
Jackie Ashton - Secrets to Landing a Non-Fiction Book Deal with THE BOOKMARK AGENCY
03/25/25 • 42 min
Today we’re diving into the world of publishing with Jackie Ashton—literary agent, journalist, and founder of Bookmark, a boutique agency helping thought leaders bring impactful books to life.
Before launching The Bookmark Agency, Jackie was an agent at Lucinda Literary, where she landed major publishing deals for authors like Dave Pell (Please Scream Inside Your Heart) and Scott Shigeoka (Seek). With a deep understanding of the publishing industry, she specializes in helping authors craft books that don’t just share expertise but resonate with readers, disrupt industries, and fill market gaps with empathy over ego.
She also shares her knowledge in The Big Idea, her free newsletter packed with insights on writing books that matter. And as a journalist and essayist, her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Salon.
Subscribe on Apple Podcast , Spotify or YouTube.
Let’s connect!
Subscribe to my newsletter: Time To Live: Thriving in Business and Beyond
Website: https://www.annemcginty.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annemcginty
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annemcgintyhost
Today we’re diving into the world of publishing with Jackie Ashton—literary agent, journalist, and founder of Bookmark, a boutique agency helping thought leaders bring impactful books to life.
Before launching The Bookmark Agency, Jackie was an agent at Lucinda Literary, where she landed major publishing deals for authors like Dave Pell (Please Scream Inside Your Heart) and Scott Shigeoka (Seek). With a deep understanding of the publishing industry, she specializes in helping authors craft books that don’t just share expertise but resonate with readers, disrupt industries, and fill market gaps with empathy over ego.
She also shares her knowledge in The Big Idea, her free newsletter packed with insights on writing books that matter. And as a journalist and essayist, her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Salon.
Subscribe on Apple Podcast , Spotify or YouTube.
Let’s connect!
Subscribe to my newsletter: Time To Live: Thriving in Business and Beyond
Website: https://www.annemcginty.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annemcginty
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annemcgintyhost
Previous Episode

Christopher Helfrich - How EAT.LEARN.PLAY. is Changing Lives in Oakland
Today’s episode is part of Podcasthon, a global effort bringing thousands of podcasts together to raise awareness for charitable causes.
My guest today is Christopher Helfrich, President and CEO of Eat. Learn. Play., the foundation he co-founded with Stephen and Ayesha Curry to tackle childhood hunger, early literacy, and active lifestyles for kids in Oakland.
Since launching in 2019, Eat. Learn. Play. has raised and invested over $32 million—directly impacting underserved children and families. Under Christopher’s leadership, the foundation has grown into a force for change, helping Oakland kids get the nutrition, education, and movement they need to thrive.
Before this, Christopher led the Starlight Children’s Foundation and served as Head of the Nothing But Nets campaign for the UN Foundation, working to combat malaria globally.
And in 2024, he and Stephen Curry landed on the cover of Inc. Magazine for their work in fostering equity, access, and opportunity for all.
Subscribe on Apple Podcast , Spotify or YouTube.
Let’s connect!
Subscribe to my newsletter: Time To Live: Thriving in Business and Beyond
Website: https://www.annemcginty.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annemcginty
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annemcgintyhost
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Duncan Wardle - Set Your Creativity Free Inside the IMAGINATION EMPORIUM
This interview was so entertaining to host because I felt like I was back in college for an hour and had the most interesting guest teacher who made me laugh, play games, and have fun - all while learning.
Duncan Wardle, the former head of innovation and creativity at Disney, is on a mission to teach people how to access their natural creative abilities, to be innovative, explore curiosity, connect through empathy and tap into one’s intuition.
As soon as I saw Duncan in the online recording room, he just jumped straight into teaching and you’ll notice that the first few minutes of our conversation were missing because I hadn’t yet hit the record button.
After a few minutes I thought, hit the dang record button, which I did. Next time, I’ll hit it sooner.
In this episode, you may wonder - who is leading the show? LOL
At one point, my husband overheard us in the distance and said, “it sounded pretty negative when you kept on saying No... what was up with that?” I guess you’ll just have to listen in to figure out what that was about.
https://theimaginationemporium.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/duncanwardle
https://www.instagram.com/duncanjwardle/
https://www.facebook.com/DuncanJWardle
Subscribe on Apple Podcast , Spotify or YouTube.
Let’s connect!
Subscribe to my newsletter: Time To Live: Thriving in Business and Beyond
Website: https://www.annemcginty.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annemcginty
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annemcgintyhost
How I Built My Small Business - Jackie Ashton - Secrets to Landing a Non-Fiction Book Deal with THE BOOKMARK AGENCY
Transcript
Welcome to how I Built my Small Business . I'm Anne McIntee , your host , and today we're diving into the world of publishing with Jackie Ashton , literary agent , journalist and founder of Bookmark , a boutique agency helping thought leaders and change makers bring impactful books to life . She specializes in helping authors craft books that don't just share expertise but resonate with
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