Jennifer Weis

The Weis Agency

My Manuscript Wish List®

The Weis Agency is a premier literary agency that identifies the literary stars of tomorrow. Drawing on lessons learned and links made during decades in the business, we then individually match writers with the perfect publishing partner that will help them shine and grow.

The Agency is led by Jennifer Weis, formerly Senior Literary Agent at Ross Yoon Agency and longtime Executive Editor at St. Martin’s Press. With over 30 years of experience in the publishing industry, Jennifer brings her expert editorial eye and hands-on approach to project development along with her knowledge of the inner workings of the contemporary publishing landscape to match each prospective client with the perfect publishing partner.

Outside of the literary world, Jennifer is the co-chair of Project Lyme, a non-profit based in NYC that focuses on awareness, education and advocacy. She also chairs the UJA Executive Committee for Publishing and is a UJA board member. She is based in NYC, where she lives with her husband and 4 children.

Fun facts about me:

My dog, Flag, shelters in my office most of the time.
When my 27-year-old tells me to read a romance, I run don’t walk, from Colleen Hoover to Sarah J. Maas to Kristin Hannah. We share a wide-ranging taste.
I color my hair but haven’t had plastic surgery (yet).
I like to pick out Rogers & Hammerstein on the piano.
My favorite reading position is on my back with a few pillows behind me on a turquoise velvet couch.
Just seeing the water calms me down; a beach is always in the back of my mind.
Secretly, I like to read good sex scenes and check out who’s wearing what on Instagram just before putting out the light.
I wake up with The Skimm, Wake Up Call, The Morning, and The Washington Post Briefs every morning. On Sunday mornings, I enjoy Fareed, followed by the entire print sections of the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and four cups of coffee.

Submission Guidelines

Submissions should be emailed to jweis@theweisagency.com

We are seeking high-concept, intricately plotted fiction of all categories, including psychological and domestic suspense, women’s fiction, and selected young adult. We need a hook, a consistent voice, and characters that readers care about and connect with. We love high-concept thrillers set in unusual or rarified settings. We also take romance fiction — sexy or not — and prefer the positive conclusion to the dark or tragic. Above all, we are drawn to a powerful plot, one that’s engaging, complex, and provocative but whose central concept can be distilled in a few lines. Some of our favorite recent bestsellers include Drowning by T.J. Newman and Not a Happy Family by Shari LaPena, as well as Bonnie Garmus’s Lessons in Chemistry (of course)!

In nonfiction, we are looking for new voices and new angles on provocative subjects, authors with a platform, and compelling narratives that read like fiction. People on a mission and with a message are welcome here! Areas of specialty include but are not limited to

Health and wellness
Psychology
Memoir
Current events with a specific angle
Narrative nonfiction of special interest to women

If you feel like your work is a good fit for us, we invite you to submit a formal query. Submissions should include a query letter, synopsis, and the first three chapters of your work attached as a Word document. Submissions may be sent to us via our page on QueryManager or via email (jweis@theweisagency.com).

We read all submissions carefully and will do our best to respond within 2-3 weeks. However, due to the overwhelming number of queries we receive daily, we cannot reply to every individual. If you do not hear from us in 4 weeks, we have unfortunately decided that the project is not a good match for us.

Please note that we do not accept unsolicited queries over the phone or by mail.

Guidelines & Details