How to pitch a nonfiction book agent: Conversation with Alia Hanna Habib
Tips for querying nonfiction book agents… Plus, how to help your ghostwriting clients effectively pitch their manuscripts!
The world of traditional publishing can be scary and difficult to break into, but pitching your nonfiction book or that of your ghostwriting client doesn’t have to be so mystifying! The other day, I sat down with nonfiction literary agent Alia Hanna Habib to discuss all things publishing.
Alia Hanna Habib is a literary agent and Vice President at The Gernert Company, which she joined in 2017 after starting her publishing career as a publicist at HMH and working as an agent at McCormick Literary. She is the author of Take It From Me: An Agent’s Guide to Building a Nonfiction Career from Scratch, to be published by Pantheon in January 2026, and the Substack Delivery & Acceptance. Among the New York Times-bestselling and prize-winning clients she represents are Clint Smith, Nikole Hannah-Jones and the New York Times’ 1619 Project Book Series, Lauren Oyler, Nathan Thrall, Merve Emre, Adam Serwer, Judy Batalion, and Hanif Abdurraqib. She is on the board of n+1 literary magazine and on the creative council of Aspen Words. She is a graduate of Barnard College and earned her MA in English literature from Rutgers University, where she taught courses in writing and literature. She lives in Brooklyn.
Alia’s authors have been awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the LA Times Book Prize, among many others, and have been shortlisted for the Edgar Awards, PEN Awards and National Book Award. You can find more details about her incredible ability as an agent at this New York magazine article.
Today, Alia has agreed to share some of her tips for pitching with us, as well as pointers on how to help your ghostwriting client pitch their manuscript and how to ghostwrite a quality manuscript for traditional publication!
Interview with Alia Hanna Habib
What has your career path looked like? How did you first get involved in publishing and what are some of your favorite projects that you’ve worked on?
My career path was somewhat unconventional for an agent. Most agents start out as assistants to more established agents, but I actually started in book publicity and worked my way up at the now-defunct independent publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. I always knew I wanted to do something book-related so publishing was a natural fit for me, but I came into the profession knowing nothing about different publishing jobs and roles. After working at Houghton for a few years, I realized that I wanted more control over the books and projects I worked on, and I eventually figured out that being an agent would be one way to do so.
I’ve worked on so many books that I love, and I hate picking favorites, but a few that spring to mind are Judy Batalion’s “The Light of Days, The 1619 Project” book series and Clint Smith’s “How the Word is Passed.”
What are you looking for in book proposals? Can you share some of your dos and don’ts with us?
I love proposals that immediately grab me, without any throat clearing or preambles. A lot of first time nonfiction proposal writers want to make sure to check all the boxes (e.g. pitch the project, give the chapter outlines, explain the book’s market) but they forget that you are also selling a story or an idea or point of view. The proposal should be interesting to read too!
When working together, how can a ghostwriter and client create a proposal that really stands out? What’s the most effective way for a proposal to point out that the manuscript has been ghostwritten?
Honesty is the best policy, and there is absolutely no shame in working with a ghostwriter! I would address this clearly in the query letter. As I mentioned above, the quality of the writing is so important in selling a book, which is why it could really help to work with a professional writer if you have an amazing story to tell or some formidable expertise in a given subject but are not yourself a professional writer. Even if working with a ghostwriter, you want to make sure the writing sounds like you and has a bit of personality and voice.
When we chatted the other day, you mentioned a few of the many benefits to having a ghostwriter prepare books for clients with fascinating stories to share. From your experience, what are some of the benefits of hiring a ghostwriter?
When I’m working with a client who is not a professional writer—say, their expertise lies elsewhere and that is what we are selling—I usually do the leg work of finding a ghostwriter. The challenge is the same as any sort of matchmaking: I’m making an educated guess about the right fit while also working with the client’s own budget, preferences and idiosyncrasies. Sometimes the process of finding a ghostwriter can take a long time, and sometimes you try to find someone and fail. If a writer comes with a collaborator they already like and with whom they work well, we are off to the races!
What are the marks of an exceptional ghostwritten manuscript?
A good ghostwritten manuscript reads just like a non-ghostwritten manuscript. It’s a bit like plastic surgery: the professional did their job if they leave no trace.
If you enjoyed today’s post, please share it so other writers can learn how to pitch their nonfiction manuscripts effectively!
A big thanks to Alia for her collaboration on today’s post. Don’t forget to subscribe to her newsletter, Delivery & Acceptance, for more tips and musings on publishing. You can pitch her your nonfiction book project via email to info@thegernertco.com.
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Another good resource will be @eminietfeld who published her memoir "Acceptance" back in 2022 on Penguin about being in foster care, homelessness, and somehow graduated from high school and got into a good college. She also has a post on here called Post-Mortem that offers hints and tips for first time non-fiction writers - https://eminietfeld.substack.com/