David Moldawer

Writers House – Senior Agent

A book either solves the reader’s problem or it doesn’t. Most don’t, not because the author lacks expertise, but because the proposal never forced the hard questions: Who exactly is this for? What moment in their life do they need it? Why this book, why this author, why now? I’ve spent 25 years asking those questions from every seat in the room. As an editor at Portfolio, St. Martin’s Press, and Amazon Publishing, I acquired and edited books that became category-defining bestsellers, including The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman, The Sports Gene by David Epstein, and Idea Man by Paul Allen. As a collaborator, I helped shape proposals and write books that became cultural phenomena, including Atomic Habits by James Clear and Feel-Good Productivity by Ali Abdaal, two of the bestselling nonfiction books of the last decade. Today I’m a senior literary agent at Writers House, representing nonfiction authors with big ideas and powerful voices. My list focuses on business, personal development, popular science, and narrative nonfiction. Books that challenge assumptions and change the way people think about something that matters. Most people in publishing have sat at one of these three seats: editor, collaborator, agent. I’ve sat at all of them. I know what editors are actually looking for when they read a proposal, because I was one. I know what it takes to build a book from a raw idea, because I’ve done it many times. And as an agent at one of the world’s leading literary agencies, I know how to connect the right book with the right publisher at the right moment. This is a rare combination, and it’s the foundation of a genuine thought partnership with every author I represent.