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The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World Word by Word

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Home » Archives for Tamela Hancock Murray » Page 12

Tamela Hancock Murray

The Writing Life Compared

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon January 7, 2021
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As Soon as Your Book Is Published (Unpublished Author Edition)

  • Your hair will become fuller, lusher, and shinier.
  • You will only write a thousand words a day to make a million dollars a year.
  • You’ll be a bestselling author, and every book will float to the top of the charts.
  • You will be the most popular author at writers conferences.
  • Aspiring authors will fawn over you, keen for your wisdom.
  • You can spend most of your time traveling for leisure and to conferences.
  • Your patina of literary accomplishment will impress friends, family, and strangers.
  • Your editor will never touch your work because of your brilliance.

As Soon as Your Book Is Published (Published Author Edition)

  • Your hair may be a mess since you have no time to visit the salon.
  • You have to write like a fiend every day to make bank.
  • You find that bestseller lists are mercurial.
  • Conferences engage lots of fashionable authors.
  • Teaching fawning writers is work.
  • You have to schedule business and leisure travel around deadlines.
  • Patina doesn’t pay the electric bill.
  • Your editor may exercise his latitude to request comprehensive rewrites.
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Category: Humor, The Writing Life

Your Name in Lights

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon December 17, 2020
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I often receive submissions from authors who say something along the lines of, “I have a devotional book, a romance, a fantasy, a collection of poems, a novella, a marriage book, and a screenplay available for representation.” This sounds great, right? The agent can choose from a variety of projects, perhaps marketing them all! Sheer volume will lead to success! If only. As a creative, I get that …

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Category: Career, Pitching, The Writing Life

You Provide Our Audience!

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon December 10, 2020
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In speaking with a friend recently, she commented, “I don’t understand why Icabod gets invited to every event. Everyone knows who he is, but no one likes him.” I countered that, in attending every event, Icabod is providing a service. As an attendee, he is helping to make the party a success. Our readers provide an audience. They are our bookwormish partygoers. And though Icabod may be clueless as …

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Category: Book Proposals, Branding, Career, Marketing, The Writing Life

Selling Your Opinion

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon December 3, 2020
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After perusing several nonfiction books recently, I realized that authors are pitching opinions. So, as a nonfiction author, it’s your job to convince editors–and by extension, readers–why anyone should care about your advice over the wisdom of competing authors. Education: Have you completed schooling that contributes to your knowledge? If I want a book on Ancient Egypt, …

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Category: Book Proposals, Pitch, Pitching

Wishing You Peace and Love on Thanksgiving Day

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon November 26, 2020
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On this Thanksgiving Day, let us approach this new season with a sense of peace and the constant reminder that the Lord is in control. I post this well-known prayer in hopes you might appreciate reading it again. From St. Francis of Assisi: Prayer for Peace Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; …

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Category: Personal, TheologyTag: Faith, thanksgiving, Theology

When the Movie Isn’t True to Your Story

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon November 19, 2020
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Most writers love the idea of a film company bringing their books to life. However, if past movies based on books serve as examples, most authors can’t count on their stories being presented with complete accuracy, hence, the phrases “adaption” and “based on” the novel. Take the book Elmer Gantry, written in 1926. Sinclair Lewis, an atheist, wrote a satire about a minister who should never have …

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Category: The Publishing Life, The Writing LifeTag: Movie rights

Is This Book Playing Tricks on You?

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon November 12, 2020
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Recently, I read a stylebook with lots of visuals. The author was trying to convince readers her ideas are the way to go on how to look great. Though the author’s an expert, she was selling her educated and informed opinion, not fact. I agreed with much of what she imparted but disagreed with other points. No matter, except that I resented a tactic she used several times with photos manipulated to …

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Category: Writing Craft

What about Credit for Ideas?

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon November 5, 2020
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The “Your Questions Answered” Series __________ If an author asks his or her Facebook followers or blog readers for help in brainstorming, does the author owe anything if he or she uses an idea presented in that way? I have seen some do it as a contest. They’ll ask for ideas for the book title or a character’s name, and if they use one, they’ll give that person a free, signed …

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Category: Copyright, Creativity, Your Questions Answered Series

How Many Manuscripts Does It Take?

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon October 29, 2020
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The “Your Questions Answered” Series __________ I was wondering about debut novelists. I think sometimes readers (and writers) are under the misconception that debut novelists are signed with an agent or a publishing house with their first completed manuscript. But the more I read, listen, talk to other writers, I’m learning how rare it is for that to happen. Would you be able to compile an …

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Category: Book Proposals, Get Published, Your Questions Answered Series

What If I Self-Published on My Way to Getting Focused?

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon October 22, 2020
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The “Your Questions Answered” Series __________ I self-published two ebooks on Amazon and Smashwords. They aren’t/weren’t meant for a wide audience, instead geared towards Christian parents/grandparents who love a heroin addict.  Additionally, my online writing audience is growing.  Should mention of those sites be included?  Different materials from my ebooks.  One is a work-in-progress Christian …

Read moreWhat If I Self-Published on My Way to Getting Focused?
Category: Self-Publishing, Your Questions Answered Series
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