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The Steve Laube Agency

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The Steve Laube Agency

The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World Word by Word

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Home » Archives for October 2016

Archives for October 2016

How Long Should You Wait for an Answer?

By Steve Laubeon October 31, 2016
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You have sent your project to an editor or an agent. Their guidelines state “We will respond within 6-8 weeks.” Do you mark your calendar on day 56 and send that person a query the minute the deadline passed?

This past week one of my clients set a personal record for waiting.

She was contacted by a magazine asking to publish a poem she submitted…in 1990. You read that right. Twenty-six years after submitting the work, it sold.

Various reactions centered around the question”what?” Not only had this magazine kept the submission in a file…they actually looked at it 26 years later.

We had another client sell her novel 22 months after we submitted it to a publisher. After nearly two years she had already moved on and sold other novels elsewhere. But was happy to accept the offer.

Maybe there is a lesson here. Both of these clients are consummate professionals. They don’t have just one piece they rely upon for publishing success. The non-fiction writer is always working on new material and submitting ideas to periodicals. The novelist is constantly working on the next project while writing the current one and studying the market to see if there is something she can target for her proposals.

I receive the occasional note from an annoyed writer wondering why I haven’t responded within eight weeks. A couple weeks ago one enthusiastic author called the office the day after emailing the proposal wondering if we had read it yet. Another questioned the legitimacy of the agency and my statement of faith because I had not responded to their email query (which only proved the person had not read the guidelines on our website very carefully).

Maybe the real lesson is if I contact you in the year 2042 offering to represent the proposal you sent me this month…try to act surprised.

 

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Category: Agents, Book Proposals, Pitching, The Writing LifeTag: Agents, book proposals

Fun Fridays – October 28, 2016

By Steve Laubeon October 28, 2016
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When a picture paints a thousand words…

Read moreFun Fridays – October 28, 2016
Category: Fun Fridays

Does Your Reader Want to be Dumped on?

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon October 27, 2016
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A ridiculous question, right? Of course not! No one wants to be dumped on, much less your hapless reader. Besides, she’s not so hapless. She can exercise her right to close your book long before she reaches the end. By dumping on a reader, I mean an information dump. Here’s an example I just had fun making up: Valencia was beautiful and proud of it. Her auburn hair shone just so in the sunlight, …

Read moreDoes Your Reader Want to be Dumped on?
Category: Craft, Writing CraftTag: show don't tell, Writing Craft

An Author’s Journey

By Dan Balowon October 25, 2016
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I wanted our agency client Scott Douglas LaCounte to guest-blog today because of the anniversary it represents (see below) and how God worked through the publishing process and journey to encourage a writer and his family.  Scott is quite modest. He is the head librarian for the Southern California Institute of Technology. Years ago, he was a regular contributor to the popular Christian humor …

Read moreAn Author’s Journey
Category: Agents, Creativity, Guest Post, PlatformTag: Agents, Creativity, Platform

Announcing “The Christian Writers Institute”

By Steve Laubeon October 24, 2016
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I am very excited to announce the launch of The Christian Writers Institute! Come visit at www.christianwritersinstitute.com. Over three years ago I began thinking of the need for a place where writers could find the best teachers all in one spot. The idea percolated for awhile until this year when its development began in earnest. It is great to see it finally become a reality. This new online …

Read moreAnnouncing “The Christian Writers Institute”
Category: Book Proposals, Career, Christian Writers Institute, Conferences, Craft, Creativity, Editing, Get Published, Grammar, The Publishing Life, The Writing LifeTag: Christian Writers Institute, education, writers conferences, Writing Craft

Fun Fridays – October 21, 2016

By Steve Laubeon October 21, 2016
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I want Dug to come to my house. But our cat might not appreciate a talking friend.

Read moreFun Fridays – October 21, 2016
Category: Fun Fridays

Littered with Errors: Can Typos Kill You?

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon October 20, 2016
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We’ve all done it – typed “here” for “hear” or “you’re” for “your” – especially when we’re dashing off a quick email or meeting a deadline. I don’t know of an agent or editor who’ll reject a submission based on one or even a few typos, particularly if the material is so compelling the reader can’t resist losing the afternoon in your book. However, not all errors are typos. This becomes apparent as …

Read moreLittered with Errors: Can Typos Kill You?
Category: Craft, Editing, Grammar, LanguageTag: Editing, Grammar, Language

Creativity Sparks

By Karen Ballon October 19, 2016
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Thank all of you for the blessing of your shared thoughts, encouragement, and condolences on my blog last week. As I suspected, many others have been in this place of struggling to wrench creativity from the jaws of emotional/spiritual/physical fog. Your suggestions echoed my own, from giving yourself time to setting a timer, to just writing anything to get words on paper (I even decided writing …

Read moreCreativity Sparks
Category: Creativity, The Writing Life, Writing CraftTag: Creativity, The Writing Life, Writing Craft

Real Life is Edgy

By Dan Balowon October 18, 2016
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A major topic of discussion among writers of all types of Christian books is the issue of how far is too far when showing someone’s life before they surrendered to Christ, and how real you show their journey of sanctification once they exit the broad road. It’s called the “edge.” A lot of writers want to write with an edge, with real language and situations to make it more like real life. After …

Read moreReal Life is Edgy
Category: Art, Book Business, Book Proposals, Get Published, The Publishing Life, The Writing LifeTag: Edgy, The Publishing Life

Lyrics as Literature

By Steve Laubeon October 17, 2016
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I normally steer away from controversial topics in this blog but the announcement that Bob Dylan, the popular musician, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature gave me pause. My first thought was “What?” To place Dylan alongside previous Nobel laureates like Solzhenitsyn, Steinbeck, Kipling, Hemingway, Camus, Faulkner, T.S. Eliot, and Churchill? I wondered that if, upon hearing the …

Read moreLyrics as Literature
Category: ArtTag: Art, Nobel Prize, Song Lyrics
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