Deidra Riggs is a newer literary agent at Embolden Media Group actively building her list, with a sharp focus on identity, faith, culture, gender, and sexuality — particularly stories by and for women and people of color, in both fiction and nonfiction.
In brief
Riggs is a newer agent — her list is still forming, which means querying writers have a genuine opportunity to get in early with a motivated, building agent.
Her background is in writing, editing, and marketing for faith-based and nonprofit organizations, which strongly shapes her editorial lens — expect her to be especially attuned to voice, purpose, and community impact.
The intersection of faith and culture is a recurring axis in her wishlist; writers whose work engages that tension authentically are squarely in her wheelhouse.
No confirmed sales record is available yet given her recent entry into agenting, so her stated wishlist and professional background are the primary signals writers have to work with.
She is a Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), suggesting a genuine, credentialed investment in cross-cultural competency — manuscripts that engage identity and culture with nuance and depth, rather than surface treatment, will resonate with her.
Lately
Riggs was spotlighted as a new agent actively building her list, with particular enthusiasm for fiction and nonfiction that explores identity, gender, sexuality, and faith from the perspectives of women and people of color — emphasizing her desire for narratives that are both artistically strong and emotionally resonant.
What Deidra is looking for
Riggs gravitates toward fiction with a strong sense of voice, place, and carefully observed detail — stories that help readers laugh, dream, heal, and move forward. She is especially drawn to work written by and for women and people of color, with narratives that engage identity, gender, or sexuality, particularly where those themes intersect with faith or cultural experience. She prizes originality of perspective and first-rate storytelling over formula.
Her editorial and marketing background in faith-based and nonprofit spaces makes her a credible home for nonfiction that lives at the crossroads of cultural identity, faith, gender, and sexuality. She is looking for thoughtful, creative, and narratively alive nonfiction — not dry argument, but writing that carries the reader forward. Stories by and for women and people of color are a particular priority.
Beyond her faith-and-identity focus, Riggs is broadly open to engaging, out-of-the-box nonfiction perspectives — work that surprises, illuminates, and offers a viewpoint the reader hasn't encountered before. The bar is strong narrative execution and a genuinely distinctive lens.
Not the right fit
Taste fingerprint
How to query Deidra
Her agency page lists both a dedicated submission portal and a direct query email address — check her current agency page for the preferred and most up-to-date submission method before writing your query letter.
Lead with the identity, cultural, or faith dimension of your work if it has one — this is the core of her stated focus, and a query that buries that thread will undersell its fit.
She explicitly values attention to time, place, and small details; if your manuscript has a richly specific setting or an unusual cultural lens, surface that concretely in the query rather than speaking in generalities.
Her background is in nonprofit and faith-based contexts, so don't shy away from faith elements or culturally specific community experiences — she is equipped to understand and champion that material, not just tolerate it.
Because she is a newer agent still building her list, she is likely to be more responsive than an established agent with a full roster — a polished, well-targeted query has a real shot at a close read.
Her Intercultural Development Inventory credentials signal that she thinks rigorously about cross-cultural dynamics — writers who can demonstrate their own intentionality about cultural representation in the manuscript will make a stronger impression.
Follow submission guidelines precisely; as a newer agent, Riggs's process is still being established, and respecting the stated format signals professionalism.