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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 » Writing Craft » Page 18

Writing Craft

It’s New to Them

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon August 4, 2021
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The other day, I was surprised to see an ad for a book published fairly recently regarding Kitty Genovese, a woman murdered as bystanders watched in Queens, New York, in 1964. This case was so notorious for its study of human behavior (Why would witnesses fail to act?) that people have analyzed the event for decades. Most adults know the name and reference without blinking.

But what about younger people? A Psychology 101 undergraduate may have never heard about the case. To that student, Kitty Genovese and the question of bystander apathy are fresh news.

Nothing new under the sun

As you write your book, consider that your topic may be well-tread. Most issues are. For instance, I searched Amazon for books for a “new mother” and received over 60,000 results. Searches for “car repair” books yielded the same. Apparently, Amazon tops out at around 60,000 results.

For fun, I decided to try a more narrow topic. I searched for books on “eyeshadow” and got over 1,000 hits. This search revealed a passionate hatred for blue eyeshadow. I then tried “red lipstick” and got over 1,000 hits. This search shows that red lipstick is both loved and hated. On the day of my search, one book labeled red lipstick an icon, and another called it a menace. I’ll go with iconic, of course!

A compelling new twist

Whether you’re competing against 60,000 or 1,000 books on your subject, write compellingly. If you are the first author they encounter discussing an issue, your readers will be wide-eyed, whether or not they are rocking blue eyeshadow and red lipstick!

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Category: Creativity, Inspiration, Pitching

Defining a Few Terms

By Bob Hostetleron July 29, 2021
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Since Steve dealt with some terms in Monday’s post, we thought it appropriate to discuss some other basic ones today. When a person undertakes to write for publication—and especially when that individual starts taking webinars, attending writers conferences, and hanging out with other writer types—he or she will encounter some words and phrases that can be confusing, at least at first. So, …

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Category: Book Proposals, The Writing Life, Writing Craft

Preface, Foreword, Introduction. Oh My!

By Steve Laubeon July 26, 2021
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A reader asked, “What is the difference between a preface, a foreword, and an introduction? And do I need them all?” There so much publishing lingo used every day that we forget there was a time when we didn’t know what the words meant. It’s one reason I have a “Publishing Lingo” section in the back of the annual Christian Writers Market Guide. These three pieces of writing (preface, foreword, and …

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Category: Book Proposals, Common Questoins, Craft, Publishing A-Z

The Dreaded Blank Page

By Steve Laubeon July 19, 2021
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by Steve Laube

A clean slate. An empty canvas. A fresh start. A new beginning.
Or a potential nightmare of guilt, failure, and shame.

Thus begins the process of each writing project. This blog post began with a blank page. I wondered why I ever agreed to write a blog. I procrastinated with enough excuses to be described as legion. I told myself that no one cares what I think on any …

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Category: Craft, Creativity, Steve, Writing CraftTag: blank page, Writing Craft

To Comma or Not to Comma?

By Steve Laubeon June 28, 2021
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I came across this entry in Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss. The book is a classic on punctuation. (Although based on British English usage, it is still a great book.) On his deathbed in April 1991, Graham Green corrected and signed a typed document which restricts access to his papers at Georgetown University. Or does it? The document, before correction, stated: “I, Graham Greene, …

Read moreTo Comma or Not to Comma?
Category: Book Business, Contracts, Grammar, Language, SteveTag: commas, Grammar, Language, punctuation

Original Writing

By Dan Balowon June 16, 2021
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Several years ago, I reviewed a proposal on a subject commonly addressed in Christian books and quickly noticed it was not entirely original.  It wasn’t plagiarized from another author, but the proposed nonfiction book was comprised almost entirely of the best-thinking from other Christian authors on the subject. There was little original thinking by the author. The material quoted from other …

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Category: Book Proposals, Creativity, Get Published, The Writing Life, Writing Craft

The Story We Bring to the Story

By Steve Laubeon June 7, 2021
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by Steve Laube

With all the discussion about the craft of fiction and the need to write a great story there is one thing missing in the equation. The one thing that is the secret to great fiction. And it is the one thing the writer cannot control.

That one thing is the story the reader brings with them to their reading experience. As a reader I have the life I have lived, the people I’ve …

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Category: Art, Craft, Creativity, Steve, Writing CraftTag: Craft, Reader, story

A Literary Agent’s Wish List

By Bob Hostetleron May 27, 2021
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People often ask me, “What are you looking for?” It’s a natural question to ask a literary agent, even when the questioner knows that the agent has offered a detailed answer on the agency website (here, for example). After all, something could’ve changed. I may, since updating my interests, have suddenly decided to get bold, branch out, and try to sell a systematic theology in iambic pentameter. …

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Category: Agents, Book Proposals, Craft, Grammar, Pitching, Platform, The Publishing Life, The Writing Life

Ancient Wisdom from an Ancient Editor

By Steve Laubeon May 17, 2021
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by Steve Laube

I came across a remarkable section in a book written around 124 B.C. The editor of the book wrote the following preface to help the reader understand his methodology and purpose. It shows the concern a good editor has for the ultimate reader. His job was to abridge a massive five volume work into an abbreviated 16,00 word document. Can anyone tell me where this comes from and …

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Category: Book Business, Craft, Editing, Grammar, Writing CraftTag: Editing, Wisdom, Writing Craft

When Your Proposal Doesn’t Sell

By Steve Laubeon May 10, 2021
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by Steve Laube

It happens. Despite all efforts and good intentions not every proposal we shop will end up being contracted by a major publisher. Of course our agency tries our best to keep that from happening. We carefully choose which projects and authors we represent. And our success rate is extremely high.

But that success rate is not 100%.

Here are a few examples of projects that …

Read moreWhen Your Proposal Doesn’t Sell
Category: Agency, Book Business, Book Proposals, Get Published, Self-Publishing, The Writing LifeTag: book proposals, Get Published
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