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Can You Publish a Nonfiction Book Without an Author Platform?
Yes. Technically, you can publish a book without an author platform.
However: What that tends to result in is low sales for your book.
A few years ago, I worked with an author who didn’t want to grow her platform — much.
After learning what it took to get a traditional book deal, she decided to publish her book with a hybrid publisher.
(A hybrid publisher is a pay-to-play version of self-publishing where the author pays anywhere from $10,000 to $50,000 to get a book produced and distributed. Hybrid publishers can be good options if you have the cash, want support, and don’t want to traditionally publish.)
Since publication, this former client’s book has sold approximately 500 copies.
Compare that to the sales for How to Love Teaching Again by another client — Jamie Sears.
To date, Jamie has sold over 30,000 copies. And when I narrowed down her sales to the same time period as my client who chose to publish without an author platform — Jamie’s book was selling 10x as often.
Which means she was helping 10x as many people.
Ultimately, the publishing path you decide to take is up to you.
What I’m here for is to help you understand all the options available to you — especially what’s least talked about online: traditional publishing.
Should you decide to pursue a traditional book deal, I can:
• Teach you how to build an audience and author platform
• Craft an amazing book proposal that will attract a literary agent and big publisher
• Write a manuscript that becomes a bestselling book
To find out whether we’re a fit — take my quiz.
Because even if your book doesn’t fit what I’m looking for and working on, I will hook you up with someone who does.
The New Bestseller List You Need to Know About
On the day I wrote this — June 10, 2024 — James Clear’s Atomic Habits had been on the New York Times “Advice, How-to, and Miscellaneous” bestseller list for 236 weeks.
That’s 4.5 years of consistent sales. Great for James Clear, but bad for everyone else.
Having one or two titles dominate the bestseller list is:
• Unhelpful for readers who are looking for something new
• Discouraging for authors who dream of showing up there someday
• Annoying for publishing insiders like me who want their books and authors to have a chance of hitting that same list.
Something you may not realize about book publishing is that most books sell for a long time.
According to data from Bookscan — which tracks sales in real time — 70% of books being sold right now are at least a year old.
That’s great for authors and readers in the end (your book lasts, yay!) but also explains why James Clear has been on the New York Times list since before the pandemic.
To solve this problem, Publishers Marketplace has worked with Bookscan to create what they’re calling “The New List.”
To appear on this true bestseller list (i.e., based on real sales and not “curated” like the NYT):
Books must have been published within the past year
Titles can only stay on The New List for a month
What’s great and useful about The New List for you as an author is that you can understand what books are selling today and get an understanding of where your book would fit into that.
And, when your book does come out — you’ll stand a chance of understanding how well your book is truly doing compared to what’s happening right now.
The Two Qualities of a Bestselling Nonfiction Author
When my client Vivian Tu hit the New York Times bestseller list earlier this year with her book RICH AF, I wasn’t surprised. Partially that’s because of numbers: Vivian has over 5 million followers on social media who watch her insightful, funny, and informative videos about personal finance.
But — as someone who has worked with hundreds of potential and published authors over the years — I also knew Vivian was going to succeed from the moment I met her. The reason I knew is because she had already done most of the work. Vivian had already created a strong personal brand, a huge audience, and a dedicated following for what her book was about. (She simply needed help with writing the actual book — which we could, and did, do.)
Traditional publishing is an industry where most people don’t succeed.
And I would argue that the people who do —
Are willing to do the work (often for years beforehand, with no guarantee of payoff).
Bring a unique set of expertise and experiences that help them stand out.
What I have discovered in my career as an editor, ghostwriter, and collaborator for hire is that most people have potential. Everyone reading this email could create, build, and run a successful business; could create, post, and share content to grow an audience, could write and publish a bestselling book.
Everyone could become like Vivian. But most people don’t.
It might surprise you to hear this, but Vivian was my first New York Times bestselling author in a decade. While other books I’ve worked on have sold thousands of copies and hit the Wall Street Journal and USA Today lists, her level of success is rare.
