3 Lessons for Aspiring Nonfiction Authors

Twenty years ago, I convinced my cousin Josh to help me move to New York City. 

Arriving Labor Day weekend with only four suitcases and $750 cash, I had a dorm room in Brooklyn Heights and an interview at Simon & Schuster. 

Spoiler alert: I got an internship which turned into a job as an editorial assistant, which led to a job as associate editor at Penguin.

Twelve years ago, I started my own business helping authors.

And nearly five years ago, I started to share what I knew with folks like you.

2024 is the anniversary of three major steps in my professional and personal love of books. In honor of that, I want to share three lessons I’ve learned from each to help you with your dream of becoming a traditionally published author.

1. Be You. 

My first-ever bestseller, The Bro Code, didn’t happen because a literary agent sent me the project. Instead, that book happened for two reasons. 

First, because I was watching a show I loved (How I Met Your Mother). 

And second — when I saw Neil Patrick Harris’s character, Barney Stinson, mention the bro code, I knew that this was a thing beyond the show because my college ex-boyfriend referenced “the code” constantly. He was a bro, albeit a nerdy one. 

My personal history contributed to that book, which sold 450,000+ copies. 

And it’s not the only time being myself mattered (See below!)

2. Respect (and Bring) the Vibes.

Last winter, I went to Colorado to ski with my husband. We stayed in Boulder for a night on our way to the mountains, and I decided to pop into a local bookstore. While perusing the business and money section, I eavesdropped on a conversation about investing. 

I offered my thoughts about where to learn about money, and mentioned that I got a lot of my know-how from podcasts and the books I worked on. As it turns out, the person I was talking to was friends (and browsing) with Kyla Scanlon — a content creator and economist. 

As it turns out, Kyla was working on a book for Penguin Random House. When I learned she didn’t have a literary agent (and had a short deadline) I offered to help her. At the time, I genuinely wanted to help — I had no expectation that we would work together. I ended up assisting her on editing the book before it went to Penguin Random House.

Her book, In This Economy? — which is all about vibes — comes out in April 2024.

(You should pre-order it because it’s the best explanation of economics I’ve ever read.)

3. Solid Businesses Create Long-Selling Books.

When I was at Penguin, I was assigned to edit a book called How to Retire Overseas. And though I loved the author, I was doubtful that the book would sell. Similar books had sold almost nothing, and there wasn’t a lot of expectation or effort behind the publication itself.

Months after the book was out, I got called into a meeting randomly. The publisher looked straight at me and said, “Why is How to Retire Overseas selling?” 

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I’ll ask the author and get back to you.”

The reason How to Retire Overseas sold then — and continues to sell now — is because the author Kathleen Peddicord is the leader in her industry. Her business had an email list before email lists were a thing. She held a conference every year for people who wanted to do exactly what she taught — retire overseas. Kathleen had built an audience for her advice, and those people bought her book.

I’ve learned so much in the last 20 years, and it has been so fun recalling these memories and sharing them with you. Thanks for reading, and I hope this helps.