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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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Home » Agency » Page 8

Agency

The Proposal Review Process

By Karen Ballon August 17, 2016
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You’ve all been there (and if you haven’t yet, you will…). You put together the perfect proposal and finally, finally send it off to agents for their review.

So what happens next?

Well, from your point of view, waiting. And waiting. And…(yes, we’ve covered that before. The waiting. That’s not what this is about.)

But how about from the agent’s point of view? What on earth are they doing all that time between when your proposal lands in their in-box and they finally take a look at it?

Well, every agent has a different process, but here’s mine. And drew the above picture to illustrate what it looks like.

First, you need to know that, because of schedule and workload, I generally don’t reply to proposals I’m not interested in, whether that’s because of content or format. Other than that, here are the steps:

  1. Any proposal sent to me goes to my assistant first to for a first-pass review. In that review, submissions are checked to be sure they includes everything–not only content but format–as requested in our guidelines. If the submission doesn’t follow the guidelines, it is deleted. So if you’ve waited months and months and haven’t heard anything, go back to our agency site and make sure you’ve included what we requested for a proposal in the format we requested it.

So what will result in a deleted proposal?

A query instead of a proposal. (And I mean a full proposal, because yes, we really do need all that information.)

A proposal or sample chapters pasted into an email rather than attached as a Word document or PDF. (One reason for this: you have no idea how wonky text pasted into an email can look on someone else’s computer. Please, make your proposal an attachment.)

A submission with a link to check out instead of some element of the proposal, such as sample chapters. We don’t click on links.

A submission sent to a list of agents. If you’re sending me a submission, just send it to me.

Proposals for books that I don’t represent (e.g., children’s books of any kind, and YA books). So how can you know? Well, check out the guidelines page. It tells you what we don’t represent. And read my agency blog post, listed right on the blog under Top 25 posts, about what I want. It lists, right up front, what I don’t want.

  1. If a proposal passes the first-pass review, my assistant will email you to say that your proposal has been passed on to me, and I add it to my review folder. I try to review proposals every 10-14 days, but there are times when I don’t have time to do so for weeks. Even months.

When I review a proposal, it goes something like this:

I go right to the sample chapters. Nothing else matters if the writing doesn’t captivate me. If it doesn’t, I delete the proposal.

If I like the writing, I go to the section of the proposal about you, the author. I want to know about you, about your platform and reach, about your experiences, and why you’re writing this book. If I see something there that doesn’t resonate, or that makes me believe I’m not the right agent for you, I delete the proposal.

If I like what I see in the section about you, I read the whole proposal for the rest of the information. I look to see what other book ideas you have–I want to know that you’re thinking about a career, not just getting one book published. As I’m going through the proposal, I will go to your website or Twitter or Pinterest or any other URLs you include. I’m looking to see what kind of engagement you have with your audience, how professional your sites are, if you seem to understand your audience, how you present yourself. It all matters. And again, if I find something in that review step that tells me we wouldn’t work well together, I delete the proposal.

  1. If I’m interested after I go through all that, then I set the proposal aside and come back to it a week or so later, to read it over again. At this point, I’d only delete the proposal if something happens to change my excitement and enthusiasm.
  1. If I believe, after all of that, that we’d make a good team, I start the process of contacting you and exploring the possibility of working together.

So what if my assistant said the proposal had been sent to me, but you’ve waited for months and months and haven’t heard anything? As you can see, my process takes awhile if I like your work. If I don’t, or if I don’t think we’re a good fit, it doesn’t take long at all. But I spend time with a proposal so I’m sure. If it’s been a month or so since my assistant first contacted you, just email her for an update.  And thanks ahead of time for your patience.

Peace, all.

 

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Category: Agency, Book Proposals, Get PublishedTag: Agency, book proposals, Process

I’m Always Open to Submissions

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon July 21, 2016
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Sometimes authors send me an email asking, “Are you looking at new submissions?” or “Are you accepting new clients?” I appreciate these authors’ desire not to waste my time or theirs, but I’ll say it here: I’m always open to submissions and new clients. Now, does this mean I’m open to reading entire unpublished books on every and any topic? Or that I hope to sign five new clients every week? No. I …

Read moreI’m Always Open to Submissions
Category: Agency, Book Proposals, Get Published, RejectionTag: Agency, book proposals, Submissions

How To Make Agents’ Blogs Work for You

By Karen Ballon June 1, 2016
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We at the agency love it that so many of you come here every day and read what we share with you. And we do everything we can to ensure that what we share here informs, enlightens, and uplifts you brave souls navigating the publishing world. So last week, when I read some of the questions you’d like addressed, I thought I’d give you a tip on using this blog to its best advantage. And that tip is: …

Read moreHow To Make Agents’ Blogs Work for You
Category: Agency, ConferencesTag: Agency, Blog, questions, Research

Honored Again in “Top 101 Websites for Writers”

By Steve Laubeon April 23, 2016
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For the second year in a row we have been honored by Writers Digest as one of the top websites for writers in their new 2016 list. (The full list is only available to subscribers or if you buy the May/June 2016 issue here.) Their annual listing continues to be a great resource to all writers.A special thanks goes to Dan, Karen, and Tamela who work hard each week to explore all things publishing …

Read moreHonored Again in “Top 101 Websites for Writers”
Category: Agency, Awards, News You Can UseTag: Agency, Blog

You Say Tomato, I Hear Guacamole

By Dan Balowon April 5, 2016
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I have a hearing problem. My ears are fine. For some reason listening to songs like Smoke on the Water and LaGrange on my headphones forty years ago had little or no effect on my eardrums. But over the years, I’ve begun to hear something different than what is being spoken. Come to think about it, maybe it was Deep Purple and ZZ Top that caused this. Politician says: “I can solve the problem.” I …

Read moreYou Say Tomato, I Hear Guacamole
Category: Agency, Communication, HumorTag: Communication, Humor

Every Day is a New Day in Publishing

By Steve Laubeon January 11, 2016
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Eternal optimism must be the attitude if one is to survive the roller coaster ride of the publishing business. There seems to be some new change every month if not every week. For example, this past week we got word of three different editors at three different publishers leaving their current position. One shifted to another publisher who is glad to fill a needed role. But that means the current …

Read moreEvery Day is a New Day in Publishing
Category: AgencyTag: Agency, Change, optimism

Fiction: Don’t Order Flowers Yet – An Evaluation of 2015

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon January 7, 2016
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An Evaluation of 2015: Ours is a tough industry. A lot of writers are rejected. Over and over. The journey to publication seems harder than ever. Available slots in a publisher’s list are fewer and harder to secure. It’s more difficult than ever to make books profitable. Competition is tougher. Only the top authors seem to be making money. What year am I talking about? I think it is 1998. Or was …

Read moreFiction: Don’t Order Flowers Yet – An Evaluation of 2015
Category: Agency, Book Business, Career, TrendsTag: Book Business, fiction, Trends

2015 – A Year in Review

By Steve Laubeon January 4, 2016
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I like to take a look at the past year as an exercise in measuring success and failure – all while counting God’s blessings. (If you’d like to look at previous annual reports they can be found here: 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2009.) The Agency Thrives The agency continues to thrive in the midst of some tough economic challenges. It was exciting to secure contracts for over 130 forthcoming …

Read more2015 – A Year in Review
Category: Agency, Book Business, Career, Communication, EconomicsTag: 2015, Agency, Year in Review

Included in “Top 101 Websites for Writers”

By Steve Laubeon May 9, 2015
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We are honored to be chosen by Writers Digest as one of the top websites for writers in their 2015 list. (The actual list is only available to subscribers or if you buy the May/June 2015 issue here.) I have long admired their annual listing and have endeavored to keep our content unique and provide a service to our community of writers. Kudos to Dan, Karen, and Tamela who faithfully work on …

Read moreIncluded in “Top 101 Websites for Writers”
Category: Agency, AwardsTag: Agency, Blog

Heaven Declares Chapter 12

By Dan Balowon February 24, 2015
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In case you missed it, last week the Family of Christians Worldwide declared Chapter 12 Reorientation under the authority of God Almighty who made Heaven and earth. The Details Hundreds of millions of Christians looked around the world, read the news headlines and decided that the Twelfth Chapter of the book of Paul’s Letter to the Roman’s would be a better way to live in a world of turmoil and …

Read moreHeaven Declares Chapter 12
Category: Agency, Personal, TheologyTag: Theology
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