what makes a dream client?

This is the story of Paul.

Paul is the person who taught me to love writing in lowercase; in tribute to him, I still write my subject lines this way. Sometimes it just fits the mood, to shoot from the hip, or the heart — to be more intimate with a reader and less formal.

Paul came to me referred by an author with whom I’m especially close. “Watch this one,” she told me, “he’s going to have interest.” And by the time we talked, he did.

Why did Paul capture my heart? His humility, for one. His grasp of the area he wrote in (building online businesses). He was tough as nails on the things he believed, and the things he wouldn’t do; the ways he would sell books, the ways in which he wouldn’t sell out. All in the gentlest way.

I think he understood I would respect all of this, and he signed with me over the phone, despite his other representation offers, which meant this: I had to do really well by Paul.

At the time (2017), Paul had an email list of 30,000 and a Twitter following of slightly less. Those numbers are carved in memory because the internet has progressed so wildly since, while 30,000 was then a really impressive number, it is now often the threshold for many agents and publishers.

But Paul had an actual following. When he tweeted, people roused in chorus. And he engaged, listened, sometimes heatedly opposed.

Paul was always teaching me things (beyond writing in lowercase). His famous line, which has never left me, is “teach everything you know.”

I won’t keep you waiting in suspense any longer! Paul’s book idea was called Company of One, and it’s since been translated all over the world in 20 languages.

We pitched it as a “return to roots” business book with Cal Newport appeal. (Cal later said of the book: “Jarvis makes a compelling case for making your business better instead of bigger. A must-read for any entrepreneur who prioritizes a rich life over riches.”)

There was something immediately accessible about that title, Company of One. All business owners start as companies of one — how can they keep their practices in line with the values they started with?

Working on Paul’s proposal was one of the swiftest and most rewarding editorial processes I can remember. He insisted on collaborating in Google docs, which at the time was new to me. We commented, edited, and worked on the document together through the course of the day. There was such momentum in getting this idea out into the world. We completed his proposal, starting from absolute scratch, in record time. Maybe 3 weeks from conception to dotting the i’s.

At the very end, we suggested Paul create a Prologue. At the time, this was an unconventional device for a business book. But it illuminated Paul’s world — living in rural Canada — and gave burnt out cosmopolitan entrepreneurs (guilty!) something to aspire to, in returning to their origins, or in some sort of escape.

The book sold at auction for more than we’d anticipated. Better, the editor was well-seasoned and highly respected in books just like Paul’s. From signing to close, the process could not have been more rewarding.

To writers reading this story: what is the thing you want to teach that everyone should know?