Helping to Change the World…Word by Word
The Steve Laube Agency
Helping to Change the World Word by Word
When grown men have too much time on their hands and have lost patience waiting for the next “Star Wars” installment.
[Warning: there is definite guy-humor in this…explosions and other fun things.]
The ending is hilarious.
We recently received several excellent questions that I would like to answer: 1.) Should (you) repeat a book name and how old should it be? I believe you are asking if it is okay to use the same title for your book even if it has already been used before. And if so, how many years should pass before using that previously used book title. What you are trying to avoid is having your book mixed up …
With all this talk of publishing and where it’s been and where it’s going, I thought I’d tell you a story. One that happened not years ago, in the much ballyhooed Golden Age, but recently. So gather round, settle in, and listen… Once upon a time, there was a young girl who wanted to write, who grew up to be a young woman who did write, creating stories she loved. Stories that made her heart soar. …
This subject has been covered before by smarter people at our agency, but I am hoping that Steve Laube considers imitation truly the greatest form of flattery! Every aspiring or experienced Christian author is alerted to avoid mentioning that “God told me to write this book” when speaking to an agent or publisher. Why is that? Reason #1: Working within the Christian publishing world there should …
Since we are in the midst of Summer and I’m on a brief vacation I thought I’d ask you to tell us what books you are reading or planning to read this Summer. I’ll start… My list is intentionally eclectic because that is the way I graze with my reading: Deeper Life: The Spiritual Practice of Remembering by Margaret Bendroth Publishing: Just My Type: A Book about Fonts – …
A couple major happenings over on the publishing side of my world. Enclave publishing has two events that happened this past week. First is the launch of a Kickstarter campaign as a means to have fans of Science Fiction & Fantasy have pre-publication access to the new titles at a great discount. Check it out! Enclave Publishing’s Kickstarter Campaign Second, we have launched a brand new …
In keeping with my conference posts, I want to talk a little today about agent appointments. I’ll use agents as the example for brevity but this post can also apply to editor appointments. That is, what if the agent or editor doesn’t like your work? Don’t despair. Seriously. Here’s why: 1.) If you feel you stuttered or stammered, or otherwise weren’t at your best, …
Today feels like a writing day, so let’s try an exercise together. Write a scene, up to 150 words (no more!), about making a sandwich, but do so in a way that makes the genre clear. I’ll go first. Guess the genre: Almond butter. She hugged herself. Oh, he loved almond butter. But not just any almond butter. He loved the organic kind, the kind that had one ingredient: almonds. It wouldn’t take her …
Every author, either self or traditionally published would like to write a book that sells today, but also tomorrow, next week and next year. Book publishing in all of it’s forms is the art of trying to predict what readers will want to buy in the future. I use the term “art” to describe publishing because no one who has been involved in book publishing for more than two weeks thinks it is 100% …
Recently Philip Yancey, a revered and bestselling author, wrote an article mourning the decline of the golden age of Christian Publishing. His words got me thinking… Are the Golden Days Gone? I have heard a lot of negative statements about the book industry, and the Christian publishing industry in particular, these past few years. Statements like “the system is broken,” …