Part of that is how the bestseller lists are set up. (Because, as I've mentioned before, The New York Times picks their bestsellers.) But we can’t blame this lack of bestsellers on any news outlet or even publishing in general. After being in the business of helping authors for a very long time, what I’ve come to realize is that only a small percentage of people seem to have the combination of ambition, resilience, tenacity, and fuck-it-ness to do the work involved in building a business, audience, and reach large enough to sell thousands of books.
Which is what’s required for the bestseller list — and a traditional book deal.
And —
Looking back across the authors I’ve worked with that have been successful, there’s almost always something in their background or on their resume that offers an advantage.
Vivian worked on Wall Street and at Buzzfeed before deciding to become a creator. My client Jamie Sears was a third-grade teacher and sadly had to leave the classroom — which prompted her to create a business for teachers and write How To Love Teaching Again to support fellow teachers. Jamila Souffrant — author of Your Journey to Financial Independence — worked at MetLife before starting her personal finance podcast.
In my own life, the training I got in undergrad as a communications major helped me to feel comfortable on video in a way that many are not. I’ve also written professionally since college, and was the type of kid who created her own classroom newspaper in elementary school. All of that helped me in my roles as an editor for two of the biggest publishers on the planet, and ultimately in what I’m doing today as an entrepreneur, collaborator, ghostwriter, and content creator.
But this email isn’t really about me, Vivian, Jamie, or Jamila.
It’s about and for you. You’re reading this email because you want to be a success.
So I’ve got a couple of questions for you.
First, are you willing to do the work?
And second — what unique expertise and what past experiences can help you?
The Simplest Definition of Author Platform (Ever)
In April, I had the opportunity to attend The Business Behind The Book, a curated conference put on by Francine Parham, a women’s leadership and career advancement expert. Y’all — Francine brought it. I was among 40 expert speakers who offered advice on everything from writing to branding to AI.
And I heard the best definition of an author platform ever from digital marketing expert Maisha Walker. (Check her out on Linked In.) She said, “Platform is the people who are warm to you.”
Meaning the people who know you.
Who have signed up for your email list, who are your clients, your fans, and your friends.
Does that include your followers on social media? Sure.
But it can also be a bigger tent — of past and present colleagues, of attendees at speaking engagements, of employees and management at companies you facilitate for, and the followers of people that will support you by sharing your message, your face, and maybe your book with their audiences when asked.
The point is that these readers are “warm” — meaning that you know them and they you.
That’s it.
The simplest definition of an author platform I’ve ever heard.
Authors Are In the Shark Tank.
Over the years, I’ve watched a lot of different shows at lunchtime.
Scandal. Selling Sunset. Grey’s Anatomy. Million Dollar Listing New York. House Hunters.
But in the last year, I’ve landed on a favorite.
Shark Tank.
Not only is this show great for entrepreneurs — you learn all sorts of things, particularly about how successful products and product-based businesses operate — but it’s also a great metaphor for the publishing industry.
As venture capitalists, the “sharks” are looking for investments that will 10x their money.
Which is exactly what publishers are looking for.
In a lot of ways, the people who hold the purse strings at a major publisher think exactly like Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner. (My favorite Sharks.) In multiple episodes I’ve watched, Mark and Lori have told entrepreneurs that their intention with every deal is to get an exponential return on their money within a few years.
Which is exactly how traditional publishing works.
For the books I work on — how-to nonfiction, commonly known as prescriptive or as self-help — publishers act like venture capitalists.
That’s because how-to books tend to rely on the same things that a product-based business does:
Availability, marketability, and size of a given audience
Ability of the entrepreneur to sell their product to their audience
Past sales for similar products
In other words: your ideal readers, your author platform, and books similar to yours.
Just like Barbara Corcoran or Mr. Wonderful, publishers do quick math when they consider investing in someone. Most editors have to put together a rough P&L based on how much they’ll need to pay the author and how much their overhead costs are generally. That tells them (and their bosses) how many copies will be needed to sell in order to make a profit.
For most of the books I work on, that’s at least 11,000 books.
Which doesn’t sound like a crazy high bar but when you consider that most books sell less than that (the stats vary depending on source, but what I have seen and agree with is 300 copies on average) because every follower you have won’t buy your book . . . it’s easier to understand why having a large audience and substantial author platform matters.
