Author Mythology

Literary agents Google your name before reading your manuscript. No platform means invisible, regardless of manuscript quality.

We define your Author Mythology: the foundation of your entire professional identity, and the starting point for a clear, personalised roadmap to the platform that gets you taken seriously.

Working directly with Edward J Marsh and Dr David Baboulene, we build your complete professional presence: your author mythology, your strategic positioning, and a content strategy that demonstrates genuine audience engagement to agents, publishers, and readers.

Why literary agents reject manuscripts

Publishers do not buy books. They buy authors who can build audiences. A strong manuscript from an author with no public presence is a harder sell than a good manuscript from an author who already has one.

Agents are not just buying a book. They are buying an author they can sell to a publisher, and a publisher they can sell to readers. When they search your name, they are looking for evidence that you understand your audience, that you have a professional identity, and that you are capable of building readership. If there is no professional presence behind the manuscript, no platform, no evidence of an audience, the agent has to build all of that themselves. Most will not accept that risk regardless of manuscript quality. The reality of traditional publishing is that the vast majority of deals go to authors who already have an audience. This is not a reflection of your writing. It is a structural problem with how you have presented yourself to the industry. And it is one we can fix.

What do literary agents look for in an author?

Agents want to see that you know who you write for, that you have a professional identity, and that you are capable of growing an audience. A strong manuscript is necessary but not sufficient. Professional positioning, a credible online presence, and a compelling author identity are what separate authors who get signed from those who do not.

What is the Author Mythology and how does it help with building a professional author identity?

The Author Mythology is DreamEngine's author branding service for writers pursuing traditional publishing deals. It defines who you are as a writer, who you write for, and why readers should care. It is the starting point for a complete author platform development process, and it puts you in a significantly stronger position when you approach agents and publishers.

Whichever direction you choose after completing it, you will be in a significantly stronger position than the vast majority of authors approaching submissions. Most arrive without this clarity. You will not.

Working directly with Edward J Marsh and story consultant David Baboulene, we build your complete Author Content Kit: your professional identity, your platform strategy, and your submission materials, all built from the same foundation.

How does the Author Mythology process work?

The process runs over three to four weeks across three calls. All three calls are included in the investment.

Call 1: Intake session with Edward (1 hour)

We gather your biographical and creative data, understand your manuscript, and map your publishing goals.

Call 2: Author Mythology Session with Dr David Baboulene (1 hour)

The centrepiece of the process. David is a world-renowned story consultant. This conversation uncovers who you are as a writer: your creative identity, your voice, your themes, and what makes your work distinctive. The process is specifically designed for authors who want to overcome the fear of self-promotion and may be unsure how to talk about themselves or their work professionally. By the end of this session we will have extracted the core of your backstory, allowing you to detach your private self from a public-facing brand that acts on your behalf. For most authors it is the most focused, purposeful conversation about their own creative identity they have ever had.

Call 3: Review and recommendations (45 to 60 minutes)

We walk through everything we have built and confirm it is right. You sign off on your mythology, your voice, and your content pillars. We then present our recommendations for the way forward.

What do you receive at the end of the process?

At the end of the process you receive your complete Author Content Kit, the working documents behind everything a professional platform requires and the foundation for any future query letters or agent submissions. These documents are yours to keep and use regardless of what you do next.

These contain your author mythology statement, your biography in three lengths, your content pillar architecture (the topics you own as an author), your voice and tone guidelines, your hook formulas, your story world detail: characters, locations, themes, and your target audience definition.

These documents also include a complete voice bible, ensuring that every communication, whether written by you, a member of our team, or an AI, sounds exactly like the author you have become. For authors who have struggled with inconsistent messaging or the paralysis of not knowing what to say, these guidelines provide a clear, repeatable blueprint for all future engagement.

You will also receive copies of David's five books on story theory and free access to his StoryPower online training course.

The Author Content Kit is yours. You can use it to manage your own platform, bring it to another agency, or use it as the foundation for DreamEngine's website and social media services.

What are your options after completing the Author Mythology?

Once your Author Content Kit is complete, there are two directions we can take together.

Direction one: approach agents and publishers directly yourself

We work with you to draft submissions and query letters built from everything gathered in the mythology process. You go to market with a clear professional identity, targeted submission materials, and the strongest possible foundation for pitching your book manuscript to agents.

Direction two: building your platform with DreamEngine

Once your Author Content Kit is complete, DreamEngine can build every component of the platform that agents and publishers expect to find.

We design and build your professional author website directly from your ACK. Every word and every section reflects the author you have become, not a generic template assembled before you knew who you were as a writer. Find out more about Websites for Authors.

We manage your social media presence. You choose how much to hand over: DreamEngine creates all content and delivers it to you each month so you remain in control of your own accounts, or we run everything on your behalf including scheduling, posting, and daily engagement. Find out more about Social Media for Authors.

Where your manuscript needs further structural development before submission, Dr David Baboulene's story consultancy delivers a full written report of sixty to seventy pages with specific, actionable guidance on every dimension of your manuscript.

The goal of this route is a complete professional presence built on a defined author identity. When that is in place, DreamEngine can offer a hybrid publishing deal, or support your approach to agents and other publishers from a position of genuine strength.

What the Author Content Kit Makes Possible

The Author Content Kit is yours to keep. You can take it to any agent, publisher, or marketing professional you choose. You can use it to manage your own platform independently. If you continue with DreamEngine, it becomes the foundation for everything we build next.

For authors who want a professional online home, we build your website directly from your ACK. Nothing is generic and nothing is borrowed from a template. Find out more about Websites for Authors.

For authors who want their platform managed professionally, we handle all social media creation, scheduling, and engagement on your behalf. Find out more about Social Media for Authors.

For authors whose platform is established and manuscript is ready, DreamEngine can offer a hybrid publishing deal: professional publication under a legitimate imprint, full rights retained, and royalties significantly above the traditional model.

Why DreamEngine

You work directly with Edward J Marsh and Dr David Baboulene throughout. Not through automated systems, not through email-only contact. Every author has direct video access to both.

Dr David Baboulene is one of the world's leading story consultants. His Author Mythology Session is unlike anything available elsewhere in the publishing industry. It is not a coaching call. It is the process of building a professional author identity from the inside out.

Edward J Marsh has worked with authors across fiction and non-fiction. He understands what agents and publishers are looking for and how to position an author to meet it.

We often work with authors who have been published before but feel invisible because their previous publisher never considered their personal brand. Whether you are a first-time author or have been previously published by a house that ignored your persona, the Author Mythology is the correction you need. We help you transition from being an unrecognised writer to a figure with a clear identity, a loyal following, and the professional presence that agents and publishers are looking for.