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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

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 available to purchase in Philadelphia. It was the beginning of a self-sufficient American publishing industry. Before that, books were either created overseas (mainly in England) and printed here or printed overseas and exported here. The publishing industry was dependent on and controlled by England, like every other part of society in the Colonies.

The Impenetrable Secret, a novel by an unknown author, was advertised in The Pennsylvania Mercury newspaper by the publisher Story and Humphreys, who also operated the newspaper. That’s all we know about it. No copy remains, and there is little or no information about the author or story. Some books with that same title were published later, but they are not this one.

June of 1775 was still before any independence declaration from England, but there were rumblings. Within a week or two, the Continental Congress was taking steps to avoid an armed rebellion, but it wasn’t looking good.

I would guess that being identified as a book writer who broke the shackles of the governing authority wasn’t a good thing to do, career or healthwise! Hence, the “anonymous author” label isn’t a surprise.

The book publishing industry is not very old in the broad scope of world history. If we hold to Adam and Eve showing up in the garden about 6,500 years ago, the less than 600-year age of the printing press accounts for about 9% of that time. Mass printing of books wasn’t a thing until much later.

One of the oldest publishers is the Christian company Thomas Nelson, founded in 1798 in Edinburgh, Scotland. It’s a long way to Nashville, Tennessee, where it is now part of the HarperCollins Christian Publishing conglomerate, which also owns Zondervan.

The rest of the major Christian publishers are much younger, with some starting this century but most in the 20th century.

Christian publishing in its current form in the US has existed for about 1 percent of the time since the Genesis account.

If we look at the ability to distribute Christian content broadly by digital means, it is even less, like one-half of 1 percent of human history.

With satellite internet, no corner of the earth is out of reach of the Gospel.

All this could be explained by the Daniel 12 prophecy of knowledge increasing as the end of everything nears, or the natural growth of technology and progress. Still, when you consider the opportunities we have now to affect the world for Christ through the written word, we are at the apex, with tools no one had for 99.9 percent of human history.

No pressure.

 

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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 …

Read moreWhen You Share a Name With Another Person
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 …

Read moreBook Birthdays: 2025 Edition
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 …

Read moreTeamwork Makes the Publishing Work
Category: Book Business, Publishing History, The Writing Life
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