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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 » Platform

Platform

Don’t Wait for Retirement

By Bob Hostetleron February 23, 2023
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It seems as if it happens at least once at every writers conference I attend. Someone will say, “Once I retire, I’ll be able to write.”

I get it. It’s hard to find the time to write—and build or expand a platform of speaking or podcasting or blogging and more—while you have an actual job for which you’re supposedly being paid.

But I can’t say this strongly enough: Don’t wait for retirement to write and market your masterpiece for publication.

There’s a very good chance that, post-retirement, many of the platform pieces you have currently will evaporate. Say you’re a pastor of a fair-sized congregation in a fair-sized denomination; that influence and those contacts will probably diminish in retirement. Or, say you’re a kinda-high-ranking military officer of kinda-wide-influence in a kinda-large branch of a kinda-big nation’s armed services. Once you’re retired, you’re a very honorable but kinda-less-connected veteran.

See what I mean? Sure, sure, you’ll be a member of this fraternity or that organization; and you’ll have much more time to devote to such pursuits. But when your “active” status changes, so will much of your reach.

So, while it’s hard to carve out the time to do all the writer stuff (such as learning to eschew such terms as “writer stuff”) while you still have a demanding position and many responsibilities, it may be that your writing will become less marketable post-retirement. I wish it were not so, but it is what it is. (And, really, what else could it be?)

At least be open to the likelihood that your time is now, not later. Part of a writer’s job these days is to curate his or her current and future influence and reach (i.e., platform) in a way that attracts publishers and readers. For many, that will mean not waiting for retirement (or other “better time”), but “redeeming the [present] time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16, KJV).

 

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Category: Agents, Platform

Ways to Delight a Literary Agent

By Steve Laubeon February 13, 2023
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Last week I highlighted some things that tend to annoy a literary agent. Let’s flip that around and reflect on a few things that get our attention. Another drum roll please: 1. Follow the guidelines on an agency’s website. (Those are there for a reason. It helps sift, at one level, those who are wanting to be professionals and those who aren’t. Note they are …

Read moreWays to Delight a Literary Agent
Category: Agency, Agents, Book Proposals, Conferences, Pitch, Pitching, Platform, The Writing Life

Free Webinar: How to Start Building a Rejection-Proof Author Platform

By Steve Laubeon November 28, 2022
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It is undeniable that readers out there who would gobble up your book if only they knew it existed. (Note the post-Thanksgiving pun?) “Discoverability” is a buzzword that describes the effort to have those readers able to discover your book before it is published.  The more your target audience knows you exist, the more successful you will be as an author. Your mission is to connect …

Read moreFree Webinar: How to Start Building a Rejection-Proof Author Platform
Category: Platform

G Is for Great

By Steve Laubeon August 8, 2022
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“There are a lot of good manuscripts out there. What we want are those which are great.” I’ve said this many times but thought I should elaborate. Please note the following information applies mostly to nonfiction projects. When it comes to the nonfiction books that attract major publishers, I believe the author must have at least two of three “great” things: Great Concept Great Writing Great …

Read moreG Is for Great
Category: Book Business, Craft, Creativity, Platform, Publishing A-Z, Writing CraftTag: Concept, Platform, Writing Craft

Two Mistakes Made in Some Book Proposals

By Steve Laubeon May 2, 2022
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by Steve Laube

Putting together a great book proposal takes a lot of work. I suggest writers look at them as if they were a job application, and they are. You are trying to get someone to pay you to write your book via a stellar "job application" or book proposal.

But every once in a while we get something that is not going to work, for obvious reason. Here are two mistakes:

1. Divine …

Read moreTwo Mistakes Made in Some Book Proposals
Category: Book Proposals, Get Published, PlatformTag: book proposals, Get Published, Platform

Disciplined Creativity: The Key to Platform Development

By Dan Balowon March 10, 2022
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An ever-present part of developing an author platform is the content in it. List all the various media an author can use to connect with potential book readers, and one quickly realizes they are nothing but empty containers until filled with something. Some media are better than others for certain types of messages to certain audiences, but without a clear idea of what you want to communicate, you …

Read moreDisciplined Creativity: The Key to Platform Development
Category: Platform

What’s Your Platform Identity?

By Dan Balowon November 18, 2021
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A mistake for authors is defining their author platform as a list of people to market their next book on social media. Can you imagine a pastor of a church looking out over their congregation during a sermon and primarily thinking who among them would make good contacts when the new building finance program is announced the following week?  Maybe some do, but I cannot imagine a worse way to …

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Category: Platform

Why I Represent the Author: Agent Edition

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon October 14, 2021
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My reasons for representing an author may differ from why I read a certain book. Content: When I see something fresh and different, but not so far out that no one can relate, an author has my attention. Talent: Although my office must decline talented authors every day, writing talent will get authors a close look. Proposal: A professional proposal shows me the author has taken the time to learn …

Read moreWhy I Represent the Author: Agent Edition
Category: Book Proposals, Career, Pitching, Platform

Books, Hooks, and Good Looks

By Bob Hostetleron September 30, 2021
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I love hooks. As a writer, I work hard on my hooks. When I was a magazine editor, the hook was often the best way for a writer to make a good first impression on me. And now, for me as a literary agent, the hook is the first and one of the most important criteria I use in evaluating a book pitch, proposal, or manuscript. A good book hook will often prompt me to give a project a more careful, …

Read moreBooks, Hooks, and Good Looks
Category: Book Business, Book Proposals, Career, Get Published, Pitch, Pitching, Platform, Self-Publishing, Social Media, The Writing Life

What if Platform Is the Goal?

By Dan Balowon September 16, 2021
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We’ve been here before on this blog, discussing author platforms and how to get one. It’s a never-ending process, and it has always been a requirement for authors. If you find yourself talking about author platforms and believe “Gone are the days when an author could just write,” you are not completely accurate. Top authors from the “old days” were magazine or newspaper columnists with tens of …

Read moreWhat if Platform Is the Goal?
Category: Platform
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