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

It was the late 鈥�70s, and he knew 鈥渢here鈥檚 a writer sitting on every barstool in Cambridge.鈥� 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鈥檚 books, but his specialty is business books, including 鈥淭he Oz Principle鈥� and other bestsellers. His involvement was so extensive on some books that he merited acknowledgements and even some bylines.

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

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

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

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

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