Agent Interview: Anjanette Barr

Intelligent and hopeful!

Eric Smith, Jennie Dunham, Jessica Faust, James McGowan, Emelie Burl, Emmy Nordstrom-Higdon

Tolkien, Gabaldon, Eowyn Ivey, Matthew Desmond, Stephen Lawhead, Jane Austen, Joyce Sidman, Atinuke, C.S. Lewis, Barbara Cooney

I enjoy the challenge of matchmaking for books that stretch genre boundaries. I also have an editorial eye and won't hesitate to suggest changes.

Follow our guidelines, and understand that I am one person with limited time and bandwidth.

I need to be able to skim and still understand what kind of book I'm considering. If it sits in the (large) sphere of what I'm looking for as an agent, I'll go back through and read every word, but on first glance I should be able to discern audience, genre, title, author, word count, and primary themes or conflicts.

My ideal manuscript has already been seen and critiqued by several people, though it need not be professionally edited. It offers something special to the world and will benefit from the partnership of a solid publisher.

We prefer a five page sample in the body of the email for longer works, and picture book texts can be copied in entirety. No attachments.

Previous publications, relevant expertise, and anything that would be helpful to gauge whether they are the best person to author this book.

I skim queries, read samples if the query matches my wishlist, and when I request partial or full manuscripts, I read until I know my answer. That often means I read the whole manuscript!

Entering into an agent/author relationship is a mutual decision, so I like having a conversation or two before officially offering. At that point, I feel it's important for the author to have the opportunity to ask questions, look over our agency agreement, and notify any other agents. I am comfortable with this process taking quite a while - publishing is often not a race even when we want it to be. I will be up front with whether I think the project is ready for submission as-is, or if I think there is editorial work to be done beforehand so that the author can factor that into their decision.

It's always different! I am the mother of four children and love that agenting can happen any time of day or night. I work hard to respect my authors' time, connect with editors professionally, and balance my work with my most important family relationships. Working remotely from Alaska is just like anything else done in Alaska - it's an adventure!