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The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World…Word by Word

The Steve Laube Agency

The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World Word by Word

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Who Am I? – About the Author

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon June 28, 2012
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The author biography section in a book proposal seems to be one of the least anxiety-provoking sections, yet I often see areas that could be improved. Here are a few ideas on how to make your author bio section the best it can be.

Include a portrait

When I was an intern on Capitol Hill, one of my duties was to open the mail. On one occasion, we received a resume that included a portrait, which was not the common practice at that time. The portrait wasn’t large, and if you looked like this man, you would put your picture on everything, too. But the office manager said, “I would never hire him. He’s an egomaniac.” Now, maybe my office manager was jealous. (And no, I don’t think he’s reading this). But I thought including a picture was a great idea. On proposals, Steve Laube recommends including a portrait in the author bio. And no, no one will think you are an egomaniac. I have put together many proposals under our banner, and I can tell you that including the visual is helpful. We like portraits that are about the size of a postage stamp. Most pleasing is to have the picture on the left hand margin, with the text wrapped around it.

Speaking of text…

Always write in third person. At first, writing about yourself in third person will feel strange, and maybe even a little arrogant. But don’t dismay. Once you get the hang of it, writing this way is fun. The reason why we ask that you write this section in third person is because your proposal is being presented by your agent, not you. So third person makes sense.

So what do I include?

I like to see a snippet about your life that gives me an idea about who you are. It’s fine to say you live in God’s beautiful country of (name your state — we all think we live in the closest place to Eden), with your spouse/kids/pet monkey named Ivan and you enjoy reading/teaching Sunday School/skydiving. This can be a good place to tell me about your education unless you want to list that under a separate heading. I’d like to see why you are passionate about writing about romance/the Amish/fatherhood/Saturnites.

Special Qualifications

If you are writing about a topic that requires familiarity and expertise, such as the Amish, it’s fine to put your special qualifications here, because this is about yourself, and about your life. Say you worked on a ranch every summer during high school, and your novel is set on a ranch. You can include that information here. Not all proposals will include this section.

Professional Organizations

This listing can appear in the marketing section, but in my view, the organizations you choose to join are really more about you and your professional development than marketing opportunities. One exception: if you are a member of organizations with the sole mission of marketing books, then it would make sense to include those under your marketing helps section. I recommend writing out the names of the organizations rather than using just acronyms, and include the links to their sites. Truly, CBA agents will know major groups such as ACFW immediately, but it’s still professional to include the complete information. I remember once receiving a proposal where the author listed about twenty (no kidding) organizations, using nothing but acronyms. I wonder if the author knew what all the initials stood for. With that many organizations, I’ll admit a few of them stymied me. Not only that, but the author appeared either to be addicted to joining clubs, unfocused, or worse. Better to choose one or two excellent organizations and devote yourself to those rather than racking up memberships, thereby diluting your effectiveness in them and their benefit to you.

Next time…

I hope to blog about marketing helps. In the meantime, enjoy writing your author bio. This is one time you can brag without worrying about making your sister in law jealous.

Your turn

What special qualifications do you have to write your WIP?

What is the most challenging part of the author bio for you?

 

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Category: Book Business, Book Proposals, Branding, Get Published, Marketing, TamelaTag: book proposals, Proposals

The Tell-All You Can’t Live Without

By Karen Ballon June 27, 2012
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Karen Ball

Okay, okay, I admit it, the title of this blog is hyperbolic. Kind of. But let me explain why it’s not that far off the mark to say you really can’t—or at the very least, shouldn’t--live without it. Also, let me explain why I’m addressing something that Tamela addressed a mere 3 months ago.

So far this week, I’ve had no fewer than seven conversations with writers, agents, and …

Read moreThe Tell-All You Can’t Live Without
Category: Agency, Agents, Book Business, Communication, Get Published, KarenTag: Agent, Communication, Karen

News You Can Use – June 26, 2012

By Steve Laubeon June 26, 2012
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What Successful People do Before Breakfast - Reading this made me want to take a nap.

