. Come listen to me climb on my soapbox about poetic scansion and common picture book pitfalls: attend.ocls.org/event/14071115

#DVpit 2025 has 70+ Agents & Editors committed to participate & boost marginalized creators from the following literary agencies and publishers: Andrea Brown Lit Ash Literary Azantian Literary Agency Dystel, Goderich & Bourret Folio Literary Management Gallt & Zacker Literary Gelfman Schneider Literary Hachette Grand Central Publishing Little Brown Books for Young Readers Harper Collins Harlequin Hanover Square HG Literary Inked in Gray Press Jill Grinberg Literary Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency Macmillan Feiwel & Friends Farrar, Straus & Giroux Roaring Brook Press Saturday books Wednesday books Mad Woman Literary Neighborhood Literary New Leaf Literary & Media Open Book Literary Page Street Publishing Park, Fine & Brower Penguin Random House Ballantine Berkley Delacorte Labyrinth Road Penguin Workshop Viking Root Literary Simon & Schuster Aladdin Atheneum Atria McElderry Sheldon Fogelman Agency Sourcebooks Stonefruit Studio Triada US Writers House Zando

#DVpit is 1 week away!

We're excited to have over 70+ Agents & Editors committed to participate & boost marginalized creators from dozens of literary agencies and publishing imprints!

For the next week we'll be having a #DVparty to get hyped up for the event!

more info: dvpit.carrd.co

#writersky

As we are one day away from #PicantePit, here is the list of all the agents who will be participating across both X and 🦋☁️

Thank you to everyone who took the time to fill out our form!

I'm in awe of your rollerskating powers

Thank you for being my official countdown!

Marching out into the deep woods and telling the first fae I see my whole and true name, I'm fuckin done here time to go

A drawing of Kathy from the comic strip Kathy (a white woman with brown hair and droopy eyes) dressed in a gown with puffy sleeves standing next to Heathcliff the orange cat from the comic strip Heathcliff. Heathcliff is wearing a black waistcoat. They’re standing against a foggy background with trees and red outlined letters say Wuthering Heights, an homage to the poster for the new Emerald Fennel film adaptation of the 19th century novel. Smaller black text above has the author’s name, Charlotte Brontë.

The thing about being an artist is that sometimes you’ll have a really silly/cursed image enter your head and spend hours of your life drawing it. Hours you’ll never get back.

ASH Literary A full service Children's & YA literary agency

A couple of my evergreen wishlist items are heists, labor rights, trans joy, and thoughtful fairy tale adaptations. I'm also open to being surprised by something that's not listed above! Check out ashliterary.com#submissions for more information about the kinds of projects I represent.

#mswl
/🧵

I'd really love to work on a YA suspense novel this year! I'm looking for stories that aren't murder mysteries, but instead follow a teenager trying to tackle an unjust system in their local community.
#mswl
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I want to read a YA contemporary novel that dives deep into teenage bisexual angst. Something like The Last True Poets of the Sea, or Don't Let It Break Your Heart (though now that I think of it, I'm not sure if any of those characters are bi... that's the vibe, though).
#mswl
🧵/

I'd love to read some YA or adult horror stories from indigenous voices, and more broadly, horror stories that use a speculative lens to examine topics of racial identity.
#mswl
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Bonus points for YA rom-coms:
-butch love interest
-autistic protagonists
-former athletes rediscovering their identity after an injury or health crisis that ends their career within the sport
-protagonist thinks they're nemeses and love interest thinks they've been flirting for years
#mswl
🧵/

I haven't received as many YA rom-coms as I'd like yet. I want stories that are heavy on the com, and have subplots with a lot of depth that inform the development of the rom. #mswl
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I'm on the hunt for an exciting anti-colonialist YA or adult fantasy. Something along the lines of Skin of the Sea, So Let Them Burn, or Babel. #mswl
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I'd love a middle grade mystery that reminds me of The Westing Game, Blue Balliet, Lemony Snicket, or Varian Johnson #mswl
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Reminder that I'll be closing to queries in two weeks! There are a lot of exciting projects already in my inbox that I'm looking forward to reviewing, but there's still time for #amquerying authors to send me a few more.

Non-comprehensive thread below of some concepts I'd really like to see. 🧵/

Maybe it's the golden glow of memory, but I don't remember the injuries being this intense when I was a kid! But I also didn't have to keep my limbs healthy for any major athletic competitions.

I went rollerskating today and immediately fell SO hard (didn't even make it to the rink) that a parks employee rushed over and offered to replace my skate rentals with rollerblades.

So much respect for roller derby players, I don't know how they manage at speed while knocking each other over.

Text mounted on a screen reads as follows: WHAT IS SCIENCE FICTION? 1. DOESN'T MATTER 2. WHO CARES 3. MARKETING DEPARTMENT'S PROBLEM 4. NOT YOURS

Simply the best slide I have ever seen in a powerpoint presentation care of @premeemohamed.com’s talk at @banffcentre.bsky.social re: Putting the Science in Science Fiction

I'll be running an interactive workshop on Nailing Your Comp Titles next week with WIFYR's Virtual Writing Intensive. I heard there are a few online slots left:
www.wifyr.com/2025-writing...

I can confidently say that you are experiencing an above standard amount of muscle pain for being 40

Yes, that's correct.

One thing on my dream wishlist is more middle grade titles from Vietnamese American authors, ideally fun and contemporary stuff. @brandonhoang.bsky.social, Thanhhà Lại, and @trungles.com can only do so much. This is a gap, imo.

Hey all! I have an announcement 😬...
Proud to say I'm now represented by agent Paula Weiman @tinyfairyhunter.bsky.social of ASH Literary Agency🥳🙌🏼🎊

And now I need to get back to work. Thank you for reading😅

ashliterary.com#camillewhitc...

"Graphic with 'Anthropic' logo on left, circuit-like design. Right text reads: 'Authors: You May Be Part of This Class Action Lawsuit. Anthropic AI Lawsuit Explained.' Modern, tech-themed design."

A federal court ruled that ANTHROPIC illegally copied MILLIONS of books to train its AI.

All authors and publishers whose books were downloaded by Anthropic from pirate websites are subject to receiving compensation. This could involve your work.

For more info: authorsguild.org/news/anthrop...

idk if deadlands does this, but as someone who has done slush and editing: if you do things like this, i have always taken it as a red flag in terms of how you would react to editorial critique, or anything else in the pipeline

My most American trait is probably that "eating a burger" is one of my go-to problem-solving strategies