The good news is that, like the entrepreneurs on Shark Tank, you can do your part to make your offer (or book proposal) the best it can be.
By establishing yourself with your audience.
By doing your homework on similar books (including whether they sold and why/how.)
By building an author platform and an engaged audience that buys.
And by watching Shark Tank, where you’ll notice that most decisions — aren’t personal. Because like VC, publishing is a business that has to be profitable in order to continue and succeed.
A Lesson From Beyonce On Rejection
When Beyonce’s latest album — Cowboy Carter — came out, I read a fascinating article suggesting that Beyonce and Jay-Z were trying to get approval from the country music industry. It was an opinion piece, so I have no idea how true that is.
But the premise got me thinking, because I see this please-like-me / please-accept-me vibe among the entrepreneurs and experts that I work with. And that’s true regardless of how accomplished my clients are. I suspect this vibe is caused by the — extremely prevalent — idea that the traditional publishing world is tough, that it’s difficult and rare to get a book deal, and that you’re more likely as an author to get rejected than accepted.
And y’all — I hate to say it but all of that is true.
However, there’s a reason that these things are true, and it’s not to hurt you personally. Instead, the gatekeeping that’s done is to organize the millions of people who want to write a book. There needs to be some kind of system in place to keep all of that organized and allow for curation. When you don’t have that, you lose quality and you lose readers. (Just look at self-publishing for proof.)
So: How do you avoid approaching your book process with a desperate vibe?
Here’s what I have learned from my own experiences, both professional and personal.
Approaching anything — people, projects, the entire industry — with a please-like-me / please-accept-me vibe is a losing game. And it’s not just because the people you’re interacting with will be able to tell. Instead, when we do that we’re hurting and undermining ourselves. We’re looking for external validation which may or may not come. We’re giving away our power, our agency, and our ability to know, deeply, that we are worthy no matter what happens.
So: What do we do instead? And how the heck does this relate to publishing?
First, I’ve found it immensely helpful to practice the idea that what others say and do isn’t about me. Most rejections in publishing aren’t personal even when it feels that way.
Second, do your research. Often I “reject” people who are writing types of books — fiction, children’s, memoir — that I don’t work on. That energy could have been saved with some basic research. Take it from me: Gatekeepers love when you follow their rules. Whether it’s learning what an author platform is or how a literary agent prefers to receive submissions, doing a little bit of homework can yield huge results.
And lastly — believe in yourself and your dreams. I’ve found that when you show up knowing that you belong, that you can take your (great!) ideas elsewhere, that you are there to learn and grow — you’re more likely to get the end result you want. Even if that particular situation is just step #1. Or #3001.
Your Book Proposal Isn’t the Problem.
Every so often, I get an email from an aspiring author like yourself asking for me to review their book proposal. Although I try really, really hard to not make assumptions, usually three things are true about what I’m about to read.
The book proposal isn’t good.
The author hasn’t developed an audience, proven the concept, or explained how they’ll sell the book.
The time and money spent . . . didn’t create the desired outcome.*
All of this is dreadfully unfortunate. Sometimes, it’s the author’s fault.
But most of the time, it’s not.
Whether it’s a lack of knowledge about how book publishing works, hiring the wrong person to help you, or simply not having an audience — most authors don’t write great book proposals.
Part of that is because traditional publishing isn’t your expertise or industry. That’s why you’re here reading this blog post.
But the much bigger culprit is when aspiring authors are led to believe a book proposal is all they need to get a literary agent and secure a deal with a major publisher. Which couldn’t be further from the truth.
As an industry insider, I feel furious when I see proposals that people paid for that are doomed to fail because the author didn’t have an audience in the first place. Something that’s different about the way I work is that I will only work with clients that I know have a shot at a six-figure deal.
And don’t even get me started on the proposals that are poorly written by “book coaches” or where authors attended a workshop by an entrepreneur who learned everything they know about publishing from someone like me.
What you need to know as an aspiring how-to author is that your proposal is the last piece to your publishing puzzle.
