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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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I Hate My Job!

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon March 1, 2018
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Well, I don’t always hate my job. I only hate it on the days I have to send rejection letters. Or maybe I should say, I only hate it during the moments of the day that I must send rejection letters.

If you receive a rejection letter either from my assistant or myself, you can count on a few truths:

  • If we say you are talented, we believe it.
  • If we say your work isn’t the right fit for us, you can believe it.
  • If we say you can send us proposals in the future, you can take us up on that offer.

In fact, you can believe anything we say in our letters. We don’t search for excuses. If you think you’ve gotten a form letter, then your work has a similar reason for being rejected that it shares with many others.

Next time, I’ll elaborate on those reasons. But in the meantime, I want to assure you that writing rejection letters causes us much pain. Much more than you may realize. I have a writer’s heart, and I remember rejection of my own work all too well.

So please know that while I’m not able to take on every project I like and every author I adore, I do understand the heartbreak of rejection.

May many acceptance letters be in your future!

Your turn:

What was the most painful rejection letter you received?

What was the most encouraging rejection letter you received?

Leave a Comment
Category: Book Proposals, RejectionTag: Rejection, rejection letters

Should I Blog My Book?

By Bob Hostetleron February 28, 2018
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Everyone has heard of bloggers who made it big with a book deal, right? Why shouldn’t the next one be you? I can think of a few reasons. A blog is not a book I know, it seems obvious (but I miss the Obvious Station often enough that I try to at least check there before boarding the Train of Thought). To choose just one example of the difference: blog posts are written for online reading, and tend …

Read moreShould I Blog My Book?
Category: Book Proposals, Career, Get Published, The Writing LifeTag: Blog, blog posts, Get Published, publishing

Writers as Students of History

By Dan Balowon February 27, 2018
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Anyone reading my posts on this agency blog will get a sense of my opinion and perspective on the publishing life. Of the fifty or so blog posts I write each year, many connect something in publishing to a historical event or attempt to draw some sort of application or conclusion from the books which were selling at some point in the past. To be honest, I don’t know how anyone can understand …

Read moreWriters as Students of History
Category: Historical, Publishing History, The Publishing LifeTag: History, The Publishing Life

Six Questions for a Literary Agent

By Steve Laubeon February 26, 2018
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1. What should a client expect from you as an agent?

That I will work hard.
That I will keep on top of the ever changing marketplace.
That I will maintain my integrity as a businessman of honor and honesty.
That I will protect your interests.
That I will tell you the truth, about the industry, about your writing, about your ideas.

Read moreSix Questions for a Literary Agent
Category: Agency, Book BusinessTag: Agents, Book Business, Proposals, Rejection

Fun Fridays – February 23, 2018

By Steve Laubeon February 23, 2018
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There are two videos today, related to each other, that tell a wonderful story. Watch the first to see how an idea for literally serving a community of children becomes a mission. Raised in France and Italy, Bruno Serato came to the United States with $200 in his pocket in 1980. Twenty-five years later his momma came to visit and everything changed. (More after the video.) Five years after the …

Read moreFun Fridays – February 23, 2018
Category: Fun Fridays

A Writer’s Water Bill: A Hidden Cost of Doing Business

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon February 22, 2018
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If you’re dreaming of being a successful writer, you may not be aware of some hidden costs of doing business, such as buying your marvelous editor dinner every week,  subscribing to writing magazines and buying books on the writing craft, sending your fabulous agent gourmet coffee every month, increased coffee consumption for creativity and energy, a whopping Internet bill to help you do the …

Read moreA Writer’s Water Bill: A Hidden Cost of Doing Business
Category: The Writing LifeTag: Book Business, Creativity, Money, The Writing Life

7 Good Reasons to Self-Publish

By Bob Hostetleron February 21, 2018
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I have mentioned before on this site (here and, most recently, here) that aspiring writers often shoot their publishing futures in the foot, so to speak, by self-publishing a book (or books). I won’t repeat myself again (see what I did there?). Instead, I will talk briefly about the good reasons to self-publish. There are many bad reasons to do so, of course (because no agents or editors seem to …

Read more7 Good Reasons to Self-Publish
Category: Indie, Self-Publishing, The Publishing Life, The Writing LifeTag: Indie, Self-Publishing, The Publishing Life

Penalty Flag: Illegal Use of an Exception

By Dan Balowon February 20, 2018
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Maybe using the word “illegal” is a bit over the top, but at least it grabbed your attention! Because book publishing can be such a subjective or borderline mysterious field of endeavor, many authors respond to the uncertainty by hanging their hopes for success on something which could best be described as an exception to whatever rules seem to exist.  If indeed there are any rules in book …

Read morePenalty Flag: Illegal Use of an Exception
Category: Agents, Book Business, Book ProposalsTag: book proposals, The Publishing Life, The Writing Life

Fun Fridays – February 16, 2018

By Steve Laubeon February 16, 2018
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The bookstore that makes no money! I want one in my neighborhood…

Read moreFun Fridays – February 16, 2018
Category: Fun Fridays

Losing Track of Time

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon February 15, 2018
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When I first started sending books and articles to editors in hopes of being selected for publication, the passage of time possessed few markers. For example, the mail arrived once a day. There was no trail like this on the touchtone wall phone: Wednesday, 10 AM: Your Amazon order was received. Wednesday, 8 PM: Your Amazon order was shipped. Thursday, 11 AM: Your Amazon package is scheduled for …

Read moreLosing Track of Time
Category: The Publishing Life, The Writing LifeTag: The Publishing Life, The Writing Life, Trends
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