From Ghostwriting to Big Five Book Deal ✨

🎙️ New episode: Omar Mouallem on "Praying to the West"

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Mar 27, 2025

Hey Bleeders!

If you’ve dreamed of writing a book that blends deep research, personal narrative, and ambitious travel, then you’re going to love this week’s episode of The Bleeders! I sat down with author, journalist, and documentarian

Omar Mouallem

, author of Praying to the West: How Muslims Shaped the Americas, to talk about the writing and publishing process behind his truly impressive book that explores the overlooked history of Muslims in the Americas.

The evolution of a book proposal

Before landing a book deal with Simon & Schuster, Omar had already ghostwritten two books for the publisher. That foot in the door helped, but the process of crafting Praying to the West was anything but straightforward. Initially, he envisioned a historical nonfiction book focused on Islam in Canada, but his agent pushed him to think bigger—why not cover the entire Americas?

The final proposal took seven drafts and months of historical research before it was ready to send out. And here’s a publishing dream moment: they only pitched it to one publisher (thanks to an already-established relationship), received a great offer, and that was that!

Pro tip: If your book idea feels too small, consider expanding the scope—sometimes a broader vision makes it more sellable.

Writing a travel memoir on the move

With a book advance secured, Omar embarked on 13 trips over two and a half years, visiting 40-50 mosques before narrowing it down to the most compelling stories. But here’s the reality of funding a research-heavy travel memoir: even with a solid advance, the travel budget was tight. Enter Canada’s extensive grant system—Omar secured an additional $20K in arts funding to support his work. (Shoutout to Canada for prioritizing the arts!)

Balancing research and personal narrative

Initially envisioned as a reported book, Praying to the West gradually evolved into a memoir. Early on, Omar realized his personal story needed to be part of the larger narrative—especially after being received as a ‘Muslim brother’ while researching in Trinidad. That experience underscored the importance of transparency about where he was at on his faith journey, both with his subjects and his readers.

One of Omar’s biggest lessons? Writing first-person narratives can make dense historical topics more relatable. As he put it, history is easier to digest when it’s tied to a personal story.

Writing/traveling time management

Omar’s original plan was to write as he traveled. The reality? The first half went smoothly, but by the end, the writing process unraveled, and he had to tackle the last half of the book after the final research trip. If he could do it again, Omar said he’d build in more time between travel and drafting—ideally a month for research, a week for travel, a few weeks for outlining and transcribing, and then a month for writing each chapter. (As someone noodling on a travelogue, I took notes!)

📣 Listen to the full episode now.