454: Jim Levine - A Conversation With My Literary Agent (How To Write A Great Proposal)

Jan 10, 2022

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INSIGHT

Management As An Unmet Practical Need

Many new managers feel unprepared because they receive no guidance for the role.
Jim Levine saw Welcome To Management as meeting a genuine, ongoing need for practical management help.

ANECDOTE

Choosing Humble Over Polished Resume

Jim described hiring between a brilliant Harvard candidate and a humble candidate from a small college.
He hired the humble, hungry candidate because cultural fit and drive mattered more than pedigree.

INSIGHT

Agent As Long-Term Coach

Agents do much more than sell books; they coach and shape authors' work over time.
Levine compares agency work to a continuing liberal-arts education with long-term client relationships.

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Jim Levine has been a literary agent for more than 30 years. Some of his agency's clients include Ray Dalio, Scott Galloway, Jay Shetty, Gillian Flynn (author of Gone Girl), Satya Nadella (CEO of Microsoft), Tom Brady, & Giselle Bundchen among others… He also is my book agent and he brokered the deals for my book deals for both Welcome To Management AND The Pursuit of Excellence with McGraw-Hill.

Notes:

Early in my podcasting career, I asked all authors I recorded who the best book agent was... And many of them said, Jim Levine.
"Being an agent is a continuing liberal arts education, it's an opportunity to engage with experts and thought leaders in a wide variety of fields and help shape their work to reach the broadest possible audience."
Jim has written and published 7 books and over 100 articles for professional magazines… He's won awards for his work as a writer.
He's the founding director of The Fatherhood Project – A 20-year long foundation-supported initiative to increase men's involvement in childrearing in all segments of society.
Jim takes us inside the process from book proposal, selling to a publisher, and ultimately getting the book published.
"Being an agent is so much more than just selling the book. The relationship is so much more intimate. You have to care."
Building a company and a culture of growth...
The best book proposals he's read:
- The Master Algorithm -- Pedro Domingos
- Welcome To Management
- Smartcuts by Shane Snow
Jim has spent most of his career putting together ideas, people, and money; identifying, nurturing, and marketing talent; and creating projects that make a difference.
Jim graduated Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude from Amherst College, winning Woodrow Wilson, Fulbright, and Ford Foundation Fellowships. He holds two advanced degrees in English Literature from UC Berkeley, where he specialized in Shakespeare and modern literary criticism, and a doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where he specialized in child development and social policy.
Advice:
- Don't think about a job, think about skills you have and challenges you could take on…
- The WHO is really important - Who you work for...
- Be a perpetual learner
- Follow your curiosity
- Have a wide range of interests
What Jim looks for when hiring – Pat Lencioni's humble, hungry, and smart – It's about helping people solve problems.