248: What Literary Agents Are Really Looking for with Michele Martin

A lot of people think about sharing their story and writing their own book. As a creative, my bets are that you’ve considered this idea as well. But the publishing world can be intimidating, and figuring out where to get started can be overwhelming. 

Our guest today is Michele Martin. Michele is a literary agent and the founder of MDM Management. She started in the book publishing industry in the 1970s and has worked as an associate publisher at Random House, Simon Schuster, and other major book publishers. Most importantly, she’s my book agent for Artpreneur. 

What makes your book proposal stand out to an agent? What makes them take a second look at your proposal in the middle of looking at hundreds of other proposals each week? Here are three pieces of advice from Michele: 

• Have a unique idea 

• Have an established platform 

• Have a defined, personal voice 

“Your book has to be clearly new enough that they’re willing to take another book off the shelf to put yours on it.” - Michele Martin 

Writing a book is a fun process. The journey to getting it published can be exciting. And there’s nothing like the feeling you get when people tell you that your book helped them, or that they connected with your story. 

For full show notes, go to schulmanart.com/248

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