Free Tools for the Frugal Writer - Bob Evenhouse provides some good advice.

The Noisier it is, the Better You Work? - An argument to head to a coffee shop to do your work.

Do You Own Your Kid's Domain Name? - Good advice in today's world. I am glad I had the foresight to grab my name as a domain in the …

Read moreNews You Can Use – June 26, 2012
Category: Get Published, News You Can Use, Steve

Fun Fridays – June 22, 2012

By Steve Laubeon June 22, 2012
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Someone had to be first!

Read moreFun Fridays – June 22, 2012
Category: Fun Fridays

Will You Vouch for Me?

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon June 21, 2012
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As part of my continuing series on proposals, today I'll talk about endorsements. This element can cause anxiety, so I hope this post will ease your mind.

When to Ask for Endorsement

Some writers tell me, "I'll get back to you on that list as soon as I talk to the authors." Or even, "I'll let you know as soon as the authors read my manuscript and get back to me." In reality, neither time is …

Read moreWill You Vouch for Me?
Category: Book Proposals, Get Published, Tamela, Writing CraftTag: Endorsements, Get Published, Proposals, Writing Craft

A Bit of Blogs, Just for You!

By Karen Ballon June 20, 2012
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I’ve recently discovered a couple of new blogs that I really like, so I thought I’d share them with you.

The first is by Jeff Goins, at http://goinswriter.com. I like his perspective on writing, not just the craft, but the work of it. And he has a sense of humor, too. That’s always nice.

The second is The Creative Penn, by Joanna Penn. I love the diversity of topics she addresses, and her …

Read moreA Bit of Blogs, Just for You!
Category: Agency, Communication, Get Published, Karen, Marketing, Writing CraftTag: blogs on writing, recommended blogs

News You Can Use – June 19, 2012

By Steve Laubeon June 19, 2012
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IVP Takes a Book Out-of-Print Because of Errors – This is an impressive (and expensive) response by a publisher. A review by Carl Trueman detailed numerous factual errors, typos, and mistakes for an academic volume on the Reformation. IVP correctly responded by removing the book from circulation and will fix the errors and re-release the book this Summer. And will replace, for free, any …

Read moreNews You Can Use – June 19, 2012
Category: News You Can Use, Steve

Inside a Publishing Company

By Steve Laubeon June 18, 2012
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by Steve Laube

I just returned from three days at the Write! Canada writers conference outside Toronto. During my time there I presented a six session lecture series on the Complete Publishing Process: From Idea to Print.

When the entire process is compressed into a short series like that it becomes evident how many people are involved in the publishing of a book at any given publishing …

Read moreInside a Publishing Company
Category: Book Business, Defense of Traditional Publishing, Marketing, Steve, The Publishing LifeTag: publishing, Publishing A-Z

My Book is Like…

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon June 14, 2012
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When I posted about writing great book proposals, I noticed a trend toward anxiety about the market comparison section. This is understandable since authors need to strike a balance between, "I am the next C.S. Lewis," and "You don't want to read this, do you?"

Aspiring to be like...

Most of the time, newer authors don't think about comparing their work to the work of others in the proposal. …

Read moreMy Book is Like…
Category: Book Proposals, Craft, Get Published, Tamela, Writing CraftTag: book proposals, comparison, competition

Do You Have Perfect Pitch?

By Karen Ballon June 13, 2012
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Thanks so much for all the ideas for my mini-conferences. I’ll put those together soon.

Speaking of conferences, while I was at a writer’s retreat awhile back, I was struck, as I always am when in the company of writers, by the power of the right word used in the right way. On the first day of the conference, I had group meetings with the writers. This is where a group of writers come in, sit …

Read moreDo You Have Perfect Pitch?
Category: Book Proposals, Conferences, Get Published, Karen, PitchingTag: Conferences, Pitching, Proposals, Query Letters
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