Helping to Change the World…Word by Word
The Steve Laube Agency
Helping to Change the World Word by Word
I don’t know about you, but I could swear 2013 just started! Where has the year gone? Those of us in the agency will share some thoughts about 2013 soon, but for today, as you welcome the very first day of a whole new year, I just want to wish you a Happy New Year and share one of my favorite singers with you—along with some beautiful images to usher in 2014.
May God touch each of you in the coming year with His presence, provision, and peace!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhiF-PD4E_c
As you may have noticed, my day to blog here on the agency blog is Wednesday. I was utterly delighted when I realized that my blog fell on Christmas! If there is any one day of the year that is my absolute favorite, it’s Christmas. I have so many wonderful memories of Christmas…not just the day, but the whole season. My mom was the absolute queen of celebrations, and she knew how to do Christmas …
I know I promised you the final blog on accountability partners, but as I’ve talked with publishing folks and friends the last few weeks I’ve noticed a theme: Discouragement.
It’s a well-documented fact that people struggle with depression and discouragement more during the holidays than any other time of the year. I wonder sometimes if writers are among the most discouraged. Part of it, I’m …
One more day and many of us will be seated around a table, mouths watering as we watch Dad or Grampa or Hubby carve a steaming, golden turkey. As I thought about the many Thanksgiving celebrations we’ve shared in my family--days of fellowship and laughter, gratitude and blessing--I remembered singing that wonderful old hymn, “We Gather Together.”
So join me, you lovers of words, you craftsman …
Thanks for your feedback on having accountability partners (or, as I’ll call them from this point on, APs). As I researched this issue, I realized there are a couple of things to consider:
What you need to have/do for this to work
What your AP(s) need to have/do for this to work
And I also realized there is a LOT involved in those two things, so we’ll tackled them over the next few weeks. So …
You’ve heard the old saying, “Can’t see the forest for the trees”? In other words, you can see each tree, take note of the beautiful leaves and strong branches, but because you’re focused on them you don’t see the whole forest. The big picture. And that, my friends, is where it helps to have freelance editors on your team.
Yes, for some, the editor role is filled by an in-house editor. But if …
As I write this, we’re smack-dab in the middle of football season. The town I grew up in was—and still is—a football town. I LOVE football. I was in the band, so marched at all our school games from junior high through college. My friends and I played football. I even, a few times, ran the chain for JV games in highschool. It was great fun. But more than that, I saw the importance of having a team …
You've heard it before: “Writing is a solitary endeavor.” Yes, that’s true. The responsibility for getting the words on the page rests on the writer’s shoulders. And yet, we don’t have to be Lone Rangers. In fact, if you think about it, the Lone Ranger wasn't alone! He had Tonto. And a whole network of sheriffs and people that he’d helped, all of whom supported and were rooting for him.
Anyone …
Guest blog by Stephanie Grace Whitson
Writing is the oddest profession in the universe. Why? Because whether or not I get to keep doing it (in the traditional, royalty-paying part of the world I inhabit) has nothing to do with whether or not I’m good at it. Why? Because the one thing that reigns over my career is sales numbers, and I can’t affect sales enough to impress publishers (i.e., by …
As many of you know, I've recently returned home from a series of writers’ conferences. As I met with writers and read their proposals or sample chapters, one thing struck me over and over…
More and more writers are spending time writing what they think agents and editors want to see.
Is that bad? Well, yes and no.
No, because you need to understand what editors and agents are looking …
