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Aashna Avachat

Neighborhood Literary Agency · Philadelphia, US
Open to queries · confirmed 3d agoCommercial FictionCookbookFictionGraphic NovelHorrorHumorLiterary FictionMiddle GradeMysteryNew AdultNonfictionPicture BookRomanceThrillerYoung Adult

How to query: Through an online submission form

What they’re looking for

From their profile

I am excited to build my list in a variety of different categories and genres! I am currently building a list of authors/illustrators of color. Within submissions by creators of color, I am especially interested in queer representation, religious diversity, and disability representation in all age categories. For all fiction, I am looking for #ownvoices stories that feature protagonists of color. My goal as an agent is to champion diversity in publishing, to uplift creators of color and marginalized communities. I have pretty commercial taste across the board, from kidlit to adult, fiction and non-fiction.

Picture Books

Laugh out-loud funny books with clever illustration potential (think: Meet the Dullards, The Paper Bag Princess ) Family, culture, SEL, nature/environment themes NOT currently looking for food-based books or rhyming books! NOT currently looking for PB non-fiction or biographies. Fiction only, please!

Illustrators

Artists interested in picture books, chapter books, or covers, whether children’s books or adult

Graphic Novel

Author-illustrated graphic novels for children, teens, or adults I am open to GNs in the genres listed below Also open to GN memoirs and historical GN

Middle Grade

Primarily contemporary MG with a strong hook MG featuring queer characters, characters with disabilities Spooky MG

Some MG favorites

Almost Flying, Clues to the Universe, From the Desk of Zoe Washington NOT looking for anthropomorphic books

Young Adult

Romantic comedies where both leads are POC Mysteries/thrillers Contemporary spy/heist novels in the vein of I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You or a YA Portrait of a Thief Palace intrigue: NON-magical, NON-dystopian, royalty-based stories in the vein of The False Prince or Liar’s Kingdom (but without faeries!) Mythology/fantasy retellings with twists, and so long as the fantasy elements are very light (think YA Kaikeyi or YA Song of Achilles ) Plot-driven horror Modern retellings of classics Pre-modern historical novels in the vein of June Hur Speculative fiction with very light sci-fi/fantasy elements (think These Violent Delights ) cross-over into New Adult under the same genres Dark academia with political critique of academia Cozy fantasy (light fantasy) Witches in a light fantasy setting

Adult

Romantic comedies where both leads are POC Mysteries (not looking for police/organized crime focused mysteries) Epic mysteries in the vein of God of the Woods; All the Colors of the Dark Domestic thrillers in the vein of Stacy Willingham, Lisa Jewell, Emiko Jean Funny contemporary in the vein of Anxious People and The Wedding People Literary-ish books like Everything I Never Told You, Such a Fun Age, Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow Plot-forward horror Cozy fantasy ( A Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches ) Mythology/fantasy retellings with twists, and so long as the fantasy elements are very light (think Kaikeyi or Song of Achilles )

Non-Fiction

Pop culture criticism Gender/feminist criticism & journalism ( The Right to Sex, Girls & Sex, How to Date Men When You Hate Men ) Accessible pop science ( Everything is Tuberculosis ) A deep dive into a niche area through narrative journalism style Unique cookbooks

Some of my non-fiction favorites

Nabokov’s Favorite Word is Mauve; The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks; Perfect Victims; Just Mercy

Ultra-specific

The Clique but about girls of color OCD representation where OCD is not the only primary plot (Think: Turtles All the Way Down ) YA wilderness camp horror/mystery Something like Yellowjackets

I am NOT currently looking for

Memoir Sci-Fi Fantasy (I have very very few, specific exceptions to this; see above!) War novels Novels in-verse/poetry Short story/essay collections Oppressor-oppressed romances On-the-page sexual violence/child abuse Vampires/werewolves/faeries Board books Dystopian Chapter books Epistolary formats Children’s non-fiction Erotica Books where a cop/police officer/prosecutor is the main c