Anjanette Barr

DUNHAM LITERARY will be OPEN TO QUERIES from June 1st to July 15th, 2025.

I am an Agent at Dunham Literary, and I am very grateful to live with my husband and four children in the traditional home of the Tlingit people, Juneau Alaska.

I represent books across most genres and all age categories.

I’m currently especially hoping to build my non-fiction list. Send me your compellingly written popular science, crafting, cooking, outdoor living, economics, lifestyle, and history books. Accessible and fresh prose is a must. I’m less interested in memoir, religion, and purely academic titles at this time.

Please glance through my favorites and “I’d like the next…” section on this page to get a feel for my style. I read eclectically, and I’m primarily drawn to books that ask readers to contemplate big ideas. In fiction, humor, magic, wonder, romance, and the natural world are excellent vehicles for big ideas, so give me all the beautiful language and epic adventures.

When asked about my reading/representing preferences, I always say that I love popular and genre fiction with substance. And that I enjoy literary and non-fiction titles infused with living ideas that leave readers with a new desire to immerse themselves in the subject matter.

Here are my preferences in greater detail:

• In Adult Fiction – captivating settings and relatable characters that highlight virtues like empathy and self-sacrifice whether the genre is historical (My Antonia, Outlander), literary/upmarket (The Snow Child, Piranesi), romance (The Winter Sea, Book Lovers) or Fantasy/Sci-Fi (Lightbringer series, Song of Albion series, The Sparrow, Project Hail Mary).
• In Adult Non-fiction – well-researched titles that make lay-people enchanted and invested in topics previously over their heads (The Elements by Theodore Grey, Freakonomics, Quiet by Susan Cain), and biography and memoir with the ability to connect diverse readers (If You Lived Here I’d Know Your Name by Heather Lende, Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand). I’m also interested in books that shed light on poverty and justice in a new way (Evicted by Matthew Desmond).
• Children’s literature for all age groups – I’m especially fond of books that can be read aloud and shared with the whole family (Children of the Longhouse, Anna Hibiscus, Gregor the Overlander, Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan, Whale of the Wild, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon) which tend to be middle grade, but she loves any MG/YA/NA that empowers young people to consider their character and worth as they prepare to leave the nest (What Happened to Rachel Riley, Sabriel/The Old Kingdom series, Everything Sad is Untrue, anything by Nadine Brandes, Kelly Barnhill, Erin Entrada Kelly). I’m seeking books with hopeful, informative, and/or lyrical tones. Illustrations/graphics are awesome. I prefers picture books that are winsome and pleasant to read aloud (Blueberries for Sal, Brigid’s Cloak by Bryce Miligan, Miss Rumphius, Farmhouse, poetry by Joyce Sidman). Humor is great when it helps tell the story (The Book with No Pictures, Good Dog Carl). And I want to see more engaging non-fiction!
• Particular interests of mine are the exploration of culture, history, faith, myth, fine arts, and nature. I have a soft spot for gothic novels and magical realism. I am not a good fit for: grisly Horror, Erotica, True Crime, Sports, or Political non-fiction.

Submission Guidelines

Submissions should be emailed to query@dunhamlit.com

Dunham Literary accepts query letters by email only! After receiving a query letter, we request any and all projects that might be right for us. To submit a query letter by email, the correct address is: qu***@*******it.com

Authors: Please paste the query letter and the first five pages of your manuscript in the body of the email. Do not link to Google Docs or upload your query or pages as attachments. We do not open attachments with writing samples. Please do not send full manuscripts unless they are requested by us after receiving your query letter. We try to respond within four weeks from the time we receive query letters, but sometimes we are faster or slower.

Illustrators may attach 3 images as .JPG files with illustrations or sample pages of a dummy. It’s fine to include a link to a portfolio or samples online. For more information about querying, please see our Frequently Asked Questions.

Guidelines & Details