Because your proposal is that final piece, you need to put the other pieces in place first.
Like understanding your goals and creating a flexible timeline for things to happen.
Like creating and testing content.
Like proving out your methodology (preferably at scale).
Like growing your audience — and engaging and evolving and continuing to grow.
Like investing in your success with folks who know what the f they are talking about and having a proven rate of helping people like you achieve their dreams.
Because otherwise? You are wasting your time. Now you know.
How to Sell a Lot of Nonfiction How-To Books
Every so often I see moaning and groaning about how publishing works. Most of the time, these complaints come from authors saying that only celebrities get published or that books sell poorly because publishers do nothing to support authors and the books being published.
There’s a kernel of truth here, because both of these things are true. Celebrities do get published, often, because there’s a track record of those books selling lots of copies. And often, books and authors do flounder for a lack of support.
But that’s not always the case.
I don’t work with celebrities, but have helped my clients — entrepreneurs and experts — land dozens of book deals. 100% of the clients that we collaborate with on book proposals land a literary agent and 80% land a book deal. Partly, that’s because I know what literary agents and editors are looking for — and because I am super careful about who I decide to work with. I’m not taking on clients that I know will be rejected for their lack of an audience, for example, or who have an unproven book idea.
Similarly, the books my teams and I work on also defy common statistics for book sales. The most recent data I can find comes from Kristin McLean, an analyst at NPD Bookscan (which tracks book sales nationwide). She estimated that 51.4% of new books sold less than 1,000 copies. In contrast, the four books my team and I took from idea to published in 2023 have sold over 160,000 copies total.
Lesson being: You need to consider the source when you are trying to learn about publishing. As an insider, I can acknowledge that the moans and groans are partially true — particularly for fiction (which is not what my team and I work on). But I also want to acknowledge that there’s an equally true reality where traditional publishers help experts and entrepreneurs to achieve their dreams. That’s the reality where my team and I dwell.
Our authors are successful — partly because of themselves.
Their proven concepts, their engaged audiences, their ability to market and sell that’s been honed over time is what sells each copy. What my team and I bring is the publishing know-how that transforms their ideas into a book that is an Editor’s Pick on Amazon, that receives dozens of 5-star reviews, that makes our authors’ dreams come true and maybe — just maybe! — that hits a bestseller list.
So — when you hear that publishing is dying, that there’s no point in chasing your dream of becoming a traditionally published author, that you have to be an influencer to get a book deal, or some other bullshit just know: The stats don’t have to be you.
Instead, you can do three things right now to help yourself sell a ton of books when it's your time. Namely —
Prove your concept. Share what you know, receive feedback, iterate, get results.
Grow your audience.
Learn how to market and sell what only you know.
Because that is the key to your success — as an author and otherwise.
Why Good Ideas (Often) Get Stolen . . . . Or At Least Copied
What I’m about to say might cause anxiety.
It’s normal to have your work stolen — or at least, copied. Often heavily.
A few weeks ago, Marian T. sent me a question that I receive a lot from entrepreneurs who want to grow their businesses, audiences, and reach.
How do I market my solutions while maintaining privacy?
My first answer is . . . privacy for who?
Many authors think that somehow, their ideas will be more protected in a book than online.
But that’s not how intellectual property works.
While a book does carry a copyright — typically in the author’s name — limiting how that material can be used, ideas are not copyright-able.
Meaning that ideas can be stolen and copied.
And solutions come from ideas so . . . you’ll see that the only way to keep your solutions and ideas private is to never share them at all.
But that’s not what authors do, is it?
The whole point of being a writer and a creator and an entrepreneur is to share.
Not to mention that talking about your ideas is part of the journey to be successful — as an author, yes, but also as a leader in your niche or industry.
To me, sharing what you know has absolutely zero downside. For authors like yourself, sharing what you know and what you want to write a book about someday is crucial because it helps you build an audience and test your ideas.
And even if your ideas DO get stolen or copied, it’s not the end of the world.
Recently, it was brought to my attention that two of my former clients were each offering retreats on how to get a book published.
When I took a look at the websites for these retreats, the copy was remarkably similar to mine.
