Today I’m thrilled to have agent Ashley
Reisinger here. She is an assistant literary agent at TriadaUS
Literary Agency.
Status Update on 1/10/2026: Ashley is open to submissions.
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
Update on 1/10/2026:
Agent of the Month at Writing and Illustrating (Check the website for additional parts of her interview) (06/2023)
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!
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