Chapter 160: Nita Prose on mastering manuscripts and making Molly the Maid

Happy ​Flower Moon​, everyone! Up in Toronto we're experiencing a wonderful blooming, a beautiful ​bird migration​, and lots of slowly-getting-warmer days as we inch towards summer. With this warm spring breeze I'm thrilled to welcome our latest 3 Books guest: a luminous force in publishing, a powerhouse editor-turned-author, and a wonderful storyteller ... the one and only ​Nita​​ Prose​! Today Nita is best known for her ​Molly the Maid​ mystery series which features three main titles and a holiday edition—'​The Maid​,' '​The​​ ​​Mystery Guest​,' '​The Mistletoe Mystery​,' and '​The Maid's Secret​'—which have collectively sold over 2 million copies. Raised in Ontario's Simcoe County, Nita began her career by contributing to literary magazines, became a production editor with HarperCollins, and then became a Senior Editor at Doubleday. She then held the lofty publishing position of Vice President and Editorial Director at Simon & Schuster Canada and oversaw titles by authors like Rupi Kaur (​@rupikaur_​), Kate Morton (​@katemortonauthor​), Iain Reid (​@tidydissolve​), and... me! Nita was the editor of my book on resilience '​You Are Awesome: How To Navigate Change, Wrestle with Failure, and Live an Intentional Life​' which came out in 2019 and my book on gratitude and community '​Our Book Of Awesome​,' which came out in 2022. Nita has since left publishing to write full-time and today her phenomenal career and perspectives offer a true publishing and writing masterclass. Tune in as we discuss: What does an editor actually do? How do you get a job in publishing? What writing routines structure Nita's stories? Why might you keep the novel you're writing a secret from your long-term partner? How do you write an allegory? And (of course!) which 3 books most shaped her life? We talk about creating characters grounded in emotional truths, measuring success within the labyrinth-like writing industry, the importance of reading across genres, and much, much more. Let's flip the page to Chapter 160 now...