Like, show it to a stranger and have their mouth drop open — similar.
But as someone who knows her way around intellectual property law, I also knew that these clients hadn’t done anything illegal enough* to justify legal action.
Uncool? Sure.
But worth my time and energy? No.
After a few deep breaths, I was able to see the truth which was:
If someone steals your idea — or even copies it — that idea has to be good.
Maybe even great.
So: Share your ideas. Not just in your book, but every-friggin-where.
*What these clients did WAS illegal. But I saw no reason to waste time and energy on legal action that would likely create more bills than wins. Which may have been their gamble, too — that the chance of repercussions were slim.
The 3 Parts of a Successful Nonfiction Author
For the past two years, I’ve been in therapy. And because my therapist knows that I’m a book person, sometimes she’ll give me books to read as homework between sessions.
One of those books — that I absolutely LOVED — was No Bad Parts by Richard Schwartz.
Schwartz is the creator of Internal Family Systems — the idea that our personalities and inner selves are made of individual parts. And like any other family, these parts interact. Sometimes in beneficial ways, and sometimes in destructive ways.
The goal in IFS is to recognize, get to know, and understand our parts.
By doing so, we get to know ourselves better — and gradually call our true selves forward.
Though Schwartz’s work is about healing trauma, I think it can also be useful when thinking about a big, long-term goal like writing and traditionally publishing a book.
What I’ve seen is that my most successful clients have three “parts” in common:
Feeling pulled to act by a mission that impacts others.
Wanting and valuing a dream outcome for yourself that benefits others.
Loving the work involved in your mission and dream, which allows you to experience joy and fulfillment along the way.
But also —
A part that feels unsure and insecure about whether you’ll be accepted.
A part that really wants to make the “right” choice.
A part that’s afraid to grow (enter your reasons here).
What’s awesome about these lists is that there are no bad parts. You — as the aspiring author self, as the published author self — are always you.
The work is to understand these parts, and all the others that influence your book journey, so that your truest self can step forward.
3 Ways to Understand Publishing Better
This is going to be short and sweet — sharing three resources you can use right now to understand publishing better.
Agents and Books by Kate McKean
A fabulous Substack by a literary agent and author who knows what she’s talking about. Perfect for you creative types. ✏️
How to Glow In the Dark by Anna Sproul-Latimer
Another great Substack that digs into the psychology of becoming an author. I read Anna’s newsletter every week and find myself nodding my head (a great sign). 🧠
Julia (on Max)
This show — about culinary whiz and bestselling author Julia Child — might seem an odd recommendation for would-be authors. But a subplot between legendary editor Judith Jones and female founder Blanche Knopf is epic, and shares a lot about what working in publishing is really like, even today. While the history is not perfect, I do think the show gives a pretty accurate look inside an opaque AF industry. 👏
What To Do When Someone (Inevitably) Wants to Change Your Nonfiction Book
When I send out finished book proposals to literary agents, my clients and I receive at least one message that says
I love this but . . .
Followed by suggestions to —
Change the audience (from individuals to couples!)
Switch up the positioning (less business, more big idea!)
Make the title or subtitle worse (“it’s too bold”*)
. . . And my authors email me almost instantly.
What do you think?
Is my idea TERRIBLE?
Are they right?
Is EVERYBODY going to think this?
Meanwhile, I'm at my desk completely unsurprised because this is a normal day in publishing. Every single one of my clients has received an email like this . . . and usually not from the literary agent or editor they end up with.
Something you need to know is that one of the more aggravating and confusing aspects of publishing — both for authors and pros like myself — is that a lot of the decisions made are subjective.
In other words, these are opinions. And remember what Salt-N-Pepa had to say about those?
Sometimes, the points made are completely valid.
Sometimes, they’re so wrong I have to resist laughing out loud.
Like anyone anywhere in any situation, the literary agent offering suggestions is just one person bringing their own experience and perspective to the proposal.
So while my clients and I could take the note and revise the proposal accordingly, we certainly don’t have to.
Especially because we usually have a literary agent interested in the proposal just as it is.
