Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Happy Flower Moon, everyone!
Up in Toronto we're experiencing a wonderful blooming, a beautiful bird migration, and lots of slowly-getting-warmer days as we inch towards summer.
With this warm spring breeze I’m thrilled to welcome our latest 3 Books guest: a luminous force in publishing, a powerhouse editor-turned-author, and a wonderful storyteller ... the one and only Nita Prose!
Today Nita is best known for her Molly the Maid mystery series which features three main titles and a holiday edition—‘The Maid,’ ‘The Mystery Guest,’ ‘The Mistletoe Mystery,’ and ‘The Maid's Secret’—which have collectively sold over 2 million copies.
Raised in Ontario’s Simcoe County, Nita began her career by contributing to literary magazines, became a production editor with HarperCollins, and then became a Senior Editor at Doubleday.
She then held the lofty publishing position of Vice President and Editorial Director at Simon & Schuster Canada and oversaw titles by authors like Rupi Kaur (@rupikaur_), Kate Morton (@katemortonauthor), Iain Reid (@tidydissolve), and... me!
Nita was the editor of my book on resilience ‘You Are Awesome: How To Navigate Change, Wrestle with Failure, and Live an Intentional Life’ which came out in 2019 and my book on gratitude and community ‘Our Book Of Awesome,’ which came out in 2022.
Nita has since left publishing to write full-time and today her phenomenal career and perspectives offer a true publishing and writing masterclass.
Tune in as we discuss: What does an editor actually do? How do you get a job in publishing? What writing routines structure Nita’s stories? Why might you keep the novel you're writing a secret from your long-term partner? How do you write an allegory? And (of course!) which 3 books most shaped her life?
We talk about creating characters grounded in emotional truths, measuring success within the labyrinth-like writing industry, the importance of reading across genres, and much, much more.
Let’s flip the page to Chapter 160 now...
-
0:00:00 - Welcome to Chapter 160 of 3 Books
2:04 - Who is Nita Prose?
7:23 – Nita’s Thoughts on AI
8:35 – Nita’s Journey from Editor to Full-Time Author
14:47 – The Way into Publishing
22:45 – The Importance of Libraries
27:26 – Book One: Lord of the Flies by William Golding
28:45 – What Makes a Book Allegorical?
33:17 – On Navigating the Politics of Publishing
35:30 – Creating Characters with Emotional Truths
41:11 – Book Two: Life of Pi by Yann Martel
46:34 – Nita’s Writing Routine
56:58 – Navigating Loss and Grief
1:03:46 – Book Three: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
1:10:18 – A Question from Editor Amy Einhorn
1:14:50 – On Nita’s New Book
1:18:35 – How Does Nita Measure Success?
1:19:06 – Fast Money Round!
1:33:39 – Final Reflections
-
SUBSCRIBE: bit.ly/2HHWPYg
Hey there,
I'm Neil and I spend a ton of time thinking, writing, podcasting, and speaking about living intentionally. I'm the New York Times bestselling author of six books including The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. I've been lucky to speak at places like TED, SXSW, and Google. And I host a huge passion project called the 3 Books podcast.
Want more 3 Books? Check out my top interviews with:
Brené Brown youtube.com/watch?v=X5l-Auv7h8Y
Quentin Tarantino youtube.com/watch?v=VVFdvfiPB-w
David Sedaris youtube.com/watch?v=wzz8tqnz1mI
Want to read more of my stuff?
https://www.neil.blog/archive/
Want to check out my podcast?
3books.co
Want to learn about my live events?
globalhappiness.org/speaking
Want my monthly book recos?
1000awesomethings.com/reading-club
Want my articles on intentional living?
https://www.neil.blog/newsletter/
I am also on the following drugs:
Facebook: facebook.com/NeilPasricha
Twitter: twitter.com/neilpasricha
Instagram: instagram.com/neilpasricha
Lastly, thanks so much for watching this vid.
👊,
Neil
neil@globalhappiness.org
Happy Flower Moon, everyone!
