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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 » Book Business

Book Business

When You Share a Name With Another Person

By Steve Laubeon May 19, 2025
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A great question came our way:

Although I have been cultivating my online presence as a writer, I have found that someone who shares my name already has a significant online presence. This person does not live a Christian lifestyle: in fact, I would be terribly embarrassed and my professional integrity could be harmed if anyone mistook me for this individual. Perhaps other authors may face the same dilemma.

Are there any suggestions for a new author who has to overcome the presence of another online? Would it be necessary to write under a pseudonym?

That is a tough one.

When Karen Ball worked for us an agent, she was also an accomplished novelist. She discovered that someone by the same name was a practicing psychic. So when she created her website she used karenballbooks.com since karenball.com was taken at the time. (Later, Karen dropped that site and created a wonderful new site for writers called WriteFromTheDeep.com.)

You could do something like JohnSmithWriter.com or RememberJohnSmith.com (to be “memorable”). Or add your middle initial to the domain name.

But if the other person is well known, or their site is terribly “flagrant” (if you know what I mean), you could decide to use a pen name. But if you’ve already gone far down the path under your real name, then it’s too late.

If you only just started writing or have a limited online presence, website-wise, then you have an opportunity to reboot.

Be careful before jumping into using a professional pen name. Read from others who’ve done it well. (Linked here is a good article from the Science Fiction Writers Association.) Check what the rules are in social media for using a pen name because using a fake name can be problematic, for obvious reasons.

We have several clients who write under their maiden names. One was because her married name is unspellable. Another was for protection. Another did it that way because she published before she got married; she had started her career and social media presence under that name and had no trouble keeping it that way.

Ultimately, it is your decision. But once you make it, stick with it.

And one little reminder to everyone: If you have a domain name, make sure that the email associated with your registration is up-to-date. (Double-check with your domain registrar today!) We had a client whose domain name was his real name (like stevelaube.com), but the registration expired. He had changed his email address a couple of years earlier but did not update his domain registration. The registrar sent him a notice saying it was time to renew his site, but he never got it. The day his domain name became available, a “Date Older Women” site took it and redirected all the traffic intended for his author website to something very unseemly. It took two years for him to get the domain name back.

Don’t let that happen to you!

 

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Category: Book Business, The Writing LifeTag: Author Names, The Writing Life

Houston, We Have a Problem

By Steve Laubeon April 7, 2025
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This week marks the 55th anniversary of the launch of the infamous Apollo 13 mission to the moon (April 11, 1970). Two days after the launch, an oxygen tank exploded, jeopardizing the lives of the astronauts and scrapping the mission. Their ingenious solutions and subsequent safe return on April 17 were later portrayed in the award-winning 1995 film Apollo 13. I couldn’t help but think that the …

Read moreHouston, We Have a Problem
Category: Book Business, Marketing, The Publishing LifeTag: Problems, publishing, The Publishing Life

Foreign Intelligence

By Dan Balowon March 27, 2025
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In 2017, I wrote about The Challenge for American Christian Authors. I asserted that great care needs to be taken when American authors want their message to be understood by anyone outside of the US Christian subculture. Today, I am reversing that position and looking at what writers from other countries might have to say to the North American believer. Two things brought this to mind: First, I …

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Category: Book Business, Career, Theology

How Do You Know What Will (or Will Not) Sell?

By Steve Laubeon February 24, 2025
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There is a mysterious magic embedded in the mythos of the publishing industry: the ability to pick successful books. I was recently asked, “You say ‘no’ so often, how do you know when to say ‘yes?’” I wish I could claim that every agent and publisher have a secret formula we consult to know what will sell. Ask any group of us for that secret and we will all laugh because there is no “secret.” We …

Read moreHow Do You Know What Will (or Will Not) Sell?
Category: Book Business, Book Proposals, Branding, Career, PlatformTag: Agents, book proposals, Career, Pitching, What Sells, Writers

What Entered the Public Domain in 2025?

By Steve Laubeon January 27, 2025
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I try to post something about this every year. This year is no exception. In the United States, under U.S. copyright law, works published in 1929 and earlier are now in public domain. One can publish them or use them without securing copyright permission. In case you are wondering about the specifics, the Copyright Term Extension Act (passed in 1998) gave works published from 1923 through 1977 a …

Read moreWhat Entered the Public Domain in 2025?
Category: Book Business, Copyright Issues, Publishing History

Book Birthdays: 2025 Edition

By Dan Balowon January 23, 2025
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Significant books are published every year. Here’s a personally curated list that I hope sparks some good memories and honors the work of the past: Radical, by David Platt (2010) – 15 years Bonhoeffer, by Eric Metaxas (2010) – 15 years Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand (2010) – 15 years End of the Spear, by Steve Saint (2005) – 20 years Dinner with a Perfect Stranger, by David Gregory (2005) – 20 …

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Category: Book Business, Publishing History

Secrets of a Successful Author Aren’t Secret

By Dan Balowon December 12, 2024
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Because being a book author is more of a self-taught profession, those who are successful at it are often analyzed by aspiring authors to find out how they did it. Sometimes even asking, “What’s your secret?” If an author responds honestly, they will reveal that their pathway to success is not secret, nor does it contain shortcuts or easy-to-follow checklists. I remember watching a documentary …

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Category: Book Business, Common Questoins, Get Published, The Writing Life

The Anatomy of the Publishing Cycle

By Steve Laubeon November 25, 2024
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If you ask an editor or an agent, “What’s hot right now?” you are too late with the question. The nature of the publishing business is that what you see selling today are books that were conceived, written, published, and marketed over the past couple of years or more. That is why we, on this side of the table, avoid making pronouncements on current trends. In some ways, the agent and the …

Read moreThe Anatomy of the Publishing Cycle
Category: Book Business, Branding, Career, Creativity, Indie, Marketing, TrendsTag: publishing, The Publishing Life, Trends

Teamwork Makes the Publishing Work

By Dan Balowon November 21, 2024
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One hundred years ago today, Christopher Tolkien was born to Edith and John Ronald Reuel (JRR) Tolkien. He was the third of four children and the youngest son. Christopher was deeply involved in his father’s work, editing it and drawing the maps used in the Lord of the Rings (LOTR) books. At one point, his dad invited him to join the famous writer’s group The Inklings. Here’s an interesting …

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Category: Book Business, Publishing History, The Writing Life

Judging a Book by Its Cover

By Steve Laubeon November 18, 2024
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We’ve heard the cliche “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” True. But you do “buy a book by its cover.” We all do. That colorful billboard attracts the eye, disseminates information, and sells the content. Even when the billboard is the size of a postage stamp on Amazon.com, BN.com, or iTunes, you make a judgment on the quality of the book based on its cover. It …

Read moreJudging a Book by Its Cover
Category: Art, Book Business, The Publishing LifeTag: Book Covers
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