A Digressive Guide to Publishing from the Agent’s Perspective
Alia Hanna Habib, Take It from Me: An Agent’s Guide to Building a Nonfiction Writing Career from Scratch (New York: Pantheon Books, January 20, 2025). Hardcover: $28: 320pp. ISBN: 978-0-593700-87-7.
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“From the literary agent behind some of today’s most successful authors comes a narrative guide geared specifically to the needs of aspiring and working nonfiction writers, demystifying the world of publishing and offering a practical roadmap to getting your book published. Alia Hanna Habib remembers what it was like to be on the outside of the publishing world, looking in. Arriving in New York, a first-generation college student with a love of reading and loads of ambition, she hadn’t any idea how to break into the business of books.” This blurb over-puffs how useful this book is in practice by a mile. I searched for “New York” to understand just how she entered this business. In the “Introduction”, she notes that she helped a friend move to a place with “no AC” in the summer. This whole paragraph seems to be a puffery of a different friend’s writing, but no explanation is given for what has been written, and most of it is empty-air. Later she clarifies that she arrived NYC in 1997 as a college-student at Columbia: a very expensive school that hints she was not poor at this point; though she states she was on a scholarship. While working as “an assistant to the director of cookbook publicity at Houghton Mifflin”, she finishes a graduate degree. There is no mention of how she won this job out-of-college, or what she did there to distinguish herself and move upwards. In the next paragraph, she mentions that she started working as a “commission-only” agent, while doing work as a “freelance publicist”. She describes being challenged, but not the details of what an agent does, outside having a large “slush pile”. She gets the job of agent before she knows what a “book proposal” is… This hardly suggests she is a good authority on this subject… If she self-reports being “clueless”… we should take her at-her-word. Many pages go by and she says absolutely nothing new. She has worked in the same job since this point, and seems to be “asleep at the wheel”.
“Now, years later, in her career as an agent, she hears from prospective clients who, whether they’re experts at the top of their fields or wholly new to the writing game, consider finding success in publishing to be a mysterious and daunting endeavor. Ever determined to flout the stereotype of agent as gatekeeper, however, Habib is prepared to hand emerging writers the key. Drawing on wisdom from her star-studded list of clients, including Hanif Abdurraqib, Merve Emre, Nikole Hannah-Jones, and Judy Batalion…” In a section about Abdurraqib, she describes their biography, and writing-type, but does not mention how she chose this writer out of her slush-pile, or what exactly she did to help this writer achieve success, if anything. She might have met him after he was famous, and thus might have just collected a percentage from emailing in an already-famous writer’s work…
“Provides context and clarity to each step of the publishing process, from the germination of a book idea to finding an agent to represent it, from crafting an engaging proposal to navigating the perils of publicity.” In other words, she rephrases the standard steps of publishing that are repeated in most books about how-to-find-a-publisher. “Readers will find real-life samples of her authors’ pitch letters and book proposals, as well as templates writers can use when querying agents or promoting their work on social media.” I did not immediately notice these pitch-letters, but when searching for them I did find an unusually detailed breakdown of what an author receives when they get a $100,000 “advance”: $21,250 after the agent’s commission, printing costs, and the like is taken out. What drew my attention is that apparently even if a book sells zero copies an author gets to keep this sum and equivalent on-delivery. From my research into 16-19th century British publishing: the advance was used as a loan to the author, which had to be paid back with-interests, and publication costs at the author’s expense, if a book sold zero-copies. I had been questioning if it is a loan-scheme in modern-publishing when such advances are advertised to puff giant-publishers. But this is the first proof I have seen to the contrary. Though having to pay-out $200,000 per-book must be one of the reasons so many small publishers go bankrupt, and only the giant ones tend to survive.
“She also incorporates the advice of trusted industry colleagues—attorneys, accountants, editors, publishers, publicists, and more—gifting readers with a full team of experts to answer all the questions they’ve had about the publishing world, but were too afraid, or didn’t know, to ask. Essential for both the aspiring novice and the seasoned professional…”
Most sections of this book are hot-air, but I did find some instances of useful-info. Those who read this book cover-to-cover (skimming the hot-air sections) are thus likely to find other hidden useful details. It is just going to be a difficult labor to pick out these gems from the rubble.
--Pennsylvania Literary Journal: https://anaphoraliterary.com/journals/plj/plj-excerpts/book-reviews-summer-2025/

Alia Hanna Habib’s Take It From Me is a book that radiates enthusiasm. You can practically feel her love for nonfiction publishing dripping off every page. Through engaging anecdotes and a confident voice, Habib makes it clear that she’s not just sharing tips—she’s letting you into her world, pulling back the curtain on the inner workings of the publishing industry.

That said, buckle up.

This book is dense. Like, “you-might-want-to-take-notes” dense. To her credit, the depth reflects a true mastery of the subject and a whole lot of research. But at times, I found myself wishing for a bit more clarity—or at least shorter paragraphs. Some chapters dive into detailed explanations that go on for pages, and while the information is valuable, I often felt like it could’ve been said in half the space.

This might be fine if the reader were, say, a literary agent or a seasoned editor. But most folks picking up this book are likely aspiring authors just trying to understand how to get their work published. In that sense, Habib may have overestimated how much we want—or need—to know about the inner machinery of the industry.

The first chapter, in particular, is a whirlwind. It dives headfirst into the mechanics of pitching, submitting to agents, and navigating publishing houses. By the end, I felt like I’d just taken a crash course in publishing law. It’s good stuff—but it’s a lot.

At its core, this book’s message is: Don’t quit. And I admire that. Habib gives practical advice on how to persist in the face of rejection and what to do when you’re not writing, but even that advice can feel emotionally exhausting. It’s almost ironic—she’s trying to encourage writers, but the sheer intensity of the information might leave some readers feeling more overwhelmed than motivated.

Still, I can’t fault Habib’s dedication. Her commitment to excellence is obvious, and her belief in the power of good writing is genuinely inspiring. She makes it clear that if you’re going to aim for publication, you should aim high—Premier League-level high.

In the end, Take It From Me is a powerhouse of a guide—best suited for writers who are ready to treat publishing like a second full-time job. If that’s you, you’ll find this book invaluable. But if you’re hoping for a breezy read to dip your toes into the process, be warned: this one’s deep, and it pulls no punches.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC.

I'm not actually trying to build an nonfiction writing career, but I love reading nonfiction and was curious about what goes on behind the scenes.

This book honestly included a lot more practical information than I expected it to, especially about things like contracts, etc.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone that wants to write nonfiction or is even considering it and wants to get a look at the publishing behind nonfiction books.