Send us Fan Mail Publishing is vulnerable enough to make even experienced professionals question themselves. The path to a traditional nonfiction book deal is not a checklist you can flawlessly complete — it is a long-term act of empathy, relationship-building, creative discernment, and learning how to work with the right people. Traditional publishing often gets framed as a simple formula: write a great proposal, build a big social-media following, find an agent, get a deal. But the reality is both harder and more hopeful. A traditional nonfiction book deal comes from creating a clear, valuable book for a specific audience — and proving you have an authentic path to reach that audience. That proof is your author platform. But platform is not just Instagram followers, press mentions, or a rushed attempt to go viral. It is the accumulated trust, expertise, community, professional network, and real-world access you have built over time. Literary agent Anna Sproul Latimer offers a more useful way to think about it: platform is not temporary scaffolding. It is a mountain. To get a traditional nonfiction book deal, develop a book concept that serves a defined reader need, create a compelling nonfiction proposal, demonstrate a credible platform or audience pathway, and find a literary agent whose expertise and working style are a true fit for you. For a prescriptive nonfiction author, a book that complements an existing business can be especially compelling. If you can credibly show that clients, workshop attendees, customers, members, or partner organizations will buy and share the book, you are demonstrating a concrete sales pathway. Today’s guest is Anna Sproul-Latimer. She is a founding partner and president of Neon Literary, has over the course of her many years in book publishing sold multiple New York Times bestsellers, major book-to-film deals, and foreign translations in more than 50 languages. She represents all types of adult nonfiction — from memoir and history to pop culture, science, and parenting — as well as select literary and upmarket fiction. (For existing clients, Anna represents just about everything, but all of her clients’ careers start and primarily consist of work in one of her two focus areas.) Anna is drawn to buzzing, bright, curious, slightly unhinged authors who are driven by enthusiasm so infectious that (inter)national audiences are already paying attention. She particularly loves books with the vibe of that one other sort-of-normal relative at the family reunion: humor, vulnerability, honesty, refuge, and relief. A lifelong resident of the Washington, DC, area, Anna has spent her life watching power, money, and media interact to shape the line of history. Through her work as a literary agent, she hopes to take this access, experience, and privilege and lie down in traffic with it in an attempt to force it somewhere a little less depressing. Prior to founding Neon, Anna spent nearly 15 years as a literary agent, foreign rights director, and developmental editor at DC’s Ross Yoon Agency, which has since folded into WME. A graduate of Columbia University (BA) and Oxford (masters), she lives in the DC suburbs with her family and travels to New York frequently. Find Anna at https://neonliterary.substack.com. Anna has offered 25% off a 1-year subscription just for Kind of a Big Book Deal listeners at this link: https://neonliterary.substack.com/6beefd17. Have a great idea for a book but don't know where to start? MeghanStevenson.com/quiz Traditional publishing expert Meghan Stevenson blasts open the gates of the “Big 5”—Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Hachette, and Macmillan—to share what every entrepreneur and expert needs to know about landing a book deal. In episodes released every Monday, Meghan shares wisdom and stories from 20+ years in publishing as well as interviews with authors, literary agents, and editors. She also answers questions from listeners like you. Whether you are an experienced entrepreneur with an empire, or are just starting out—this podcast will help you understand what you need to do in order to turn your dream of being a bestselling author into real life.
