Literary Agent Interview: Ashley Reisinger Interview and Query Critique Giveaway

Today I’m thrilled to have agent Ashley Reisinger here. She is an assistant literary agent at TriadaUS Literary Agency.

Hi­ Ashley! Thanks so much for joining us.

About Ashley:

1. Tell us how you became an agent, how long you’ve been one, and what you’ve been doing as an agent.

I had been involved in the writing community for a number of years before making the pivot to agenting. The more I learned about the industry, and about what a literary agent is and does, the more interested I became. An internship with Triada further solidified my desire to champion and represent authors, and early 2023 I was officially brought on as an Assistant Literary Agent. I’ve been building my client list in Adult, YA, and MG ever since, and am excited to continue doing so.  

About the Agency:

2. Share a bit about your agency and what it offers to its authors.

Triada US represents a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction from picture books through adult and is committed to providing quality representation to our clients. Some Triada authors include the NYT bestselling Chloe Gong, Olivie Blake, Hannah Nicole Maehrer, Adiba Jaigirdar, and Sayantani DasGupta.

 What She’s Looking For:

3. What age groups do you represent—picture books, MG, and/or YA? What genres do you represent and what are you looking for in submissions for these genres?

I primarily represent MG and YA. In MG, I am interested in contemporary narratives that tackle meaningful topics, explore themes of belonging and friendship, and/or touch on the awkwardness of first crushes. I am also interested in spooky MG, fantasy, and magical-academy type stories. Across the board, I love a fun, quirky, and/or snarky voice in MG.

In YA, I’m particularly interested in romcoms with lots of heart and a strong hook. I can also be enticed by the odd spec fic (I love horror and contemporary fantasy).

Anything a little bit genre-blendy, I’m always here for. Contemporary fantasy with a mystery or puzzle involved? Romance with a speculative twist? Thriller with a sci-fi element? Yes, yes, and yes!

4.  Is there anything you would be especially excited to see in the genres you are interested in?

While I’m picky about my spec fic tastes, I love a good ghost story done in a fresh or unexpected way. I also really enjoy when a horror concept is a little bit meta or satirical. In addition, I adore a contemporary fantasy that skews a bit spookier.

On the flip side, I love the pure escapism of a voicey romcom that makes me laugh out loud (and maybe cringe a little with second-hand embarrassment too).

What She Isn’t Looking For:

5. What types of submissions are you not interested in?

I try not to have hard “no’s” about anything, because you never know what you’ll end up falling in love with, but there are a few things I’ll say I tend not to be the right fit for:

-high fantasy

-high sci-fi

-historical fiction

-dystopian

-animal protagonists

-“sick lit”

-stories that center eating disorders, self-harm, or sexual assault

-teen pregnancies

-horse stories

Agent Philosophy:

6. What is your philosophy as an agent both in terms of the authors you want to work with and the books you want to represent?

As a whole, I want to work with authors on books that meaningfully reflect the world—particularly underrepresented voices and experiences.

Editorial Agent:

7. Are you an editorial agent? If so, what is your process like when you’re working with your authors before submitting to editors?

Yes! I really enjoy the editorial side of things, and tend to put manuscripts through revisions and edits before putting them on submission. The scope of this, of course, will vary depending on the project, but by and large, this is a stage of the process I like to be quite involved in as I find revisions a little bit magic.

Query Methods and Submission Guidelines: (Always verify before submitting)

8. How should authors query you and what do you want to see with the query letter?

Authors can query me via my email (ashley@triadaus.com) with the first 10 pages of their manuscript and the word “query” somewhere in the subject line. I don’t require a synopsis and won’t typically read one if it’s provided.

9.  Do you have any specific dislikes in query letters or the first pages submitted to you?

My biggest thing is when submission guidelines aren’t followed. While I don’t mind if people forget to send pages so follow up with an email including them, or if a little bit more or less than ten pages is included to complete a scene or thought, it makes it very difficult for me when people don’t send pages at all, send the first three chapters instead of the first ten pages, don’t include a query, don’t include the word “query” in the subject line (so it gets misfiltered in my emails), etc. The submission doesn’t have to be perfect, and if I can tell an author was sincerely trying to follow guidelines but maybe just missed something, that doesn’t bother me at all. But it often creates a lot more work for me when guidelines aren’t followed, so I dislike it when this is done intentionally.     

