It’s tough to be a nonfiction author these days. People are overwhelmed with nonfiction content, most of it free, and almost all of it engineered to be as enticing as possible: podcasts, YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, Substack, online courses… not to mention AI models that will instantly answer any question you have. With omnipresent options, and all of our attention spans shrinking like mushrooms in a hot saute pan, what would make someone still want to spend 10 or 15 hours reading a book?
To talk about this new landscape, I sat down with Hollis Heimbouch, publisher of Harper Business and Harper Edge, whose authors include Jim Collins, Chris Voss, Satya Nadella, Gary Vaynerchuk, and Clay Christensen.
Hollis shared a surprisingly optimistic perspective on the state of nonfiction: yes, the market is more competitive and fragmented than ever, but strong ideas, distinctive voices, and genuine authority still matter enormously.
During our hour-long Q&A, she spoke candidly about a host of topics, including:
What publishers are looking for right now
Why author platforms are misunderstood
How acquisitions decisions really get made
What authors tend to get wrong in their book proposals
Whether bigger advances get bigger publisher support
What authors should be doing 6–9 months before publication
What percentage of authors hire outside PR firms (and if it’s worth it)
Why second books are often harder to write than first books
And my favorite…. what makes an author difficult to work with
I hope you enjoy our conversation and find something useful in it, whether you’re working on your first proposal or your fifth book.
I’ll also share a full transcript soon for those who’d like to revisit specific sections or reference Hollis’s advice in more detail.
And thank you, as always, to everyone who joined live and contributed such thoughtful questions.
Until next time,
Panio Gianopoulos
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Author Insider is where writers get the real story of publishing—thoughtful conversations with bestselling authors and industry insiders, clear-eyed analysis of where the market is headed, and practical strategies for building a sustainable writing career. Whether you’re just starting out or several books in, the goal is the same: helping you make smarter decisions about your work.
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Until next time,
Panio Gianopoulos
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