When you walk into a bookstore and see the thousands of books lining the shelves, not to mention the millions of books available online, it probably feels like there is an infinite number of big names, and movers and shakers behind it all.

Once you get into this world, though—especially if you get into traditional publishing circles—you’ll discover that there is a much smaller group of people with incredible connections, vast experience, and tons of respect they’ve earned from others. Many of those people are literary agents.

I’m excited to bring you this conversation with one such mover and shaker—Mary DeMuth. Mary is a literary agent with Books and Such Literary Management. In addition, she’s an international speaker, podcaster, and a novelist and nonfiction author of over 40 books, including, WE TOO: How the Church Can Respond Redemptively to the Sexual Abuse Crisis.

Mary loves to help people re-story their lives. She lives in Texas with her husband of almost 30 years and is the mom to three adult children. Find out more at marydemuth.com, @MaryDeMuth (Instagram & Twitter), or be prayed for on her daily prayer podcast, Pray Every Day. To see her artwork, go to marydemuth.com/art. To find out more about her work as a literary agent, visit her site at marydemuthliterary.com.

In this conversation, Mary and I talked about her work as a literary agent, her views on the practice of ghostwriting, her daily podcast, traditional versus indie publishing, and much more!