We just talked live with Alia Hanna Habib, literary agent and vice president at The Gernert Company. She has a new book out, Take It From Me: An Agent’s Guide to Building a Nonfiction Writing Career from Scratch, and also writes about her work here on Substack at Delivery & Acceptance. Both the book and the newsletter are full of great insights into the writing life — she’s worth reading even if you aren’t trying to sell a book. We talked to her about the craft and business of nonfiction writing, practical advice for writers, the future of reading and writing, and more:
Why is “nonfiction” defined negatively? Can’t we just call it “truth”?
Every year, nonfiction books are said to be about to die. Is this year different? Or is news of this death greatly exaggerated?
Why books are still the best technology for living inside a story, a group of people, or an argument
Can great books be written and published without a mass book-buying audience?
Whether Substack is the key to future writing careers — or writing careers are key to future Substack success
Nonfiction books are sold on proposals. Don’t be boring — interestingness matters!
Why the future of books isn’t to be more like phones, but to do what only books can do
You won’t want to miss any of it. Just click on the video player above to watch the entire conversation.
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