125. Agents and Writers: The Scoop from Agent Kate McKean

Polly Campbell talks with writer and agent Kate McKean, vice-president of Howard Morhaim Literary Agency talks about how agents choose books to represent, the intangibles that result in a sale--or not, and how she works with writers. Instead of playing to trends Kate says to write the book you want to write and give her the book "I don't know I need." "I want to help create a book that exemplifies the author's goals," Kate says. And when it comes to writing and selling that nonfiction proposal Kate says to consider these questions: Why does the reader care about this book? What problem does the reader have that your book will solve? Then write that thing. But whatever you do "don't kill the dog," Kate says. In this episode, we cover the ins and outs of how agents work and what they are looking for from authors. Learn more and join the Simply Write community for tips and feedback at https://simplywrite.substack.com Comment and connect with Polly at www.pollycampbell.com and please leave a review and share this podcast. Thank you for listening. *We apologize for the wonky sound in the episode but Kate is fabulous and this episode is filled with helpful information so we hope you stay tuned. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices