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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 Steve Laube » Page 33

Steve Laube

Today Is a Good Day to (re)Read

By Steve Laubeon March 28, 2022
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What was the favorite book you read, cover to cover, in the last year or so? Why is it your favorite? (It can be fiction or nonfiction, faith-based or not.) Feel free to tell us in the comments about yours. We all want to expand our reading lists!

Read It Again

Now that you’ve identified the book, read it again. As Vladimir Nabakov wrote:

Curiously enough, one cannot read a book: one can only reread it. A good reader, a major reader, an active and creative reader is a rereader” (from Nabokov’s speech “Good Readers and Writers” (pdf link) delivered in his 1948 collection Lectures on Literature).

That may seem like an overstatement. After all, we have only so much time in a day. Why am I suggesting this?

Learn From the Best

The first time you read a book, if you are able to turn off your editing instincts, you are caught up in the story, the characters, or the nonfiction point the teacher is trying to make. But this time, while you reread, look for the technique of the writer. Look at the structure and argument trail. Note how a character is described for the first time and when that happens. Try to discover what made this a magical book for you.

The beauty of this analysis is that you are no longer entranced by the what-if or the conclusion. You know where the book is going. So now you can use the book as a teacher of writing.

I even recommend reading with multicolored pencils or pens at the ready. (A little harder to accomplish with an e-reader.) Use one color for emotion. Another for major points. Another for descriptions. Another for anecdotes. (I’m mixing fiction and nonfiction in my examples on purpose.) Let the great writers teach you.

Immersive Reading

In addition, the second or third time through a book you may find an idea you missed the first time. For example, I suspect you may have read C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity a while ago. I can almost guarantee that if you reread it today, it will speak to you again but in a new way because you are likely in a different place spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally than you were the first time. (And if you’ve never read it? Put it at the top of your list.)

Even a great novel can do the same. In the last decade, I have reread Dune by Frank Herbert, twice. It is considered to be one of the greatest science-fiction novels of all time. I am continually struck by the power of religion in the lives of each character, something I glossed over the first time because of the extraordinary saga that was told.

Enjoy your (re)reading experience. Tell us what you discovered!

(A version of this post was published in January 2013.)

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Category: Art, Craft, Reading, Writing CraftTag: Reading, Writing Craft

Fun Fridays – March 25, 2022

By Steve Laubeon March 25, 2022
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Watch the miracle of growth in today’s video: a one-year time lapse of the growth of a mango tree. Starting with a seed. Extraordinary to watch. But even more intriguing is that it will take another 3-5 years before it will bear fruit. Think of the metaphor of the writing life. From the seed of an idea. Then writing 300 words a day for a year will create the foundation of a 100,000-word …

Read moreFun Fridays – March 25, 2022
Category: Fun Fridays

Fun Fridays – March 18, 2022

By Steve Laubeon March 18, 2022
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Everyone starts somewhere. Sixty years ago a seven-year-old played his cello for President John F. Kennedy (and former President Eisenhower who was also in attendance). The performance was at the National Cultural Center, which was later renamed The Kennedy Center. The young boy is introduced by Leonard Bernstein. The cellist? Yo-Yo Ma. To put more historical context to this event: Thirty days …

Read moreFun Fridays – March 18, 2022
Category: Fun Fridays

A Is for Agent

By Steve Laubeon March 14, 2022
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by Steve Laube

I thought it might be fun to write a series that addresses some of the basic terms that define our industry. The perfect place to start, of course, is the letter "A." And even better to start with the word "Agent."

If you are a writer, you've got it easy. When you say you are a writer your audience lights up because they know what that means. (Their perception is that you …

Read moreA Is for Agent
Category: Agents, Book Business, Book Business, Career, Creativity, E-Books, Legal Issues, Publishing A-Z, Writing CraftTag: Agent, Book Business, publishing

Fun Fridays – March 11, 2022

By Steve Laubeon March 11, 2022
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Your publishing life in pictures. Los Angeles, California. Created by @dailyoverview, source imagery: @nearmap. New Orleans, Louisiana. Created by @benjaminrgrant, source imagery: @nearmap. Houston, Texas. Created by @dailyoverview, source imagery: @nearmap. Los Angeles, California. Created by @benjaminrgrant, source imagery: @nearmap. Sagamihara, Japan. Drone photo by Rob Antill (@digitalanthill) …

Read moreFun Fridays – March 11, 2022
Category: The Writing Life

Amazon Closes Physical Bookstores

By Steve Laubeon March 7, 2022
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In case you missed the news last Wednesday, Amazon announced that they are closing their 24 physical bookstores in the US. In addition, they are closing 44 other popup stores and 4-Star locations, which are not bookstores. (Thus the number 68 that you may have heard cited.) They first opened a physical bookstore over six years ago in Seattle. Their list of locations in 12 states and D.C. can be …

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Category: Book Business

Fun Fridays – March 4, 2022

By Steve Laubeon March 4, 2022
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If it were the month of May I could write, “May the fourth be with you.” But it is only March, so you’ll have to use your imagination. Today’s video is an illustration of all the roles an indie author must take to write, edit, produce, and market their own book. HAH! Actually, it’s a really creative vocalist. Watch and enjoy! (If you cannot see the embedded video in …

Read moreFun Fridays – March 4, 2022
Category: Fun Fridays

B Is for Buy Back

By Steve Laubeon February 28, 2022
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by Steve Laube

Many authors are also speakers and as such usually have a book table in the back of the room where the audience can purchase a copy of their book during an event. This can be a very valuable source of income for the author if they have negotiated a “buy back” price (also known as the author’s discount) at the time of signing their book contract.

Check Your Contract …

Read moreB Is for Buy Back
Category: Book Business, Publishing A-ZTag: Author Buy Back, Author Purchases, Author Sales Tax, Book Business, Publishing A-Z

Fun Fridays – February 25, 2022

By Steve Laubeon February 25, 2022
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23 Reasons Why You Should Not Be Wasting Time on Fun Fridays: What do you call a joke that isn’t funny? A sentence. Back in 1980, I fell off my bike, twisted my foot, and hurt my knee. I’m telling you this now because there was no social media in the ’80s. What do sprinters eat before a race? Nothing; they fast. I was shocked when I found out my toaster wasn’t waterproof. Who shaves at least 20 …

Read moreFun Fridays – February 25, 2022
Category: Fun Fridays

D Is for Dispute Resolution

By Steve Laubeon February 21, 2022
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by Steve Laube

Pray that it never happens to you. But if there is a situation where you find yourself in a legal battle with your publisher regarding your book contract there are terms that will dictate how that disagreement is handled.

Here is one version from an old contract:
Any claim or dispute arising from or related to this Agreement shall be settled by mediation and, if …

Read moreD Is for Dispute Resolution
Category: Book Business, Contracts, Publishing A-ZTag: Book Business, Contracts, Disputes
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