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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 Tamela Hancock Murray » Page 5

Tamela Hancock Murray

Your Servant, Madame

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon June 28, 2023
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I enjoy historical novels; and so I often see the greeting, “Your servant, Madame.” This charming salute makes me think of my life. How can I be a servant to you? Here are some thoughts:

1. Overarching Purpose: I chose to enter Christian publishing because I hope to serve the Lord. Christian publishing provides a key service to our community by offering readers faith-affirming, uplifting fiction and serious, grace-filled nonfiction that helps and edifies readers. I believe in this mission, and I’m privileged to be here.

2. Readers: I do my best to choose book projects readers will be pleased to see published.

3. Authors: I love walking beside authors, offering advice, encouragement, input, and friendship. Rather than dictating to authors what they must do, I partner with them.

4. Editors: I submit worthy projects they can seriously consider.

5. Publishing team: I’m awed by the amount of work needed to bring a book from manuscript to publication. Titling, cover art, marketing, working with endorsers, launch teams, salespeople, wow! Here, I can offer any support needed.

6. Other agents: I’ll always remember a comment an editor made at a conference years ago. She marveled that Christian agents are friendly with one another at gatherings, unlike many of our general-market counterparts. I’m glad we agents can be congenial with one another. After all, we all want Christian authors to be successful!

7. Everyone else: I do my best to respect others, knowing everything is never all about me. Rather, I am your servant.

Let me know how I can serve you.

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Category: Agents

The Perils of Responding to Criticism

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon June 14, 2023
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Recently, I read a news article about a general-market author who offered a negative response when a reviewer gave her four instead of five stars for her debut novel. She attacked the reviewer, calling her a name I shall not repeat here. The author expressed she was upset that the reviewer had ruined her perfect five-star rating. The author’s response resulted in a barrage of retaliatory one-star …

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Category: Rejection, Reviews, The Writing Life

You Gotta Have Friends … and Strangers Too

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon May 31, 2023
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No one likes to see negative book reviews. However, if you earn a negative review or two out of many, don’t despair. This event likely means strangers who have no personal interest in you, but are reading books only for themselves, are engaged with your work. That’s great news! Where Are the Readers? Keep in contact with potential readers so they’ll be amenable to your books and eager …

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Category: Branding, Marketing, Platform

Hacks for Inspiring Ideas and Descriptions

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon May 4, 2023
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Seeking inspiration? Here are fun and weird hacks for writers. 1. Read advice columns to find ideas for creating conflict in novels. The problems people pose to columnists are rife with family drama, misunderstandings among friends, marriage issues, and romantic entanglements. Even columns about etiquette offer an array of tenuous situations. When you locate some columnists online, you may …

Read moreHacks for Inspiring Ideas and Descriptions
Category: Craft, The Writing Life, Writing Craft

Hacks for Day-to-Day Writing

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon April 26, 2023
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An impulse as a writer is to get to an ending before shutting down the computer for the day. The productive author might decide not to stop writing until the end of a scene or a chapter. With fiction, the author feels relieved when the character has arrived at a good stopping place. With nonfiction, the author may have finished summing up five ways to declutter a closet, and that’s that. …

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Category: The Writing Life

Why Did She Say That?

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon April 13, 2023
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Because this blog’s primary purpose is to help authors by dispensing opinions and advice, posts may hit close to home. A long time ago, I read an article in which a blogger I’d recently interacted with made a snarky remark. I thought, Is the blogger talking about me? So I know that sinking, disturbing feeling of wondering if I’ve been surreptitiously called out in public. I’m glad I saw the post …

Read moreWhy Did She Say That?
Category: Agents, Pitching

Easter Break List for Writers

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon April 5, 2023
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While the start of the new calendar year in January is an auspicious time to visit plans, so is the Easter season. I hope you have discerned His guidance during this quiet time of forty days when we remember our Lord’s temptations in the wilderness. After we celebrate His Glorious Resurrection this Sunday, the following week may be an excellent time to take practical steps you may take as you …

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Category: Encouragement, Inspiration

You’re One of a Kind

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon March 15, 2023
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A ham hock doesn’t usually come up in conversation for me, but recently I had an enjoyable exchange with creative people when we mentioned ham hock. One person suggested a character named Ham Hock would be the county champion greased pig rider. Another said her hero named Ham Hock would be a good ol’ boy courting a big city girl who returned to the farm. As a lover of romance novels, I said I …

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Category: Creativity

Love As a Christian Author

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon March 2, 2023
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As Christian authors, we have many opportunities to put into practice the list of the attributes of love that St. Paul listed in 1 Corinthians 13: Love: Is patient: After submitting proposals, we do ourselves, our agents, and editors a favor by exercising patience. In Submissions Land, editors may feel as though a month is five minutes. Agents might say a month is a day. For an author, a month …

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Category: Encouragement, Inspiration, The Writing Life, Theology

Tips for Nonfiction

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon February 22, 2023
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In response to my post “Line Editing,” a faithful blog reader asked me if I had any tips for nonfiction writers. The suggestions here aren’t considered line editing but are more general. I hope they offer insight. Consider your brand. While you want each book to be fresh, you want to stay within your brand, or the brand you’re building, so your readership knows you wrote …

Read moreTips for Nonfiction
Category: Branding, Pitch, Pitching, The Writing Life, Writing Craft
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