Conversations with the Dean - Michael Hyatt

Michael S. Hyatt has a long history in Christian publishing. He began his career at Word Publishing while still a student at Baylor University and worked at Word for six years. By the time the 1980s were in mid-swing, Hyatt was serving as Vice President of Marketing at Thomas Nelson.

But his enterprising spirit had him branching out with partner Robert Wolgemuth in 1986 to start their own publishing company, Wolgemuth & Hyatt. The successful company published books by pro baseball player Orel Hershiser, bestseller The Man in the Mirror by Patrick M. Morley, and others. The company was acquired by Word in 1992, and Hyatt branched out into working with authors and publishers as a literary agent from 1992 until early 1998.
Hyatt's love of the written word and the opportunity to share the gospel message and solid life lessons also led him to apply his talents to writing. He is the author of four books, one of which landed on the New York Times bestseller list where it stayed for seven months.

Hyatt came back to Thomas Nelson in 1998 as Vice-President and Associate Publisher for the Nelson Books division. He was named publisher of this same division in July, 2000. In early 2002, he was named Executive Vice-President and Group Publisher of the Thomas Nelson Book Group.

With Hyatt at the helm, Nelson continued to forge ahead, placing eight books on the New York Times bestseller lists in fiscal year 2005, and dominating the Christian top sellers charts. In August of 2004, the company claimed 14 of the Top 50 Best-Selling Books—twice as many as its nearest competitor—and entered 2005 with seven of the top 10 Christian market books.

In August 2005, the Board of Directors appointed Mike Hyatt to Chief Executive Officer, succeeding to that post from Sam Moore.

In 2006, despite a tough economic environment and a tremendous amount of transition, Thomas Nelson continued to find success. The company went private after 45 years of being publicly-held. The company acquired Integrity Publishers, one of the fastest growing companies in the Christian publishing sector, and sold Cool Springs Press, an imprint primarily focused on publishing gardening books. During the 2006 fiscal year, Thomas Nelson had a record-breaking nineteen books on the New York Times bestseller lists.

Through its forward-thinking strategies, Thomas Nelson has kept momentum and increased company value for the last 25 years. Yet even with all its chart-topping titles, accolades, and awards, Thomas Nelson's success is found in more than prestige or profits. The real measure of success is still found in the distribution of the message.

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[BabsWellcoach]

Michael, you are right about writing the book proposal first. I am working on my first book on childhood obesity and and have been working on my proposal for several months. I have read that if the proposal is well-written, the agent or publisher will be more inclined to ask for sample chapters. The books I've read on the subject all recommend that the focus for non-fiction writers should be on the proposal. Polish it until it shines, then send to agents. Thank you for being clear on this.

[jwilliamsonwrites]

Thanks for posting this interview. I enjoyed it.

[ClayfanEve]

Listening to Michael is as pleasurable as reading his books. Either way, you learn something. As a Christian, as an all-around- great human being, he is a worthy mentor.