Up in Toronto we're experiencing a wonderful blooming, a beautiful bird migration, and lots of slowly-getting-warmer days as we inch towards summer.
With this warm spring breeze I’m thrilled to welcome our latest 3 Books guest: a luminous force in publishing, a powerhouse editor-turned-author, and a wonderful storyteller ... the one and only Nita Prose!
Today Nita is best known for her Molly the Maid mystery series which features three main titles and a holiday edition—‘The Maid,’ ‘The Mystery Guest,’ ‘The Mistletoe Mystery,’ and ‘The Maid's Secret’—which have collectively sold over 2 million copies.
Raised in Ontario’s Simcoe County, Nita began her career by contributing to literary magazines, became a production editor with HarperCollins, and then became a Senior Editor at Doubleday.
She then held the lofty publishing position of Vice President and Editorial Director at Simon & Schuster Canada and oversaw titles by authors like Rupi Kaur (@rupikaur_), Kate Morton (@katemortonauthor), Iain Reid (@tidydissolve), and... me!
Nita was the editor of my book on resilience ‘You Are Awesome: How To Navigate Change, Wrestle with Failure, and Live an Intentional Life’ which came out in 2019 and my book on gratitude and community ‘Our Book Of Awesome,’ which came out in 2022.
Nita has since left publishing to write full-time and today her phenomenal career and perspectives offer a true publishing and writing masterclass.
Tune in as we discuss: What does an editor actually do? How do you get a job in publishing? What writing routines structure Nita’s stories? Why might you keep the novel you're writing a secret from your long-term partner? How do you write an allegory? And (of course!) which 3 books most shaped her life?
We talk about creating characters grounded in emotional truths, measuring success within the labyrinth-like writing industry, the importance of reading across genres, and much, much more.
Let’s flip the page to Chapter 160 now...
-
0:00:00 - Welcome to Chapter 160 of 3 Books
2:04 - Who is Nita Prose?
7:23 – Nita’s Thoughts on AI
8:35 – Nita’s Journey from Editor to Full-Time Author
14:47 – The Way into Publishing
22:45 – The Importance of Libraries
27:26 – Book One: Lord of the Flies by William Golding
28:45 – What Makes a Book Allegorical?
33:17 – On Navigating the Politics of Publishing
35:30 – Creating Characters with Emotional Truths
41:11 – Book Two: Life of Pi by Yann Martel
46:34 – Nita’s Writing Routine
56:58 – Navigating Loss and Grief
1:03:46 – Book Three: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
1:10:18 – A Question from Editor Amy Einhorn
1:14:50 – On Nita’s New Book
1:18:35 – How Does Nita Measure Success?
1:19:06 – Fast Money Round!
1:33:39 – Final Reflections
-
SUBSCRIBE: bit.ly/2HHWPYg
Hey there,
I'm Neil and I spend a ton of time thinking, writing, podcasting, and speaking about living intentionally. I'm the New York Times bestselling author of six books including The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. I've been lucky to speak at places like TED, SXSW, and Google. And I host a huge passion project called the 3 Books podcast.
Want more 3 Books? Check out my top interviews with:
Brené Brown youtube.com/watch?v=X5l-Auv7h8Y
Quentin Tarantino youtube.com/watch?v=VVFdvfiPB-w
David Sedaris youtube.com/watch?v=wzz8tqnz1mI
Want to read more of my stuff?
https://www.neil.blog/archive/
Want to check out my podcast?
3books.co
Want to learn about my live events?
globalhappiness.org/speaking
Want my monthly book recos?
1000awesomethings.com/reading-club
Want my articles on intentional living?
https://www.neil.blog/newsletter/
I am also on the following drugs:
Facebook: facebook.com/NeilPasricha
Twitter: twitter.com/neilpasricha
Instagram: instagram.com/neilpasricha
Lastly, thanks so much for watching this vid.
👊,
Neil
neil@globalhappiness.org
