The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World…Word by Word

The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World Word by Word

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News You Can Use – April 23, 2013

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7 Reasons Your Manuscript Might be Rejected – I loved this post by Darcy Pattison

9 Things to Know Before Your First TV Interview – I would add a 10th. Remember the Media is not your friend. – Be prepared for anything. Including being bumped because of some breaking news (like happened to a client last week…for good reasons!)

How to Market Part-Time While Working Full-Time – Excellent advice.

On Taking Criticism – David Farland addresses one of a writer’s greatest fears.

4 Ways Blogging Will Make You a Better Writer – Dan Blank provides some encouragement.

What Slush Pile Reader Look for in a Story – True confessions

Hemingway on Writing – A selection of his thoughts on the topic culled by the web site “Brain Pickings.”

50 Things We Don’t Do Anymore Because of Technology – Infographic. What does is say about me when I still do 19 of these?

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A Moment of Silence

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Sometimes it is appropriate to set aside our routine and spend a moment in silence. Please use the time you would have spent on our regular Fun Fridays post and pray. Pray for a world in need of redemption. Pray for far too many families shattered by senseless violence (and not just those in Boston). Evil has once again touched us in a tangible way.

Pray the following Psalm with us …

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I Didn’t Finish Reading Your Book, Either

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Followers of this blog know that on Monday, Steve Laube wrote a superb post on why he doesn't finish reading certain books.  I have stopped reading certain books for those same reasons. And for different reasons.

Beginnings

When I was in grade school, one of my mentors said always give a book at least one chapter, preferably three, before giving up. I have followed that rule on any book I …

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Focus from the Mountaintop – Part One

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Our valley is watched over by two majestic sentries: Upper Table Rock and Lower Table Rock. A number of years ago a friend of mine and I hiked the trail to the top of Lower Table Rock. We both suffer from asthma, and it’s not an easy hike, so we feared they might find us collapsed halfway up! But we made it, and when we reached the top…well, you just don’t see views like that often enough.

I …

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News You Can Use – April 16, 2013

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This is Your Brain on E-books - From the MIT Technological Review. Bless you David Zax.

The Non-essential Comma Quiz - A great exercise from Dianna Booher. Did you pass the quiz?

E-Books Sales Growth Slowed in 2012 - From Forbes magazine. Of course it slowed. Few things can sustain over 100% growth each and every year. At some point the statistics catch up.

42 Traits of the Perfect Reader …

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What Do You Do For a Living?

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We have a new eye doctor and this past weekend I had my first appointment with him for my annual checkup.

He noted that I'm a literary agent. For one, I was impressed that he understood what a literary agent is. Most people have to ask. The conversation led to thoughts about professions as they are portrayed in books and on TV. Let me recap his thoughts:
"There are very few opthamologists in …

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News You Can Use – April 9, 2013

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Zondervan Launches New YA Imprint – Blink is its name. Our client Lisa Bergren will be part of its launch this Fall.

Art and Failure: Why the Two Go Together – Matt Appling writes a great post on Jeff Goins blog. Must reading for the week.

Elements of a Fiction Platform – Good article for those of you who write novels and still need a “platform.”

7 Deadly Myths and 3 Inspired Truths About …

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Gotta Love Numbers

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I didn't attend kindergarten so my initial encounter with numbers happened in first grade. One day, we were working on math problems. As we finished, the teacher let each of us choose a stick of modeling clay. The colors were red, green, brown, and gray. I really, really wanted red. Green would have been OK, but definitely not brown and certainly not gray. I urgently scratched numbers on the ruled …

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Focus (Part Three)

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I've always enjoyed photography. But it wasn't until I came to understand the power of focus that I loved taking pictures. Focus helps you tell the story that you see in the picture. Whether your focus is on what’s close to the camera:

Or what’s in the background:

Or on the minute, microscopic details:

Each aspect gives us a different story in the same picture.

Our careers in …

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