Cassie Hanjian is a DeFiore & Company agent who bridges the gap between prescriptive nonfiction (wellness, self-help, Christian interest) and emotionally driven commercial fiction—family sagas, women's fiction, psychological suspense, and romance series.
In brief
Cassie Hanjian's stated nonfiction focus—mind/body/spirit, health and wellness, self-help, and Christian interest—appears to be the core of their practice; writers in those lanes are well-positioned to query.
On the fiction side, Hanjian has articulated very specific desires: culturally rich family sagas, weepy commercial women's fiction with a strong central hook, tight psychological suspense, and series romance with romantic-suspense potential.
Hanjian explicitly rules out literary fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and all children's and YA—a notably broad exclusion that makes the target audience unusually clear.
The Armenian heritage Hanjian openly mentions signals a genuine personal investment in underrepresented cultural narratives, not just a market calculation—writers with family sagas rooted in diaspora or overlooked histories have a real hook.
Query status is unverified from a live source; writers should confirm the submission window is open before sending.
Lately
Hanjian has publicly articulated a desire for family sagas rooted in underrepresented cultures, explicitly connecting that interest to their own part-Armenian background and a belief that fiction is one of the most powerful tools for cross-cultural empathy.
What Cassie is looking for
This is where Hanjian appears to invest most deeply. They want nonfiction built around genuinely new or counterintuitive ideas—something that challenges conventional wisdom while offering readers a tangible path to a better life. Mind/body/spirit, health and wellness, and self-help are all welcome; the bar is that the concept must feel fresh and the author must have the authority or platform to carry it.
Hanjian actively represents this corner of the market and sees it as a long-term commitment, not a niche side interest. Thought leaders with a faith-based angle and practical or inspirational content are encouraged to reach out.
Hanjian wants emotionally devastating women's fiction—the kind with a big, bold hook at its center and enough emotional weight to produce genuine tears. If the premise is immediately arresting and the emotional payoff is enormous, this is a strong fit.
Hanjian has a particular personal passion here, informed in part by their own Armenian heritage. They're looking for sweeping multigenerational stories rooted in cultures that don't yet get enough page space—narratives that illuminate history and circumstance while finding the universal human threads that connect readers to unfamiliar worlds.
Hanjian specifically wants suspense that is both well-plotted and genuinely unputdownable—the kind where the psychological architecture of the story is as taut as the plot mechanics. Pacing and hook are paramount.
Hanjian seeks diverse, addictive romance series, either contemporary or historical in setting, featuring compelling hero dynamics and heroines who are fully capable of driving the plot themselves. A romantic suspense series that balances the thriller and romance elements equally—and where the heroine is the one who ultimately resolves the danger—is especially welcome.
Inspirational memoir appears among Hanjian's listed sub-genres, suggesting openness to personal narrative with a transformative or faith-adjacent arc, though the emphasis is lighter here than on prescriptive nonfiction.
Not the right fit
Taste fingerprint
How to query Cassie
Paste everything into the body of the email — Hanjian explicitly prohibits attachments, so no Word docs, PDFs, or sample chapters as files.
For fiction queries, include the first 5–10 pages of the manuscript in the email body along with the full query letter.
For nonfiction queries, include the overview and marketing/publicity sections of your proposal — not the full proposal, and not a list of chapter summaries alone.
Lead the query letter with the hook: for women's fiction, make the emotional premise impossible to ignore; for nonfiction, state the counterintuitive idea up front.
If querying a family saga rooted in an underrepresented culture, name the culture(s) prominently and early — this is a stated personal passion for Hanjian, and the context will land.
For romantic suspense, be explicit that the series has both thriller and romance bones and that the heroine drives the resolution — Hanjian has described this almost as a checklist.
Verify that queries are currently open before sending; the status was unverified at the time this profile was prepared.