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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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In Defense of Social Media

By Dan Balowon January 30, 2018
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Today I am going to stick up for the poor, downtrodden multibillion dollar global public corporations behind social media.

Blamed for everything from the breakdown of the family to the dissolution of meaningful personal relationships, they are supposedly the reason society is on a virtual brink of collapse.

But for authors of books, social media is the simplest and quickest way to create an author platform. This is why traditional publishers want it and self-publishing success demands it.

If every last social media company or system disappeared overnight, authors would still need to have a platform in order to be considered seriously by traditional publishers or succeed at self-publishing.

So, please give the big multinational corporations a break. They are very sensitive to criticism. (Actually, they aren’t, but work with me here, so harmony, understanding, sympathy and trust abound…peace, man)

Prior to social media, an author platform was relatively out of the author’s control. Authors built their platforms slowly by appearing in various print or electronic media, needing first to convince the media they had a worthwhile message and give them an opportunity to communicate to an audience. Authors needed to convince others to allow them to speak in public at various events, like churches for Christian authors.

It was the era of media gatekeepers and the reason decades ago the most successful authors tended to be newspaper or magazine columnists. They had a ready-made audience for their work.

When the internet took off in the mid-90’s, it provided another channel to reach people, but the incredible growth of the medium made it very difficult to get attention. Any communication method available for everyone to use, quickly becomes crowded and “noisy.”

After a decade or so the social media companies started popping up and today we find ourselves virtually swimming in customized communication.

The reason social media has become such a marketing focal-point is it is the simplest and cheapest way to develop a readership or audience in a comparatively short time. If social media didn’t exist, the foundational requirement of an effective author platform would still need to be in place.

What would authors do?

–They would still need to have the credentials to write, a way to reach an audience with a message and an ongoing plan to grow and communicate to their readership.

–They would need to travel more in order to network with people and organizations.

–Publishers and authors would need to spend more time and money convincing media “gatekeepers” to allow them access to their audience through interviews or content placement, with no guarantee of success. Media gatekeepers can say “no.”

–Christian authors would need to spend far more time and money connecting with churches and church leaders, convincing them to allow access to their flocks.

Author platform is not some made-up requirement by traditional publishers. You will struggle more as a self-published author without a good platform as your book is entirely on its own. At least a traditional publisher could take a chance on a non-platform author and still get some retail exposure for the book.

While attending a writer’s conference a while ago, I sat on a panel made up of a variety of publishing and media people. If you have been to a writer’s conference, you can envision this type of eclectic group in your mind.

Questions from attendees covered a wide range of topics, but inevitably circled around to the issue of an author’s platform.

One of the panelists was part of a major online media company and when they mentioned authors needed to focus on writing and not on developing a platform, they were almost carried off on the shoulders of excited conference attendees.

Of course, I needed to be the buzz-kill in the room (it’s one of my gifts) countering with, “I disagree. From your perspective you are correct, but only because you are a platform. You already have an audience and can decide who gets access to it.”

I sensed the attendees about to break out the tar and feathers.

Most aspiring authors do not have a readymade audience waiting for their writing. They need to assemble their own follower-readers, one way or another.

Social media is the easiest way to accomplish it.

 

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Category: Branding, Marketing, Platform, Social MediaTag: Marketing, Platform, Social Media

Three Significant Announcements Regarding E-books and Audiobooks

By Steve Laubeon January 29, 2018
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Last week there were three significant announcements from Apple, Google, and Walmart of interest to all authors. First the three bits of news and then a few observations. Apple Apple announced that their iBooks app is being renamed to simply Books. Accompanying it will be a complete redesign of the reading app, their store, and the addition of an audiobook tab to make it easier for users to access …

Read moreThree Significant Announcements Regarding E-books and Audiobooks
Category: Book Business, Book Sales, E-Books, Economics, News You Can Use, The Publishing Life, TrendsTag: Audio Books, Book Sales, ebooks, Technology

Fun Fridays – January 26, 2018

By Steve Laubeon January 26, 2018
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Doing what you love for 70 years? Priceless. May this inspire you today.

