Shooting the Shit Featuring Guest Literary Agent Ashley Lopez

With Carly still on vacation, CeCe is getting herself into a little mischief! This week CeCe trades her cup of coffee and pours herself a glass of wine with friend and literary agent Ashley Lopez of MMQA Literary Agency. CeCe and Ashley talk about the rise of AI-narrated audiobooks and AI-generated rejection letters to the struggles facing nonfiction and the case for paperback originals. They also discuss why the agency behind your literary agent matters, the best times to query, and what Ashley is currently looking for in her inbox.

About Ashley Lopez:

Ashley Lopez is an agent with Massie McQuilkin & Altman Literary Agents. She received her MFA in Fiction from Sarah Lawrence College and has over a decade of publishing experience. Formerly the Director of Foreign Rights and an agent at WLA Books, she has worked on international and New York Times bestsellers, bringing a global perspective to her authors. An active member of the AALA, she represents literary and book club fiction, grounded speculative, horror, thrillers, narrative and practical nonfiction, as well as select poetry and YA.

As discussed on the podcast:

https://lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2026/10/fbf-the-future-of-audio-frankfurt/

https://lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2026/10/publishers-use-ai-for-marketing-copy-rejection-letters/

https://thewalrus.ca/nonfiction-is-struggling-publishers-are-making-it-worse/

https://leighstein.substack.com/p/losers-v-victims

Note: CeCe Lyra is a literary agent at Wendy Sherman Associates. If you’d like to query CeCe, please refer to the submission guidelines at www.wsherman.com. Carly Watters is a literary agent at P.S. Literary Agency, but her work on this podcast is not affiliated with the agency, and the views expressed by Carly on this podcast are solely that of her as a podcast co-host ​and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of P.S. Literary Agency.

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