Response Time:

10. What’s your response time to queries and requests for more pages of a manuscript?

I typically respond to a query within 2 weeks, and to pages within 4-8 weeks where possible. There are times (when I’m really swamped, have a ton of fulls I’ve requested, am getting a lot of offer of rep notifications and have to shuffle things around, and/or am really mulling) where this may be longer, but it’s the aim to respond before 8 weeks—particularly while I’m still newer in the industry and have the ability to get back more quickly.  

Self-Published and Small Press Authors:

11.  Are you open to representing authors who have self-published or been published by smaller presses? What advice do you have for them if they want to try to find an agent to represent them?

Definitely! In terms of advice, I feel—the same as with other querying writers—it just comes down to making sure your submission materials are on point. That said, I think it helps to be clear what you’re looking for in an agent as you navigate the query trenches if you have previously self-pubbed or published with a smaller press. I.e.: are you shifting to trad publishing completely, do you want a hybrid career, are you self-publishing a certain genre and looking at traditionally publishing another, do you want to continue subbing to smaller presses and/or continue to publish with the smaller press you’ve already worked with, etc.? Also, personally, if the self-published or small-press works are published in a wildly different genre than what’s being queried (particularly if it’s a genre I don’t rep), I like to have some idea if the intention is to continue writing in that genre for trad as that may help determine if I’m the right fit or not. It doesn’t mean it’s an automatic “no” from me if the author wants to shift their audience from indie to trad with a genre I don’t typically represent, but it’s something I feel is worth knowing and potentially discussing further if I end up loving the submission materials.

12. With all the changes in publishing—self-publishing, hybrid authors, more small publishers—do you see the role of agents changing at all? Why?

I’m not sure if I’d say it’s changing, per se—an agent’s role is still to represent their clients well and advocate for their best interests, and while this may look a little different for a hybrid author than a traditional author, or for a self-published author looking to retain print rights but sell audio and foreign, etc., I think the role of the agent is still largely unchanged. They’re a partner and an advocate to help make decisions for your career, and they’re there to have the connections and know the intricacies of the market they’re exploring for their client.        

Clients:

13. Who are some of the authors you represent?

While I am just starting to build my list, one of my wonderful clients includes Jackie Morera whose debut PB, Abuelo’s Flower Shop, comes out in 2024!

Interviews and Guest Posts:

14. Please share the links to any interviews, guest posts, and podcasts you think would be helpful to writers interested in querying you.

Interviews:

https://kathytemean.wordpress.com/2023/06/23/agent-of-the-month-ashley-reisinger/

https://www.chapter-break.com/p/celebrate-every-success-and-send

Links and Contact Info:

15. Please share how writers should contact you to submit a query and your links on the Web.

Please query me at ashley@triadaus.com with the query and first 10 pages. My wishlist and sub guidelines can be found on the Triada website (triadaus.com/agents). I can also be found on Twitter (@awritesinger) and Instagram (@a.writesinger).

Additional Advice:

16. Is there any other advice you’d like to share with aspiring authors that we haven’t covered?

I am the eternal advocate for remembering to celebrate your successes. It’s so easy in this industry to get caught up in the comparison game and to forget how incredible everything you’re accomplishing is. Writing a book is huge, sending your first query is a big step, putting your work out there is so brave, working to self-publish is impressive, getting representation is exciting! Just because you’re maybe not published (yet), or haven’t made the NYT (yet), or aren’t hitting the same lists as those in your community (yet), doesn’t make what you’ve accomplished any less remarkable. Mark milestones, celebrate each step, and remember to be proud of yourself.

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Ashley.

Giveaway Details

­Ashley is generously offering a query critique to one lucky winner. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower (via the follower gadget, email, or bloglovin’ on the right sidebar) and leave a comment through December 31st. If your email is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest. If you do not want to enter the contest, that’s okay. Just let me know in the comments.

If you follow me on Twitter or mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry. This is an international giveaway.

Have any experience with this agent? See something that needs updating? Please leave a comment or email me at natalieiaguirre7@gmail.com

Note: These agent profiles and interviews presently focus on agents who accept children's fiction. Please take the time to verify anything you might use here before querying an agent. The information found here is subject to change.

Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts, and Blog Hops

Saturday, December 16th I’m participating in the Dashing December Giveaway Hop

Monday, December 20th I have an interview with author Joanne Rossmassler Fritz and a giveaway of her MG contemporary Ruptured

Monday, January 1st I’m participating in the New Year New You Giveaway Hop

Wednesday, January 3rd I have an interview with debut author Mary Averling and a giveaway of her MG fantasy The Curse of Eelgrass Bog and my IWSG post

Monday, January 8th I have an agent spotlight interview with Leah Moss and a query critique giveaway

Hope to see you on Saturday!