Giving Publishing ‘One Last Try’

After a lackluster college internship, Austin Wilson ’11 almost relinquished his longtime goal of working in publishing. But when he gave it one more try with a publishing class his senior year, he found not only a career but also a mentor and a friend.

Now, as a partner at a distinguished Christian literary agency, Austin wouldn’t trade it for anything. “We all have a hand in shaping culture in churches,” he says, “and books are a huge way that’s happening.”

Can publishing be ministry?

A book-loving pastor’s kid, Austin always dreamed of finding a career that combined publishing and ministry.

When he visited Moody Bible Institute in high school, Austin sat in a class with Dr. Rosalie de Rosset on “Images of Christ in the Novel.” Her insightful teaching on literature sealed the deal for him. He enrolled at Moody and chose a publishing focus in the Communications program, intrigued that Moody Publishers was located on the Chicago campus.

“I’m so grateful for the foundation Moody gave me,” Austin says, not only in communications but also in studying the Bible. “To dig into apologetics and theological concepts that I hadn’t learned as a kid was super helpful in the work I’m doing now, just in daily life . . . and serving in the local church.”

Kelli Worrall, a Communications professor, recalls having Austin in class.

“I remember him as a thoughtful and excellent student,” Kelli says. “Even in undergrad, he did his work with professionalism.”

Before his junior year, Austin married Kendall, his fifth-grade crush and high-school sweetheart. “She’s the joy of my life,” Austin says.

That summer, he also interned at Moody Publishers. It wasn’t the publishing experience he’d always dreamed of, however, and by the time summer was over, Austin wasn’t sure if he still wanted to pursue publishing.

A course correction

“I didn’t know what I should do,” Austin remembers. But when Paul Santhouse, then the publisher at Moody Publishers, offered a Publishing 101 class the second semester of Austin’s senior year, he decided to give publishing one last try.

To his surprise, he loved it.

“It was super engaging. Paul was a great teacher,” Austin says. “He taught us things about publishing, and he actually had us get into groups and publish a book ourselves.”

Through connections he made in the class, Austin landed a part-time job at Moody Publishers with a team of other student employees to help launch a new imprint for millennial readers.

But a positive hands-on publishing experience wasn’t the only thing Austin got from the course.

“Paul brought in a couple of people from the industry to teach a class,” Austin says, referencing best-selling author Jerry B. Jenkins, among others. “Robert Wolgemuth came to give a lecture on what an agent does.”

During the session that Robert taught, Austin asked a few questions and took notes on a tablet. Robert, looking to add a member to the literary agency he’d co-founded (then Wolgemuth & Associates), noticed Austin’s attentive listening and technology know-how.

“I ended up having an interview—the next day,” Austin says. Robert and his nephews Andrew and Erik Wolgemuth, also agents with Robert, offered Austin a job. After his graduation in 2011, Austin moved to Florida and started working with Robert.

“Robert always led me from a position of kindness and warmth,” Austin says, recounting a clerical error he made during his first weeks on the job. “He handled tricky situations with love, patience, and gentleness.”

As time passed and Austin learned from Robert, their wives also became fast friends—a blessing to both, as Robert’s wife, Bobbie, walked through cancer and Kendall endured a season of miscarriages.

“It was like a sweet season of suffering together,” Austin reminisces, speaking thoughtfully as he recounts introducing their newborn baby girl to Bobbie days before she passed into heaven. “God’s plan was so hard at the time, but I think it helped deepen our relationship together and our relationship with the Lord as well, through walking through that trial.”

Becoming a culture shaper

Several years later, when Robert Wolgemuth moved to Michigan after marrying Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Austin and Kendall moved to Colorado to live near his other two colleagues, Andrew and Erik.

As Austin and Kendall hit family milestones, like the birth of their second child and the adoption of two brothers from the Colorado foster care system, Austin’s career also took off. He shifted roles from an assistant to an agent and began to represent his own authors, including his professor Kelli Worrall.

“When Austin heard that I had finished my first book proposal, he reached out and offered to read it for me—which led to him representing me and Peter as our literary agent,” says Kelli, who authored 20 Things We'd Tell Our Twentysomething Selves with her husband, Peter Worrall MDiv ’00, a fellow professor at Moody. “In all of my writing endeavors, he’s provided insightful guidance and attentive care.”

Before long, it became clear that Austin’s next step at the agency would be his partnership. In January of 2020, Austin, Andrew, and Erik bought the company (now Wolgemuth & Wilson) from Robert.

Being a literary agent has its ups and downs—like acting as the mediator between author and editor, or the scare when Amazon temporarily stopped shipping books during COVID-19. But at the end of the day, Austin focuses on the eternal as he works with such noted authors as Amy Gannett ’11 (Fix Your Eyes), Melissa Zaldivar ’12 (What Cannot Be Lost), Tyler Staton ’10 (Praying like Monks, Living Like Fools and The Familiar Stranger) and Christopher Yuan ’05 (Holy Sexuality and the Gospel).

“We all have a hand in shaping culture in churches, and books are a huge way that’s happening,” Austin says, listing off a handful of other Moody grads he works closely with, including Andrew Stoddard ’09, publisher at Thomas Nelson, and Matt Tully ’09 at Crossway. All are influential players in today’s Christian publishing industry. “We see it as a ministry of helping authors steward the message that God has given them and reach as many readers as possible.”