
with host artist Miriam Schulman
A lot of people think about sharing their story and writing their own book. As a creative, my bets are that you’ve considered this idea as well. But the publishing world can be intimidating, and figuring out where to get started can be overwhelming.
Our guest today is Michele Martin. Michele is a literary agent and the founder of MDM Management. She started in the book publishing industry in the 1970s and has worked as an associate publisher at Random House, Simon Schuster, and other major book publishers. Most importantly, she’s my book agent for Artpreneur.
In this podcast, you will discover…
What makes your book proposal stand out to an agent? What makes them take a second look at your proposal in the middle of looking at hundreds of other proposals each week? Here are three pieces of advice from Michele:
- Have a unique idea
- Have an established platform
- Have a defined, personal voice
“Your book has to be clearly new enough that they’re willing to take another book off the shelf to put yours on it.” – Michele Martin
Writing a book is a fun process. The journey to getting it published can be exciting. And there’s nothing like the feeling you get when people tell you that your book helped them, or that they connected with your story.
Links Mentioned
Connect with Michele Martin:
Books!
About Michele
I am a literary agent. I started in book publishing in the 1970s as an assistant at Doubleday. I spent the next few decades as Associate Publisher or Publisher at Random House, Simon & Schuster and other major book publishing companies. I became a literary agent, by accident, about 15 years ago and never looked back.
www.mdm-management.com
About the host, Miriam Schulman
Miriam Schulman is an artist business coach, working artist, and author of Artpreneur: The Step-by-Step Guide to Making a Sustainable Living from Your Creativity, published by HarperCollins Leadership. After building her own multiple-six-figure art business, Miriam created The Inspiration Place, a podcast ranked among the top 0.5% of podcasts worldwide by Listen Notes. Through her coaching programs, podcast, and book, she has helped thousands of visual artists strengthen their marketing, attract collectors, and build sustainable art businesses.
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Listener shout out of the week!

Great podcast!
☆☆☆☆☆
I have listened to so many episodes that I lost count. I learnt so many fundamental building blocks to sell one’s artworks and this knowledge became instrumental in building my own art business. The show is always easy to listen to–great pacing and great guests–while I work.
~ michelleksfung
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