51勛圖厙

He spent 13 years at a college textbook publisher, rising to become an executive editor. But Michael Snell ���67 was bored.

It was the late ���70s, and he knew ���there���s a writer sitting on every barstool in Cambridge.��� But nearby Boston was bereft of literary agencies, so he decided to open one there. He relocated in 1986 to a town on Cape Cod since so much of his work was done remotely.

Over 44 years, he has shepherded more than 1,500 books to publication. Some were novels and children���s books, but his specialty is business books, including ���The Oz Principle��� and other bestsellers. His involvement was so extensive on some books that he merited acknowledgements and even some bylines.

Snell���s strong suit is project development, ���the most important aspect of getting published,��� he said. That can be as simple as copy editing or as extensive as wordsmithing. ���Anybody can have a great idea, but developing that idea ��� takes time and patience and a lot of hard work,��� he said. He requires those who query him ��� 50 to 100 a week ��� to submit lengthy proposals using his template, before he decides whether to represent them. They must provide details ���on what the author is going to do ��� use websites, social media, speaking engagements, you name it ��� to sell books. Publishers like an author who can get out in front of the book and draw attention to the book. ���

���The image of literary agents talking publishers into buying a novel or a nonfiction book over lunch ��� that���s just not the case,��� he said. ���It���s all done with book proposals ��� basically, business plans for books.���

Snell said ���it���s dangerous to go to a cocktail party where people find out I���m a literary agent. ��� Writing a book is still a great dream for so many people, but for most people it���s not going to happen because they haven���t the wherewithal to do it.���

He tells the story of a client who heard from a reader that his 1995 book, ���Finding Work Without Losing Heart,��� persuaded the reader not to commit suicide.

���That epitomizes why people write books, why they should write books,��� Snell said. ���You write a book because you want to be rich and famous? It���s probably not going to happen. It has to be because you want to make an important contribution, whether it���s artistically or informationally, to the world.���