*In my opinion, there is no such thing.
How Bestsellers Are Like the Boston Marathon
Today is the Boston Marathon, and I’m going to feel a little salty — like I am every year. And it’s not just because the commentators on NBC always say dumb things.
Instead, I’m salty because running that race has been a goal of mine for a while.
Probably a decade. Definitely since I got hooked running the New York City Marathon in 2013.
But the Boston Marathon has always felt out of reach. Or at least, qualifying for it has.
As a solid middle-of-the-pack runner, my absolute best marathon performance was a 4:45:05.
To qualify for Boston, I’d need to be an hour faster than that.
While that’s not impossible, I recognize that I’m OK running the Boston marathon as a fund-racer (someone who gets in through raising money for charity) or maybe even not doing it at all. Partly because my dreams have changed, and partly because I decided that I didn’t need an external signifier — like the bright yellow and blue Boston Marathon logo — to feel worthy.
I’m telling you this because in a lot of ways, qualifying for Boston is similar to landing a bestseller. In both instances, whether you accomplish your goal or not has very little to do with you. I could be the most strategic and dedicated runner and still not qualify.
You could have the best book idea that absolutely changes people’s lives — and still not make the bestseller list. That’s why I like to refocus my clients’ energy on their goals.
Why do YOU want to write this book?
How does landing a traditional book deal align with your goals, ambitions, plans, dreams?
What will your book do for yourself, your business, and your life more broadly?
How We Can Help You with Your Nonfiction Book
Awhile back, Kathy G. asked a common question:
How do you charge for your services?
The answer is really simple.
Flat fees.
When my team and I work with clients at any stage — whether that’s a:
1-on-1 consultation
Book Deal Bootcamp
A completed book proposal
A full manuscript for a major publisher
I charge a flat fee with a specific deliverable and time period. The price for every service I offer is based on how much my team and I dedicate to giving you the result you want — and the return on investment that you can expect to get.
A consultation call with me is a great example. Thanks to an awesome new service called Intro (sort of like Cameo for CEOs), you can book anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour based on how detailed your question is. I offer consultation calls because often, your unique situation doesn’t magically fit one of the three services my team and I offer.
Recently, an author contacted me with specific questions about the book she had coming out. She didn’t fit into the answers on the quiz, but I could still help her.
Here’s what that author — Ann Swanson — had to say about our call:
“In just a 45-minute consult, Meghan gave me critical insights into the publishing industry that I have been missing for years! She is clear, to the point, and realistic. Meghan empowered me with actionable steps to move forward. From her decades of experience with top publishers, she has insider insights you can’t find elsewhere. If you are considering working with Meghan, get the consult call! It alone is well worth the value.
— Ann Swanson, M.S.
Author of Science of Yoga and Meditation for the Real World
Consultations are always available, but the easiest (and free) way to see where you’re at on your individual book journey and whether I’m the best fit to help you is by answering a few questions on the quiz.
My Take on Publishing In 2024
So far in 2024, I’ve been able to celebrate two book deals with clients.
This is great news — BUT — for both books the advance was less than $100,000.
If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that I’m focused on helping entrepreneurs and experts get paid for their expertise. My typical goal is to help every client we work with on their book proposal to receive a six-figure book deal.
Since 2020, that’s happened 70% of the time.
But so far in 2024 . . . things have changed.
The good news.
Publishers are still making deals.
While less money seems to be floating around, a lower advance can benefit authors that want to write multiple books. Explaining why is too technical for an email, but essentially: It makes the numbers look better, which helps increase the chance that you’ll get royalty checks in the mail someday.
The bad news.
Publishers are being pickier.
Books and authors that would have gotten deals in boomier, more spendy times (like 2021) are being rejected now. This means that authors on the edge — could get a deal, could not — are likely better off waiting until the money comes back around again.
My hot take.
This current downturn in advances is the result of rising inflation last year.
In other words: When publishing executives saw the increasing cost to make books along with a slight decline in the number of books sold on their P&Ls, they freaked out a little bit.
As a result, they decided to reduce the amount of money being spent on advances for new books. And unfortunately, lay off some editors. This has been happening for a couple of years, but it’s only trickled down to my authors and clients recently.
