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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

Why Are Traditional Publishers So Picky?

By Dan Balowon July 24, 2025
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Publishing books is an imprecise process, with many ingredients involved, making it impossible to predict a particular outcome.

Working for and with publishers for most of my life, I’ve seen every side of the business; and the best I can do to describe it is humbling for everyone involved. Anyone who thinks they have it all figured out with 100% certainty is in for a rude awakening and a humbling series of circumstances that drives many out of the industry, but at the very least drives those who stay involved to their knees, literally and figuratively.

Every publisher, whether for-profit or not-for-profit, must generate more revenue each year than its expenses. No one continues to operate if that isn’t the case.

The primary ingredient to their success is the ability to identify, develop, and publish books that sell well. And by the way, everyone at a publisher knows who is better at that than others.

Years ago, I worked for a publisher and helped develop a data-analysis process to evaluate the success of every book they published. One of the items I could add to the mix was the name of the person who identified and acquired the book. Twenty years ago, in this particular case, there was no desire for that information because it could create problems for those who didn’t grade well, who might have been long-term or respected employees.

Fast-forward to today, and every publisher evaluates their staff using some metrics. If you are involved in acquiring new titles, you will have a scorecard somewhere in the company to record your wins and losses.

When someone turns down your book at a publisher, in some cases (hopefully rare), the person declining it might be under pressure to improve their “batting average” and might be less than excited about taking another risk on something that isn’t a sure thing (which doesn’t exist either).

As an agent, I won’t take on a new client if I cannot think of enough acquiring editors who might be interested. I have a baseball mentality to agenting. If I send too many proposals to an editor who declines, I might not get the same consideration when something really fits with them. That’s why agents are picky as well. Too many swings and misses, and editors stop paying attention to what we send.

From an aspiring author’s standpoint, they want someone to take a chance on them and allow them to be published.

But agents and publishers are very selective in what they represent or publish, mainly because their livelihood could be on the line. Too many failures and it makes agenting not worth the effort, and could jeopardize the employment of someone working at a publisher.

Book publishing is a failure business, just like baseball. In publishing, if a publisher is good at what they do, a third of their new books make money, a third lose money, and a third might break even.

In baseball, the difference between a player who is an all-star and someone who never gets much of a chance to play can boil down to one additional hit every twenty times they bat.

Yes, everyone is picky in publishing, and for good reason.

I know rejection is horrible, but be more understanding when you encounter those who are more risk-averse than you. You may be unaware of the pressures they face to perform.

 

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Category: Book Business, Rejection

First Published Book in America

By Dan Balowon June 26, 2025
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The publishing industry in the United States is about $30 billion per year, covering all kinds of books and materials. Traditional book publishers account for about 10% of the total number of books published in the US and about 95% of the revenues. Where did it all start? Two hundred fifty years ago this week (June 23, 1775, to be precise), the first book printed and published in America was …

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Category: Book Business, Historical, Publishing History

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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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
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