• Skip to main content
  • Skip to after header navigation
  • Skip to site footer

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

  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Interview with Steve Laube
    • Statement of Faith
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
  • Guidelines
  • Authors
    • Who We Represent
    • Awards and Recognition
  • Resources
    • Recommended Reading
    • Christian Writers Market Guide Online
    • Christian Writers Institute
    • Writers Conferences
    • Freelance Editorial Services
    • Copyright Resources
    • Research Tools
    • Selling What You Write
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Twitter
  • FaceBook
  • RSS Feed
  • Get Published
  • Book Proposals
  • Book Business
  • Writing Craft
    • Conferences
    • Copyright
    • Craft
    • Creativity
    • Grammar
  • Fun Fridays
Home » Writing Craft » Page 85

Writing Craft

Count Your Many Phrases

By Steve Laubeon February 10, 2011
Share
Tweet
28

We all have our pet phrases and they can inadvertently sneak their way into our manuscripts. Yesterday I came across a marvelous web site that can help you discover how often a particular phrase is repeated in your article or manuscript.

Using the Phrase Frequency Counter online, you can actually track what phrases are overused. It is also a great way to pick out those clichés that can creep into your writing.

Out of curiosity I tried the site out on the interview page on my web site. I discovered the phrase “retail potential” is used at least three times. This gave me the chance to review the piece and see if that needed adjusting.

Years ago I edited a manuscript that used the word “very” as an adjective (i.e. “the very idea” “the very book”) over and over again. After I redlined nearly all of them the author sent me a hilarious e-mail with the word “very” repeated 500 times. The author said he was getting it out of his system so I wouldn’t have to work so hard on his next book!

From what I could tell there is no limit to the size of the document you can paste into the search screen.

Let us know what phrase you overused in your work-in-progress.

HT: Shelf Awareness

Leave a Comment
Category: Editing, Grammar, Writing CraftTag: Creativity, Writing Craft

Book Tour Lesson: Listen to Publisher

By Steve Laubeon January 10, 2011
Share
Tweet
5

Melanie Benjamin, author of Alice I Have Been, reflects on book tours, in an article for the Huffington Post.  Especially the difference between the one she put together herself several years ago and the one she is currently doing with the help of her publisher.
"I've also learned to listen to my publisher. When a bookstore contacts me personally about an appearance, I pass the request on to my …

Read moreBook Tour Lesson: Listen to Publisher
Category: Book Business, Career, MarketingTag: book tours, Marketing, publisher

Lawsuit over Hyperlink?

By Steve Laubeon December 20, 2010
Share
Tweet
6

In Canada a man is suing another person for linking to allegedly damaging web content on a web site (the suit is currently before the Canadian Supreme Court).  A big "thank you" to Mac Slolcum for writing about this issue last week. In his article Mac asks the pertinent question, "Is a link on your web site equivalent to an endorsement of that content?" Think about it for a second. If you click …

Read moreLawsuit over Hyperlink?
Category: Book Business, Legal IssuesTag: Endorsements, Facebook, Internet Usage, Marketing

All About E

By Steve Laubeon December 17, 2010
Share
Tweet
2

This was the year of the E word. "E-Books." The topic replaced the other "e" word...the Economy...as the number one topic among authors, editors, publishers and agents. And the news media reported every nuance with breathless excitement. The iPad, the iPhone4,  the Droid, the avalanche of tablets, the Kindle, the Nook, and a deluge of e-reading devices, all commanded our time and attention.

But …

Read moreAll About E
Category: Book Business, E-Books, Get Published, TrendsTag: Book Business, Digital Books, E-Books, Get Published, Trends

E-Book Buyers Buy More Books

By Steve Laubeon November 18, 2010
Share
Tweet
15

New research by the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) has made some interesting discoveries.

E-book consumers say they are buying more books overall, but fewer in print, and are decreasing their total dollars spent
More than 40% of e-book readers have reduced the number and dollars spent on hardcovers and paperbacks.
Retailers are becoming more important than publishers as a source of …

Read moreE-Book Buyers Buy More Books
Category: Book Business, E-Books, TrendsTag: Book Business, E-Books, Trends

Art of War for Writers

By Steve Laubeon November 24, 2009
Share
Tweet
19

Periodically I plan to recommend a title or two for you to read. I've always enjoyed this form of "word-of-mouth" marketing, thus I will "pay it forward." :-)

Yesterday afternoon I received James Scott Bell's The Art of War for Writers: fiction writing strategies, tactics, and exercises (published by Writer's Digest Books). With interest I took the book home and devoured it. Not literally of …

Read moreArt of War for Writers
Category: Book Review, Writing CraftTag: Book Review

The Wave of Digital Creativity in Books

By Steve Laubeon October 17, 2009
Share
Tweet
11

I went to high school in Hawaii (I know.. a rough life) where I learned the joys and perils of body surfing. That experience is a great metaphor for the new "waves" of digital revolution we are seeing in the publishing world.

The key to great body surfing is waiting for the right wave and then time your push just right. The ride is exhilarating (I still remember riding inside the tube of a …

Read moreThe Wave of Digital Creativity in Books
Category: Creativity, Get Published, Publishing A-ZTag: Digital Books, Get Published, QR Code

ICRS / CBA Bookseller’s Convention

By Steve Laubeon July 13, 2009
Share
Tweet
2

Today is the official opening of the convention in Denver. This year will be my 28th consecutive ICRS (International Christian Retail Show) or CBA as we veterans still call it (Christian Booksellers Association Convention). I absolutely love the experience. I've attended as a retailer, as an exhibitor, and now as an "industry professional." I find it amusing that each name badge is color-coded to …

Read moreICRS / CBA Bookseller’s Convention
Category: Conferences, ICRSTag: Bookselling, ICRS
  • Previous
  • Page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 83
  • Page 84
  • Page 85
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Interview with Steve Laube
    • Statement of Faith
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
  • Guidelines
  • Authors
    • Who We Represent
    • Awards and Recognition
  • Resources
    • Recommended Reading
    • Christian Writers Market Guide Online
    • Christian Writers Institute
    • Writers Conferences
    • Freelance Editorial Services
    • Copyright Resources
    • Research Tools
    • Selling What You Write
  • Blog
  • Contact

Copyright © 2025 · The Steve Laube Agency · All Rights Reserved · Website by Stormhill Media