However — if what happened in the past is any indicator of the future (and ahem, it usually is — history tends to echo and repeat itself) this reduction in deals will result in a lack of books eventually. And that’s when the publishers’ budgets will open up again.
What this means for you.
Don’t stop what you’re doing, or try to predict which way the market is going.
Instead — work on your messaging, prove your concept, build your audience.
Those daily actions, while not at all flashy, are what ends up making a book proposal — and eventually a book — sell every day, in any market.
Just ask my authors who both got a book deal this year.
What To Do When a Publisher or Literary Agent Approaches YOU
Every so often, I receive a message like:
An editor at PUBLISHER reached out to me. What should I do?
Or —
A literary agent sent me a DM on Instagram. How do I know if they are legit?
These are both awesome questions.
Frankly I’m always happy to see them because it means that you’re doing something to stand out — and the publishing world has noticed what you’re up to.
Yay you!
So: after you stop freaking out, hyperventilating, or refreshing your app to make sure the message is real — here are five things to do.
Celebrate! A publishing insider reaching out is a great sign that you’re on the way to a book deal. And that’s true whether the person who reached out to you ends up as part of your team or not. Feel the excitement and let that goodness in.
Do your research. Google is your best friend for publishers, editors, and literary agents. You can also use specific tools like Publishers Marketplace (well worth the $25 monthly fee) to check out the past success of a literary agent or editor. And always check Writer Beware to ensure you’re not talking to someone sketchy or could be the target of a scam.
If the person who reached out is reputable, ask yourself: is this the type of publisher or literary agent I envisioned? When the answer is yes, schedule a meeting.
Like any other professional, a meeting with a literary agent or an editor at a publishing house is preliminary. It’s just a meeting and you are under no obligation to say yes to what they’re offering or work with them right now or in the future. And it can often be helpful — and thrilling! — to hear them out.Get help. You know an impartial publishing professional who is always on your side … Me! And whether you are a good fit to work with me or not, I offer paid consultations for situations like this where my primary goal is to give you good advice.
Know you have leverage. In publishing, there’s not usually one “big break” where somebody important calls and if you say no, you’ll never ever get that chance again. So, when a literary agent or editor reaches out, remember that you can afford to be both patient and choosy. In general, when someone reaches out there will be more people reaching out soon. So you can and should wait for when you’re ready and the deal of your dreams.
And — cheers to YOUR success!
Your Book Should Be More Than a Business Card.
I need a book to offer prospective clients.
My book can be like a business card.
I need a book so that I can get more speaking engagements.
Let me be clear: These statements aren’t incorrect or even invalid. There’s no singular right way to publish a book.
Having a book can help you get more clients, act like a business card, allow you to book more speaking, and often enables you to easily raise your prices.
But you can also have — and achieve — much bigger goals than putting a book out as a freebie.
Something I want you to know is that book deals are an option for entrepreneurs and experts who want to dream bigger.
The clients I work with want to help thousands of people with their words. And they want to get paid — well! — for their ideas. That’s one reason why they want a traditional book deal.
Not every book has to be a bestseller to be successful. But my clients want a bestselling book because that dovetails perfectly with their goal to be a thought leader in their niche.
I encourage you to dream bigger for yourself . . . because in 2024, how many of us are using business cards?
Don’t Let Your Mind Get in the Way of Your Nonfiction Book Deal
I am the daughter of two entrepreneurs.
My mom and dad ran a small, independent insurance agency in North Central Wisconsin for nearly 40 years. I grew up answering the phone like a 8-year-old secretary, learning how to smile politely while my dad sold policies to farmers, and watching my mom ask for receipts on anything and everything that could be considered a business expense.
Growing up, my mom and dad always seemed like confident entrepreneurs building the life they wanted. So it surprised me a couple of years ago when my mom told me that she and my dad had an opportunity to expand their business in the mid-1980s.
They could have grown the business, she said, but were scared about what it would mean to hire employees. She worried about having to move locations and not being able to work from home anymore. At the time, she had a super-flexible schedule that allowed her to take care of me and my brother when we were sick or had days off school.
