Helping to Change the World…Word by Word
The Steve Laube Agency
Helping to Change the World Word by Word
In case you were wondering, today is the 199th birthday of the state of Maine. It is also the birth date of Saint Nicholas (270 A.D.) But that was merely to get your attention.
Today’s video reveals something every writer needs so they can spend more time writing and less time on social media.
Sorry. This video sketch has been around for 10 years, but it still makes me laugh! Ever met someone like this at a gathering? “What do you do?” “I’m a writer.” Conversation goes downhill from there… !HAH!
L.D. asked some etiquette questions that may be of help to everyone: – How long do you wait before following up with an editor/agent once you’ve sent your requested manuscript to the editor/agent? – If you’ve already sent the proposal to the editor and they’re preparing to present it to the editorial board, but you have an article published from a highly respected …
Most of you have the “privilege” of experiencing snow in your backyard every winter. But not here in Phoenix and Tucson. Last week our state was “blessed” with snow. My daughter and husband live in Tucson and were rather startled by the white blanket over their city. See her in the photo below. She also sent us the one above. Even the Tucson police were confused. Enjoy …
The intent of our blog and podcast is to help writers understand what they need to know about the publishing industry and to hopefully succeed with their books. Everything from craft to conferences to proposals and even to ISBN numbers. We’ve been attempting this for nearly 10 years and yet many writers still have questions. Some are answered in our archives; but it isn’t easy to …
Enjoy this incredible performance of the “The Entertainer” on a classical guitar. Richard Smith is one of the USA’s greatest players, named to the National Thumbpickers Hall of Fame in 2009. He makes this look so easy! (Note the series of chords and notes at the 2:27 mark.) By the way, the fellow sitting next to him during the performance is the legendary player Tommy Emmanuel. I …
Periodically, I like to let our readers know about some of the special things we are doing to help teach writers via The Christian Writers Institute (CWI). We love to see Christian writers learn, grow, and succeed in their craft. As part of that, CWI is offering you a chance to win a Super Bundle Giveaway. This is the biggest we have ever created! The giveaway comes with thirty-five of the best …
This is fun to watch. Imagine how hard it was to edit this piece. But even harder would have been convincing hundreds of people in other countries to participate! Hope this makes you smile today.
For fiction writers, there is an important self-editing technique called RUE (Resist the Urge to Explain). The problem occurs when an author overwrites a scene and explains every thought, movement, etc., or fails to allow the reader to fill in the details, thereby ruining the reading experience. The concept is described extremely well in Browne & King’s Self-Editing for Fiction Writers. …
The necessity of proper grammar is a blessing and a curse. A blessing for clear communication and consistency in how we communicate. A curse because it can be so complicated—everything from spelling to punctuation to phraseology. To make matters confusing, there are conflicting style guides. The Associated Press (AP) Stylebook has some key differences from The Chicago Manual of Style (used by all …
