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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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We’re Engaged!

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon November 14, 2024
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No, we’re not engaged in anticipation of a wedding. We’re engaged in your work as literary agents. When we respond to you with suggestions, we’ve read enough of your work to discern that we like your writing style and story and may eventually pursue representation.

If we offer recommendations, please consider them. As a writer, you have a right not to take any of our suggestions. Let’s say you’ve sent a proposal for a nonfiction book on grief, and we suggest you write a novel about happiness. You can say, “No, I’m not going to write about happiness.” When you and an agent don’t agree on where your career should go, that’s part of the learning process for you both. We all want you to be represented by the right agent for you.

If you like our ideas and want to learn more, you can either ask us questions or implement some of our suggestions and try us again. When you write back, remind us we’ve been in touch.

Even when a writer incorporates our suggestions, we can’t guarantee we’ll offer representation. However, if we still don’t connect, you have started to form a good business relationship with an agent. You have shown us you’ll listen. We’ll remember your cooperative attitude should you approach us again in the future.

Only some authors receive feedback. Many find this frustrating. We get it. We know you work hard on your proposals and consider feedback helpful. Let me emphasize that my office declines outstanding submissions by talented authors every day.

Here are some reasons why we don’t always offer feedback:

  1. We have too many submissions to take an hour or so to write each author an essay.
  2. The book is not, and never will be, in a category we represent.
  3. We do not have a suitable set of contacts for you.
  4. We do not feel the book will make an impact in an oversaturated market.
  5. The book is too similar to what one of our current authors is writing.

Most literary agents can only offer feedback to authors they are actively working with. Authors searching for comments can join any number of professional organizations for writers who offer contests, critique groups, and other ways to gain feedback.

Everyone at our agency wants you to be a successful author. We appreciate you for being part of our blog community. Keep writing, and keep submitting!

 

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Category: Agents

Point of View #4

By Lynette Easonon November 13, 2024
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Last time I talked about Deep Point of View. Now, let’s jump into some practical tips for application. Eliminate “Distance” Words Eliminate “distance” words like “saw,” “heard,” “felt,” “thought,” “wondered,” “noticed,” and so on. Is there ever a time you’d use those? Of course, but for now, let’s try not to use them. I call them “distance” words because they distance the reader from …

Read morePoint of View #4
Category: Craft, Writing Craft

How to Be a Successful Author-Entrepreneur With Kara Swanson

By Thomas Umstattd, Jr.on November 12, 2024
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Become an author entrepreneur by learning to leverage transferrable business skills to build a sustainable writing career.

Read moreHow to Be a Successful Author-Entrepreneur With Kara Swanson
Category: The Writing Life

Veterans Day

By Steve Laubeon November 11, 2024
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Today is a special day in the United States where we honor our veterans. It is our opportunity to thank and celebrate all those who have served our country in military service. Thank you for your service! In 2021, Andrew Budek-Schmeisser posted these great words, and we are reposting them with his permission. They are perfect for this day: They did not have deferments,or parents in high places,yet …

Read moreVeterans Day
Category: Personal

Fun Fridays – November 8, 2024

By Steve Laubeon November 8, 2024
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Today’s video is a classic problem for those of us who love books. Can anyone relate?

Read moreFun Fridays – November 8, 2024
Category: Fun Fridays

Writing Out of Your Mind

By Dan Balowon November 6, 2024
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To be a successful working author, at some point in time you need to write about things that don’t already exist in your mind. Even Christian writers are not immune to this. If you write about something in the Bible and never learn the context or study the actual meaning of the text, you might be missing something important. Relying on memory or thinking, I know this stuff, can be dangerous. …

Read moreWriting Out of Your Mind
Category: Creativity

Why Can’t I Find My New Book in My Local Bookstore?

By Steve Laubeon November 4, 2024
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Some might think this question is silly and antiquated since we know that 100% of all books are sold by Amazon and that no one buys physical books any more, and least of all in physical bookstores. Why? Because there aren’t any more bookstores! They have all closed. But wait. Even if a publisher attributes 50% of their total physical book sales to Amazon, we cannot ignore the other 50%! But …

Read moreWhy Can’t I Find My New Book in My Local Bookstore?
Category: Book Business, Book Sales, MarketingTag: Book Business, Book Sales, Bookstores

Fun Fridays – November 1, 2024

By Steve Laubeon November 1, 2024
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Today is my wife’s birthday. Pardon me while I send her this video greeting.  (I’m the one at the end of the video wearing glasses.)

Read moreFun Fridays – November 1, 2024
Category: Fun Fridays

Write Through Your Fears

By Bob Hostetleron October 31, 2024
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What are you afraid of? Poor sentence structure, such as that question? Or something else? Writers may not fear ghosts, goblins, ghouls, or other Halloweeny frights. But anyone who writes—and especially those who write for publication—must face his or her fears, or choose some less terrifying profession, such as bomb squad technician. Some of us dread ridicule. Rejection. Insignificance. Poverty. …

Read moreWrite Through Your Fears
Category: The Writing Life

Developing Characters’ Inner Conflicts

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon October 30, 2024
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My husband and I just read The Pursuit of Christian Maturity: Flourishing in the Grace and Knowledge of Christ by A. W. Tozer, compiled and edited by James L. Snyder. Steve Laube represents a portion of Tozer’s literary estate. The book offers many excellent points and is worth reading. An overarching lesson on obstacles to a fulfilling relationship with God made me think of writing about the …

Read moreDeveloping Characters’ Inner Conflicts
Category: Craft, Writing Craft
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