Read moreFun Fridays – January 26, 2018
Category: Fun Fridays

I Can’t Believe I Wrote the Whole Thing

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon January 25, 2018
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You’re an author with lots of talent and a great idea! You know the market and are confident your story will work. There’s plenty of plot to make word count. So why not sell on proposal? Selling on proposal seems ideal, but might not be a good idea for the new author. Why not? Pacing A new author can’t necessarily gauge how long it will take to write a book. Perhaps the first book rode like the …

Read moreI Can’t Believe I Wrote the Whole Thing
Category: Book Proposals, Craft, Creativity, The Writing LifeTag: book proposals, The Writing Life, Writing Craft

Seven Tips for Your Next Writers’ Conference

By Bob Hostetleron January 24, 2018
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I attended my first writers’ conference in 1989. Yes, I am that old. I was a magazine editor at the time, and knew absolutely nothing about writers’ conferences. Since then, however, I have served on faculty more than a hundred times, and have learned a thing or two about writers’ conferences, knowledge that I am happy to impart—for the right price. Today, since we are approaching the height of …

Read moreSeven Tips for Your Next Writers’ Conference
Category: Conferences, Get PublishedTag: Get Published, writers conferences

Are You Curating or Creating?

By Dan Balowon January 23, 2018
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Every once in a while, a book proposal crosses my desk and catches my attention with its creativity and approach. It is engaging and makes me think.  Whether I agreed to work with the author or not, I needed to give them kudos for their great work. Rarely, if ever, does something catch my attention (in a good way) which is simply assembled from or built entirely on the thinking of someone else. I …

Read moreAre You Curating or Creating?
Category: Book Proposals, Craft, The Writing Life, Writing CraftTag: book proposals, Creativity, Nonfiction

How Do You Count Lifetime Book Sales?

By Steve Laubeon January 22, 2018
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A key element in a book proposal is your sales history. Of course, you can ignore this if you’ve never published a book before. But if you have published, either with a traditional publisher or independently, your sales history must be included in your next book proposal. Here is an example: Sales History: The Bestest Book Ever (XYZ Publishers, 1996) – 12,449 sold The Other Bestest Book I Wrote …

Read moreHow Do You Count Lifetime Book Sales?
Category: Book Proposals, Book Sales, Get Published, MarketingTag: book proposals, Book Sales, Independent Publishing, Traditional Publishing

Fun Fridays – January 19, 2018

By Steve Laubeon January 19, 2018
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Could you make a paper airplane out of a manila folder? Maybe. But doubtful it would look like this. I found this story to be a metaphor for those who write. Those who choose each word carefully with the precision of an x-acto knife. Painstakingly crafting their art over years. And being unafraid to delete what doesn’t work.

Read moreFun Fridays – January 19, 2018
Category: Get Published

It’s All About You — Sometimes

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon January 18, 2018
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When I visit the bookstore or library, I seldom fail to see at least one novel where the entire back cover consists of an author photo. That’s it. No endorsements, no story blurb, no author bio. Just a picture of the author. And usually the front cover doesn’t offer many clues, either. Maybe a vague illustration, along with the title and author’s name. To my mind, this means this author has built …

Read moreIt’s All About You — Sometimes
Category: Branding, MarketingTag: Book Sales, Branding, Marketing

Fix These 16 Potholes on Grammar Street

By Bob Hostetleron January 17, 2018
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Don’t worry. I hated grade school grammar as much as the next guy. Still, as a magazine editor and, later, as a freelance book editor and (now) literary agent, I have come across far too many grammatical and usage mistakes in writing submitted to me. Not all of us can be Strunk or White (though every writer should own their valuable book, The Elements of Style). But we can profit from a little …

Read moreFix These 16 Potholes on Grammar Street
Category: Book Proposals, Craft, Writing CraftTag: Grammar, Writing Craft
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