The Steve Laube Agency is committed to providing top quality guidance to authors and speakers. Our years of experience and success brings a unique service to our clients. We focus primarily in the Christian marketplace and have put together an outstanding gallery of authors and speakers whose books continue to make an impact throughout the world.
Our Service Philosophy
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To help the author develop and create the best book possible. Material that has both commercial appeal and long-term value.
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To help the author determine the next best step in their writing career. Giving counsel regarding the subtleties of the marketplace as well as the realities of the publishing community.
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To help the author secure the best possible contract. One that partners with the best strategic publisher and one that is mutually beneficial for all parties involved.
Recent Posts
What Is Collaborative Writing? – Guest Post
Today’s guest post is by Keri Wyatt Kent who is the author or coauthor of 25 books. Her company, A Powerful Story, provides collaborative writing, editing, and assisted self-publishing services. Her latest collaborative project, Live Like a Guide Dog, was recently released with Tyndale House Publishers. She writes a free weekly newsletter on writing and publishing at keriwyattkent.substack.com; or visit her website at www.keriwyattkent.com.
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A collaborative writer, sometimes called a coauthor, is a skilled writer who helps a person organize, write, and complete their book. If you’ve got ideas or a compelling story but aren’t sure how to turn it into a book, or if you like to write but know you need help organizing ideas or writing clearly, you might consider working with a collaborative writer.
If you’re a strong writer who’s good at interviewing, summarizing, and organizing other people’s ideas, and capturing other people’s voices, you might consider working as a collaborative writer.
In collaborative writing partnerships, typically one person has the idea or compelling story they want to turn into a book. The collaborative writer (and that’s me in this case) has the writing experience to help an author develop a clear narrative arc, compelling writing, and a strong “hook” for the book (and for each chapter).
For example, I just released my thirteenth collaborative title, Live Like a Guide Dog: true stories from a blind man and his dogs about being brave, overcoming adversity, and moving forward in faith. The ideas and stories in the book are from my coauthor, Michael Hingson. My job was to interview him, ask good questions to draw out the details of his story, help him organize the ideas, do additional research, and write a draft for him to revise and respond to.
Sometimes, a coauthor can be someone who shares your expertise and writes the book with you. Often, this happens when two experts work together to write a book. Think Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend, who wrote many books (including the perennial bestseller Boundaries) together (and also each wrote other books on their own).
More often, though, someone with a great idea (or a compelling story), but not much writing and publishing experience, will find the way to get their book finished is to work with a collaborative writer. Many people start writing a book, but then they get stuck. They might lack motivation, find writing difficult, or just not know how to navigate the journey from idea to published book.
How is ghostwriting different from collaborative writing? A ghostwriter does all the writing and research. They typically begin by interviewing the author, then they take the author’s idea and run with it. They conduct all the research and write the book on behalf of the author. They also, as the name implies, remain invisible, like a ghost. They don’t have their name on the book or get credit for writing. (Some even sign a nondisclosure agreement saying they won’t reveal that they wrote your book for you.) They typically charge a lot more than a collaborative writer, because they do more of the work.
Typically, a collaborative project follows this path:
- Collaborator and author brainstorm together to create the outline and develop a clear hook.
- Collaborator interviews the author to pull out their ideas and thoughts on the topics in the outline. Collaborators often also interview other sources or research by reading other books. I’ve also done collaborative projects where I used the author’s sermon transcripts as a content source.
- Collaborator writes a draft of the book (or sometimes a chapter or two at a time). As we wrote Live Like a Guide Dog, I sometimes asked Michael to write a section of a chapter, then together we figured out where it fit best in the flow of the book.
- The author edits, adds missing information, clarifies, even rewrites my draft or adds content.
- The author and collaborator discuss details and make revisions as needed.
- Collaborator polishes the final draft.
Collaborative writing can help authors who need a partner to complete their book. It can be a rewarding opportunity for strong writers.
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Fun Fridays – September 13, 2024
Dare I mention it is Friday the 13th? You didn’t hear it from me. Today’s video is quite fascinating: Disney animation reusing previous work in a different film. This begs the question, have you ever reused material in your writing? I wrote about the issue twelve years ago in the post “Can You Plagiarize Yourself?” The answer is, “Yes, you can, but should you? If you do, cite yourself.” HT: Dan Balow ShareTweet
Christian Books Are Not Special
Two weeks ago, I outlined some thoughts on why Christian authors are special; but today, we will look at ways Christian books are not special at all. Since the mid-1990s when Internet commerce began eroding sales at Christian bookstores, the uniqueness of the Christian bookselling market has declined to the point where now, for the most part, Christian books play on the same field as every other published book. Of all the “Gone are the days …” statements that apply to Christian book publishing, most have their roots in the decline of Christian retail. The Internet has altered the landscape of …
Can Writing Heal the Writer?
Most of us know, as readers, that the words we read have tremendous power to heal. But can the words we write heal us too? I asked some writer friends if they’ve been healed by the act of writing. Here are some of their responses: When my son was young, we were in a life-threatening accident in which our elevator landed abruptly in a basement and quickly filled with water. Surviving that event inspired me to begin writing, and At Heaven’s Edge: True Stories of Faith and Rescue was born. Writing provided me with a creative outlet to heal both spiritually and …
Show *AND* Tell With Angela Hunt
Writers know the rule “Show, don’t tell,” but is telling always bad? Find out how and when to use both showing and telling in your writing.