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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 » Career » Page 23

Career

A Writer’s Advent

By Karen Ballon December 2, 2015
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Last Sunday, November 29th, was the beginning of one of my favorite seasons of the year: Advent. Some of my earliest memories are of Advent, of doing devotions as a family around an Advent wreath, my two brothers and I eager to be the one to light the candle each week. I don’t know about your traditions, but for us, the four purple candles were the Advent, Angel, Shepherd, and Bethlehem candles. The white candle in the center was the Christ candle. So what do those aspects of advent have to say to us as writers?

The word “advent,” according to Mr. Webster, is “the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event.” As you enter into this first week of Advent, I encourage you to think about the arrival of an event…

The moment you knew you were going to be a writer.

It’s so easy, in the midst of “being a writer” and “doing the work” to forget how that moment felt—the wonder and excitement of it. The joy of first creating words on the page and seeing them impact others. So let’s take a moment and celebrate our advent together.

When did you first know God wanted you to write?

What emotions accompanied that knowledge?

What was the first thing you wrote that people read and were impacted by?

For me, it was poetry. Yes, poetry. I wrote poems from an early age and shared them with others. But I’ll never forget the time, when I was in my early teens, that I wrote a poem about our church family (Dad was a pastor) and read it at the Church Christmas Eve sharing night. I included everyone in the poem, talking about the love and support they all shared…

People laughed. They cried. They came up and hugged me afterward.

Oh! The joy and wonder of that moment. It was then I knew. And I’ve never turned back.

So how about you?

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Category: Career, Faith, The Writing LifeTag: Advent, The Writing Life

Yippee Kay Yay Publishing

By Dan Balowon October 13, 2015
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There are so many metaphors we can use to describe what goes on in book publishing. Baseball, medicine, astronomy, physics, factory assembly lines, beavers gnawing on trees, hamsters on treadmills and many more each contain appropriate examples of various aspects of writing and publishing a book. I believe one of the strongest metaphors is that of target shooting. Ready. Aim. Fire. Three simple …

Read moreYippee Kay Yay Publishing
Category: Book Business, Book Business, Book Proposals, Career, Marketing, The Publishing LifeTag: Book Business, The Publishing Life

Arguments to Abandon on Facebook

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon October 8, 2015
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The expression “choose your battles” is a good one, especially in this time when authors must use social media to engage with potential readers. In fact, at a recent author gathering, one mentioned to me that she abandoned Facebook because she was tired of negative comments. I can understand that. Life is stressful enough without reading political screeds and pointless debates during …

Read moreArguments to Abandon on Facebook
Category: Career, Communication, Platform, Social MediaTag: Facebook, Social Media

Actually, It Is Whether You Win or Lose

By Dan Balowon September 29, 2015
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If you set out to discover how people feel about the issue of competition, you will find yourself walking knee-deep in philosophical, psychological, neo-political and even religious opinion. You will find it a rather polarizing issue. On one extreme are people who feel like competition is bad because there are winners and losers and no one should ever be made to feel like a loser. Ever. On the …

Read moreActually, It Is Whether You Win or Lose
Category: CareerTag: Career, competition

“Close your eyes dear, I have a surprise for you.”

By Dan Balowon September 22, 2015
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One hundred years ago this week, Cecil Chubb of Great Britain decided to give his wife a really great gift. He bought her a bunch of big rocks at auction for £6,600 (equal to US$10,500 in 1915 and about US$250,000 today). Mrs. Chubb was certainly surprised with the thoughtful gift. But the rocks just weren’t her cup of tea. You see Mr. Chubb bought Stonehenge for his wife. Yes, that Stonehenge. …

Read more“Close your eyes dear, I have a surprise for you.”
Category: Book Business, Book Review, Career, Craft, The Publishing Life, TrendsTag: classics, The Publishing Life

Reviews: The Spread I Like to See

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon September 17, 2015
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No, it’s not what Daddy calls, “middle-age spread” but the spread of starred ratings on sites such as Amazon. When I see a book reviewed, believe it or not, I don’t like to see ten five-star reviews and then nothing else. An author might ask, “Why not? Doesn’t that mean everyone loved the book?” Yes. All of your friends and family loved your book. I’m not saying those five-star ratings aren’t …

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Category: CareerTag: Career, reviews

Write from the Deep Places

By Karen Ballon September 16, 2015
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Far down, under the ground many of us walk on day in and day out, are roads and buildings and the remnants of long-ago lives and loves. Underground cities, they’re called. I’ve visited the one in Seattle. Peered down through the dark and dust and imagined people, horses, carriages…life. Under our feet. In the deep. I’ve been to other deep places, too, but these weren’t quick visits. Nor were they …

Read moreWrite from the Deep Places
Category: Book Business, Career, Communication, Craft, Creativity, Editing, Get Published, Inspiration, Marketing, Money, Platform, The Writing Life, Theology, Trends, Writing CraftTag: Encouragement, Inspiration, The Writing Life

Switching or Grinding Gears?

By Dan Balowon September 8, 2015
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Each year in the U.S. more titles are published indie/self-pub than by all traditional publishers combined. Some authors publish only indie or traditional, but some entrepreneurial folks are known as “hybrid” and use whatever model works best for the situation at the moment. Many clients of the Steve Laube Agency are hybrid authors and it works just fine. There are some things you do for an indie …

Read moreSwitching or Grinding Gears?
Category: Book Business, Career, E-Books, Economics, Editing, Marketing, The Publishing LifeTag: Hybrid Authors, Indie Publishing, The Publishing Life, Traditional Publishing

Patience Please

By Dan Balowon August 25, 2015
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This could be Part Two to last week’s post, but I didn’t intend it that way. It just happened. Have you noticed how many things in our lives are overly dramatic? A generation or two ago when “news” was delivered a half-hour here and there and TV, radio and newspapers dominated, dramatic stories were covered and some of them were “manufactured” stories for ratings or circulation purposes. But in …

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Category: Book Business, Career, Platform, The Publishing Life, TrendsTag: Drama, Patience, The Publishing Life

Book Sales Continue to Rise

By Steve Laubeon August 24, 2015
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Despite the rumors concerning of the demise of Christian books, bookstores, and especially Christian fiction  there is news that tells a different story. There were a couple statistics released this past week that show signs of encouragement! General market sales: According to the U.S. Census Bureau. Bookstore sales hit $698 million in the month of June 2015 compared to $672 million last June. …

Read moreBook Sales Continue to Rise
Category: Book Business, Book Sales, Career, Economics, TrendsTag: Book Sales
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