I love seeing work from talented authors. Reading a marketable proposal from a hardworking author interested in a long-term career makes me take notice.

Are you this author?

If so, what I’d like to help you do today is to keep you from being rejected because of a misstep that’s easy to avoid. 

1. The manuscript is too short. Gift books can be brief, but fiction is different. I often receive novella submissions. Some Christian publishers sell novella collections. However, I don’t have a place to pitch a lone novella, hoping it will find a home in a collection. Writers already working with a publisher are most likely to find these opportunities. Novellas can be great giveaways to attract readers, so if you have one or more novellas written, hold onto them until further notice.
2. The manuscript is too long. As a reader, I enjoy long books. However, the demand for lengthy books isn’t strong now. I’m not actively seeking long books and would need several compelling reasons to pitch a novel running over 100,000 words.
3. The manuscript is both too short and too long. In fiction, we’ll ask you to revise a book that’s too long to be considered a mass-market category and too short to be a trade book. A category romance novel is about 55,000 words long; and a trade book is from 85,000 to 95,000 words long, although that number is more flexible than for category. A couple of markets will accept books of 70,000 words. When authors let us know what market they’re targeting, this shows they’ve researched and are aware of salability. You may say, “It’s the agent’s job to know where to send a book.” That’s correct. However, when you research how many words to write for your target market, you’re helping yourself by writing to a word count that makes sense and, hence, being prepared when you talk to us.
4. The project is a collection of short stories or poetry. As a reader, I enjoy short stories and poetry. However, as an agent, I am not in the market for any short story collections or poetry because none of the editors I work with are currently acquiring either.
5. The manuscript is not in the space I represent. I don’t represent horror or erotica, for example. No matter how wonderful an author’s book is, I’m not the right agent to market it if it’s not written in a space I represent.

What do all five points have in common?

Missteps can be avoided easily with a quick Internet search. For example, most publishers have guidelines posted on their sites. Of course, once you secure an agent, that person will be your source of information. As for us, you can find out what books we all want to see here: Steve Laube Agency Proposal Submission Guidelines.

Thank you for thinking of us with your work. We appreciate you and look forward to reviewing your proposal!