Helping to Change the World…Word by Word
The Steve Laube Agency
Helping to Change the World Word by Word
Happy Valentine’s Day!
It is well known that behind every man there is an even better woman. I am here to testify to that fact. My wife and I have been married for 43 1/2 years; and without her, I would be half the man I am today.
She is what came to mind when I heard this classic song the other day:
Every author or publisher assumes that the response will be positive when they send an about-to-be-published book out to professional book reviewers in the media. This is partially correct since many media outlets won’t comment on or publish a negative review. To illustrate, years ago I recall hearing from a book reviewer at a major Christian periodical that they would not publish a review because …
Common Pitfalls and How to Fix Them Hello, writer friends, I hope you’ve all had a great holiday and are back at the craft, learning and writing. Before we took some time off, I was writing a lot about point of view (POV). I want to wrap that up with this post, which can serve as a final checklist to ensure that you’ve got this topic down. So feel free to go back and look at your work in progress …
Have you ever started reading a book and just couldn’t get past the first few chapters? Or maybe you enjoyed the book, but the ending left you feeling empty inside. It just didn’t quite work. Beginnings and endings can make or break your novels. If you want your reader to finish your book, you’ve got to start well. You’ve got to hook them in with a beginning that piques …
We are very glad to have Jamie Lapeyrolerie be our guest today. We have worked together on several projects in her position as an editor for Waterbrook & Multnomah, a division of Penguin Random House. She is also a writer and actively involved in the publishing industry, including The Christy Award® Advisory Board and ECPA’s PubU. Her writings have appeared in Christianity Today, Christ …
Today’s funny: A pastor, a rabbit, and a priest walked into a restaurant. The rabbit says, “I think I’m a typo in this story.”
I get asked this question a lot at writers conferences, in webinars, and even in line at Dunkin’ Donuts (to be fair, I buy a lot of donuts). It was posed this way in an email from someone I’d met at a writers conference: “At what point is a platform attractive [to publishers]? 10K, 20K, 50K or more?” Simply speaking, writers want to know “What’s the number?” To which I routinely (and sagely) …
Seth Godin once wrote in a blog post: No one ever gets talker’s block. No one wakes up in the morning, discovers he has nothing to say and sits quietly, for days or weeks, until the muse hits, until the moment is right, until all the craziness in his life has died down. What a liberating concept! It reminded me of a great book by Joel Saltzman, If You Can Talk, You Can Write. Of course, …
Are you like me and stunned that this is already the last day of January? Since our minds are blown, let’s enjoy some mindless fun with marbles playing music in today’s video.
You’ve undoubtedly done everything listed below since you’re one of our readers. However, based on the many unsolicited submissions we receive, many new authors still need to follow good advice. If you’re mentoring new authors, we suggest recommending the following: Please Read and Follow Our Guidelines As Steve Laube says, “We are not hiding.” We feature our …
