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
Content
To help the author develop and create the best book possible. Material that has both commercial appeal and long-term value.
Career
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.
Contract
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
Retro Thinking
The pace of change in book publishing is accelerating. Previously, major shifts occurred every 10 years, then every 5, then every 2. Now, it seems like something causes a tremor every year. I recall about 20 years ago, when a major publisher announced the layoff of about two dozen staffers and then, a few weeks later, posted the same number of job openings, with different duties and requirements. What was required one month was not valued the next. We intuitively know that most of the things we remember from the past, in all areas of life, are tainted by a …
When Should I Write a Book Proposal?
I speak, teach, and meet with writers at a number of quality writers conferences every year. (Conference directors and conferees haven’t yet realized how little value I offer. Please don’t tell them.) Among the most common nuggets of wisdom (only nuggets, seldom more) I offer is this: “It’s never too early to write your book proposal.” Developing writers often express surprise, but here’s why: If you just set off, willy nilly, helter skelter, higgledy piggledy (I can go on like this for quite some time) writing your manuscript, chances are high you’ll create something with fatal flaws, something that will …
Official Publication Day
Today is the official publication day for my new book, Sacred Margins: On the Spiritual Life of a Writer. Flinging a project into the world is always a balance of sheer terror, exhilaration, crushing doubt, hope, fear of hubris, and the knowledge that you’ve done your best. May these scribblings speak in a small way into the heart of every reader. From the back cover: Part spiritual formation and part reflection on craft, Sacred Margins: On the Spiritual Life of a Writer draws from Scripture, vast reading, and decades of experience in publishing to explore the interior life of the …
5 Questions Your Proposal Must Answer: Question 4
Will Enough People Pay for Your Book? Since publishing is a business, every book proposal rises or falls on this unavoidable question: “Will enough people buy this book to gain a return on the investment?” Not how many might appreciate it. Not who should read it. But how many will actually purchase it? Potential buying behavior is far more than interest. Interest does not equal a sale. This distinction lies at the heart of every publishing decision. Publishers are not evaluating need in the abstract. When the Internet is relatively free, the publisher must ask a practical question: “Will enough …