Melillo wants YA that hits with the emotional intensity of being a teenager — raw, messy, and fully inhabited. They're drawn to 3D characters shaped by dark or light teen feeling, provided the writing is specific and unafraid. High-priority niches include: stories built around fandom and fan culture; teens navigating OCD or autism; historical fiction rigorously researched and set outside the US and Western Europe; the scholarship-student-at-an-old-money-school dynamic; bubblegum thrillers and queer horror; early-2010s-style dystopias centered on marginalized protagonists; fairy-tale or mermaid narratives with an animated, candy-bright energy; girls who are flawed, a little mean, or outright disasters; all-consuming yearning played for both pathos and absurdity; and ensemble stories about misfits who feel too much.

Melillo gravitates toward literary fiction that uses a hyper-specific lens to illuminate large societal ideas — the kind of novel that is deeply personal and broadly resonant at once. Particular interests include fiction organized around a community or shared space (a public library, a park, an isolated island, a workplace); stories of women and other marginalized people pushed past their limits and ready to act; late-bloomer romantic plots, especially centering autistic characters experiencing first love; and historical fiction told from the perspective of ordinary people caught inside momentous eras.

On the speculative side, Melillo wants commercial and upmarket work where the writing itself is the draw — not just concept. They prefer speculative fiction on the lighter, stranger end of the dial rather than hard sci-fi or sprawling high fantasy. Specific desires include Afrofuturism in the tradition of Octavia Butler or Rivers Solomon; upmarket queer horror with an unsettling, surreal atmosphere; and K-pop sasaeng thrillers. Weird, zany anti-historical adult fiction with a comedic sensibility is also a genuine want.

Melillo is open to romcoms but only those built on genuinely original, high-concept premises — not formula. Queer and/or BIPOC protagonists are a must. The pitch needs to demonstrate a hook that couldn't easily describe a dozen other books.

Melillo is actively but very selectively building a nonfiction list. Only proposals from qualified insiders in entertainment or theatre, or from experts with established platforms on fandom and pop culture topics, will be considered. Topics of genuine interest include: the evolution of fanfiction and fandom culture; the history of Tumblr; the mid-2010s golden age of YouTube vlogging; the international rise of K-dramas and K-pop; and behind-the-scenes accounts of landmark TV shows or film phenomena (Succession, Heated Rivalry, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and 30 Rock are named examples). During May 2026, nonfiction was the only open category — a sign Melillo is actively prioritizing this list right now.