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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 2018 » Page 2

Archives for October 2018

The Biggest Question About Your Book

By Dan Balowon October 16, 2018
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Authors are like small businesses. They have a finance department, a marketing department and an editorial wing. Then there’s the travel, human resources, IT and facilities management departments, all managed by one person, the author.

While writing quality and author platforms are discussed at every writer’s conference, those aren’t the only factors contributing to the success or less-than-success of a new book.

While it may appear author platform is everything, it isn’t. In fact, the author’s platform can only take them so far. And at the risk of being called a literary heretic, the impact of good writing is limited as well. Successful books are not “only about the writing.”

Books are turned down by agents and publishers every day for lack of platform and for quality of writing, but many books are rejected by their inability to answer one simple question.

“Why is this needed?” (or the more commonly used, “So what?”)

The answer to this question is the literal pass/fail test for every book. And part of a passing grade for a book is not difficult to understand.

And it’s not just in publishing where identifying the benefit to the user is important. If you pay attention to most advertising, you will see how professional marketers emphasize user benefit to advance their cause.  A product isn’t “low cost,” it “saves you money.” The “low cost” is a feature, but “saves you money” is the benefit.

Every successful business is customer-benefit focused, first and foremost.

Often, authors have a hard time identifying the true reader-benefit of their book and need an outside perspective to find it. And if they still can’t locate an easily-defined benefit, then it might indicate a larger problem…there might not be one.

It isn’t a good thing if there’s no easily identified reason for a reader to buy a book.

In fact, as an aside, difficulty developing a platform might indicate followers or readers might not see a benefit to following.

How this applies to various types of books are as follows:

Personal life stories can devolve into books which are “all about the author,” with nothing for the reader’s benefit, unless you are uber-famous and then we want to know the kind of bicycle you rode when you were nine years old.

Information books or opinion books can also be cold, disconnected tomes of detail from the author’s education and experience.

Literary musings can end up being an author simply “showing off” their immense writing prowess.

Even Christian-themed books can elicit a “So what?” response from reviewers if there is no clear application to the reader.

Why do these types of projects get the thumbs-down from agents and publishers?

Because it reveals the author has a greater need to be known, heard and understood, than benefit the reader.  Successful books of all types give something of value to the reader. In general, one or more of the following:

Inspiration

Illumination

Enflame the imagination

Hope

Encouragement

Insight into something important to the reader

Promise of something good

Every type of book must have one or more of these benefits for the reader and if there isn’t, or the benefit is confusing or obtuse, it won’t be a successful.

Keep working on your platform and your writing quality, but first, think of the platform followers and your eventual book readers. If you don’t give them a compelling reason to follow you or something which will improve their life, you might need to go back to the drawing board or ask someone to help you identify something.

Books are meant to be read and for this to happen, you need a reader. Think of them throughout the writing process, giving them something of value in exchange for their money and time.

 

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Category: Book Proposals, Creativity, Marketing, Platform

Of Making Many Books There Is No End

By Steve Laubeon October 15, 2018
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This past week Bowker, the company that issues ISBN numbers for published books, released their annual statistics. They broke out the numbers for self-published books and revealed a stunning statistic. (If you want the history and explanation of the ISBN, read my scintillating post on the topic here. Each country issues their own ISBNs; Bowker is the one for the U.S.) The total number of ISBNs …

Read moreOf Making Many Books There Is No End
Category: Book Proposals, Marketing, Platform, Self-Publishing, The Publishing Life, The Writing Life

Fun Fridays – October 12, 2018

By Steve Laubeon October 12, 2018
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Stefan Xidas has Down Syndrome and a dream of singing the National Anthem before a Chicago Cubs baseball game. His wish came true a month ago. And, as promised, he now has raised over $20,000 for Special Olympics at this GoFundMe page. This one simply gave me a joy-filled smile. Hope it does the same for you. The full song is below in a second video. Dreams can come true.

Read moreFun Fridays – October 12, 2018
Category: Fun Fridays

Caution: Loose Platform Planks

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon October 11, 2018
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I love learning about authors on the internet. And as a literary agent, I enjoy the internet and find connections there that would be otherwise difficult to find and maintain. But as professionals, we must be cautious about what we share on any level. One reason is that we all know the internet is forever. Consider Blake Shelton’s recent woes over old tweets. He is not alone. When I was …

Read moreCaution: Loose Platform Planks
Category: Branding, Career, Marketing, Platform

Remove the Easy “No”

By Bob Hostetleron October 10, 2018
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These are both amazing and perilous times for writers seeking to publish. Whether you’re pitching an idea to a magazine editor, book editor, or agent, an important part of your job is removing the easy “no.” That is, some submissions make it easy for an editor or agent to say, “No, thank you.” Thus, it behooves you (I like saying “behooves”; it sounds fancy) to anticipate the “easy ‘no’” and …

Read moreRemove the Easy “No”
Category: Book Proposals

Eternal Words

By Dan Balowon October 9, 2018
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Every time I read or hear a report of a prominent person’s life complicated by something they tweeted, posted or recorded a decade earlier, I hope the stories are a cautionary tale for anyone desiring to be a media communicator or public figure. We used to be able to put our foolish, youthful or unwise days behind us. But no longer. The world in which we live is one where everything you write is …

Read moreEternal Words
Category: Branding, Career, Marketing, Platform, Social Media, The Writing Life

Words That Still Get Misused

By Steve Laubeon October 8, 2018
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The infographic below from GrammarCheck.com is a fantastic reminder of commonly misused words. They did miss one. I have to pause every time before I write “affect” or “effect.” Vocabulary.com reads, “Most of the time, you’ll want affect as a verb meaning to influence something and effect for the something that was influenced. The difference between affect and …

Read moreWords That Still Get Misused
Category: Craft, Writing Craft

Fun Fridays – October 5, 2018

By Steve Laubeon October 5, 2018
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For all you band geeks. With high-school football in full swing across the U.S., I thought you might enjoy the creativity of this trombone section from China Springs, Texas. 90 seconds of sheer concentration. One mistake might put someone in the hospital!

Read moreFun Fridays – October 5, 2018
Category: Fun Fridays

Why I Left My (Insurance) Agent

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon October 4, 2018
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The number-one complaint I hear from authors about their agents is that they don’t communicate with them. My understanding of this was renewed when I was on the side of needing an insurance agent to respond to me. I needed an adjustment to my policy that will mean I’ll pay the company more money. Alas, and alack, the agency I’d been with for decades (which has been sold twice, by the way) never …

Read moreWhy I Left My (Insurance) Agent
Category: Agency, Agents, Communication, The Writing Life

When Can I Call Myself a Professional Writer?

By Bob Hostetleron October 3, 2018
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I’m occasionally asked the question at writers conferences and via other means: “When can I call myself a writer?” That’s an easy one to answer. “Do you write?” I ask. “Well, yeah.” “Then you’re a writer. Writers write.” Another question, almost as common, is a little more complicated to answer: “When can I call myself a professional writer?” I can think of at least three reasonable ways to answer …

Read moreWhen Can I Call Myself a Professional Writer?
Category: The Writing Life
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