What really happens in an agent’s head when your query lands in the inbox? In this edition of #YourQueries Live, host and agent Jessica Sinsheimer welcomes literary agent Anjanette Barr of Dunham Literary, who reads real queries live and narrates every thought as it happens. You’ll see what grabs her attention, where her eyes start to skim, and the exact moment a query goes from “maybe” to “I’d request this.”
Anjanette works across genres, so this session covers a wonderfully wide range: mythic fantasy, a picture book, Southern Gothic YA, prescriptive nonfiction, a legal thriller, a middle grade mystery set in Alaska, and dual timeline women’s fiction. Along the way, she explains why comp titles work best when you tell agents whythey fit, why putting your genre up front helps a tired reader, and why one surprising bio line about “100 manuscripts in progress” might quietly work against you.
The Q&A is packed with questions writers ask all the time. How do you pitch multiple points of view? Should you use a pen name if you write in different genres? What does “standalone with series potential” really mean to an agent? Is there crossover between the Christian and general markets? And how long should a query actually be?
Anjanette is honest, specific, and deeply kind, and she ends with a reminder every querying writer deserves to hear. If you’re revising your query, preparing to submit, or simply trying to understand the other side of the inbox, this is an hour well spent.
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About the Instructor
Anjanette Barr View Faculty Page
Anjanette Barr has an eclectic reading taste and a love for literature that “baptizes the imagination” (C.S. Lewis) and begs to be shared. She loves genre and popular fiction with substance, and literary and non-fiction titles infused with living ideas that leave readers with a new desire to immerse themselves in the subject matter.
This could look like an historical fiction that uses captivating detail and relatable characters to bring times-gone-by to life (My Antonia, Outlander), or it could be a SFF world that highlights virtues like empathy and self-sacrifice (Lord of the Rings, Song of Albion, The Sparrow). A romance set in a place so vivid she feels she’s traveled there and wants to take up the protagonists hobbies will definitely get her attention (The Winter Sea).
In non-fiction she is looking for well-researched biography (Unbroken) written in beautiful literary prose, popular science and other disciplines titles that make lay-people enchanted and invested in topics previously over their heads (The Elements by Theodore Grey, Freakonomics), and memoir with the ability to connect diverse readers (If You Lived Here I’d Know Your Name by Heather Lende). She’s also interested in books that shed light on poverty and justice in a new way (Evicted by Matthew Desmond).
She prefers picture books that are winsome and pleasant to read aloud (Blueberries for Sal, Brigid’s Cloak by Bryce Miligan, Miss Rumphius). Humor is great when it helps tell the story (The Book with No Pictures, Good Dog Carl).
Particular interests of Anjanette’s are the exploration of culture, history, faith, myth, fine arts, and nature. She has a soft spot for gothic novels (Rebecca, Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield) and magical realism (The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey). As a mother of four, she’s is especially fond of books that can be read aloud and shared with the whole family (Children of the Longhouse, Anna Hibiscus, Gregor the Overlander).
Anjanette is not a good fit for: Horror (unless it’s gothic or quite mild), Erotica, True Crime, Sports, or Politics.