Twenty-three years ago, I stepped into the offices of Keller Media, a premiere nonfiction literary agency, and began my journey into the world of publishing.  

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A few days earlier, I found the job posting in the classified section of my local newspaper: "Literary Agency: Editor Wanted,"   

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Back then, you could scan the classified ads for just about anything -- bird cages, lost cats, a scarf, a missing shoe...​  so I picked up the phone.

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I was hired to guide clients through the process of creating book proposals to sell their concepts to major publishing houses.  In the world of nonfiction, you don't write a book first and then find a publisher.  Instead, you strive to sell a book proposal.

 

After working as a writer for many years, as well as teaching English at a local community college, it seemed simple enough.

 

But nothing about it was simple.

 

At that time, the book publishing industry stood on the edge of a transformation, where the promise of being a published writer was disappearing.

 

You couldn’t just write a book, even a masterful work of art, and find a publishing house.

 

You needed a platform.

 

Yes, you needed a great book idea, but you also needed savvy marketing skills, a potential audience, and the drive to promote yourself on media – radio, print, television, public speaking, and the Internet, which was still in its infancy.

 

Wendy Keller, my mentor, and now friend, ran her agency with this understanding in mind.

 

Few people liked it.

 

“What do you mean?  You’re a literary agency.  Just sell my book, so I can make millions. You’re going to charge me to build a platform?”

 

Now, twenty plus years later, that requirement sits at the heart of every book deal -- along with exemplary writing and the fearlessness to step into the heart of your project focus.

 

By now, you're probably wondering if there's any useful information on this "About" page, like a list all my great accomplishments, which legitimize my authority to give your project legs.

 

Certainly, for over ten years, I served as Editorial Director of Keller Media, where I helped clients evolve across many high-level industries.  I facilitated the development of many book projects, which consolidate a range of beliefs, lifestyle prescriptions, business practices and world views.  Doctors, CEOs, NBA athletes, musicians, lawyers, Silicon Valley executives, former mobsters, psychics, and incarcerated senators have contributed to my client roll. 

 

Ultimately, I guided clients through the creation of countless book proposals, which sold to major US publishers like Random House, Harper Collins or Simon and Schuster.

 

But that's a small part of my story.

 

I have always leaned toward the "creative" side of life -- the artistic , a published writer, writing coach and developmental editor, as well as a musician for many years who has played many stages, a father to a lovely 13-year-old girl, a husband, and, generally, an out-of-the-box thinker. 

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I'm also the great grandson of playwright, Arthur Schnitzler, who was admired by his friend Sigmund Freud, and known for such works as Dream Story, which was made into the film Eyes Wide Shut by Stanley Kubrick.

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Hey, that's got to give me some street cred (I've got a few writing genes!)

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While I've taught thousands of college students how to write, to think, to consider themselves in relationship to the world around them, it's over the course of my experience as an educator -- and an MFA in creative writing (along with the privilege of working with many brilliant clients)  -- that I've become the student.

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My students and clients, musicians, dancers and audiences have taught me how to "listen."

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I'm still learning.

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As an editor and writer, I can offer this capacity to help you “see” into the patterns and elements that make your work tick... remarkably. 

 

In short, I can help you get there.

 

Without question.

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Alex Schnitzler, MFA