My mom and dad liked their life as it was . . . so they chose not to expand the business.
When I heard this story, I was reminded of The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks. (If you haven’t read it, you really should. It’s one of my favorites. And a backlist bestseller.)
In that book, Hendricks describes a phenomenon he calls an upper limit problem. Essentially, we all have a limit to the amount of joy, abundance, and success we feel comfortable with. In the case of my parents, their upper limit problem was having employees. Because they felt afraid of changing the status quo — and everything that came with it, good and bad — they consciously chose to put an arbitrary limit on what they could do.
But here’s the thing.
As Hendricks explains — and if you haven’t read this book yet, you really should, it’s fantastic — our limits only really exist in our minds. They are not real. My parents could have chosen differently. It’s likely that they could have kept the exact same lifestyle — or gained even more freedom for themselves — by allowing their business to grow.
After I became aware of upper limit problems, I see them constantly.
Not just in my parents’ lives, but my own. And in the lives and words of my husband, fellow entrepreneurs, friends, colleagues, even the barista down the street. The experience of noticing upper limits can be fascinating, sad, and revelatory — sometimes all at the same time.
But here’s what I want you to know about upper limit problems.
Something I’ve noticed in my most successful clients — the ones who hit the bestseller list, who sell thousands of copies, who grow empires and are highly influential in their niches — is that they know that their mind is full of bullshit.
These clients ask me constantly — in all different ways — do you really think I can get a book deal? And when I answer yes, they listen. That same question might have to be asked and answered a lot. But over time, I see the upper limit problem in my client’s mind transform. From a figurative concrete wall that will never change, to a clear glass ceiling where it’s possible to see the dream outcome, and then to the spiritual equivalent of Saran Wrap where one day my client stops asking the question because they know — like they know — a book deal is possible for them.
And that the literary agent and the publisher and the bestseller are all on their way.
Because for my clients and for you — the upper limit doesn’t exist. It never really did.
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.
What I Learned Researching Bestseller Lists . . .
In preparation for Book Deal Bootcamp, my intensive that teaches entrepreneurs and experts how to get traditionally published, I dug into the bestseller lists.
Specifically The New York Times bestseller list, the USA Today bestseller list, and Amazon’s lists of top sellers and most read books.
What I found there surprised me, though in retrospect I shouldn’t have been all that surprised.
The lists of how-to bestsellers? Are currently all white guys, or close to it.
James Clear. Mark Manson. Bessel Van Der Kolk. Peter Attia. Adam Grant.
(Our client Vivian Tu shook the list up a little bit in mid-January with her book, Rich AF.)
The fact that the bestseller lists have been dominated — for YEARS — by white, cis, straight men is a real problem, and not because I’m against white guys succeeding.
(My husband is a white guy. My brother is a white guy. My dad is a white guy. I could go on.)
What this domination signals to me is that women and folx of color aren’t getting the same visibility, initial promotion, sales momentum, and word-of-mouth that these dudes are getting.
And that’s a problem because readers need diverse books.
While most of the research about the benefit of diverse authors has been focused on books for children, it matters for adults, too.
Books written from perspectives outside of our own — and outside the cultural norms of capitalism, structural racism, colonialism, sexism and the broader patriarchy — allow us to broaden our perspective beyond our own experiences.
As scholar and educational expert Rudine Sims Bishop described, books written by diverse authors and from diverse perspectives create windows that allow you to see other people’s worlds that are unlike your own and sliding glass doors allow you to enter worlds that are unfamiliar to you.
Diverse books also lessen the number of mirrors — books that reflect or reinforce our own limited perspectives — that we encounter. Which is crucial if we want any kind of social justice, or even basic fairness and courtesy for ourselves and others.
I’m doing my part by seeking out marginalized voices who have great ideas for books, championing their projects, and getting them six-figure deals.
I encourage you to do your part — by purchasing, reading, or borrowing diverse books from your local library and independent bookstores, by following diverse entrepreneurs and experts on social media, and by supporting their businesses and ideas.
Not to mention pursuing your dream of becoming a published author.