Search Results for: proposals
Got Questions?
The intent of our blog and podcast is to help writers understand what they need to know about the publishing industry and to hopefully succeed with their books. Everything from craft to conferences to proposals and even to ISBN numbers. We’ve been attempting this for nearly 10 years and yet many writers still have questions. Some are answered in our archives; but it isn’t easy to …
Who We Are
Steve Laube, president and founder of The Steve Laube Agency, is a veteran of the bookselling industry with over 40 years of experience. In the 80s, he was a bookstore manager and was awarded the National Store of the Year by the Christian Booksellers Association (CBA). He then spent over a decade with Bethany House Publishers and was named the Editor of the Year by AWSA. Twenty years ago, he …
Resist the Urge to Explain Your Title
For fiction writers, there is an important self-editing technique called RUE (Resist the Urge to Explain). The problem occurs when an author overwrites a scene and explains every thought, movement, etc., or fails to allow the reader to fill in the details, thereby ruining the reading experience. The concept is described extremely well in Browne & King’s Self-Editing for Fiction Writers. …
Understanding the Market
My cousin has a new job selling irrigation systems. He understands this product and even bought one from the company himself. I know what an irrigation system is but that’s about it. Could I sell an irrigation system based on this knowledge? Well, I could try; but I’d have to do a lot of research and then only sell it based on abstract knowledge, not experience. My cousin understands the product …
The Worst Parts of Being an Agent
I’m not one to complain. Although I didn’t sleep too well last night, and my coffee was a little weak this morning. And I spilled some on my shirt. But I mean, otherwise, I’m not one to complain. After all, there are many great things happening in my life right now, some of which pertain to me being a literary agent—which I posted about last week (“The Best Parts of Being an Agent“). …
Lessons Learned As a Literary Agent
Dan is leaving the agency at the end of this month to focus his attention on the work of Gilead Publishing, the company he started in 2016. Here are some parting thoughts. _____ I’ve been a literary agent for about 2,000 of the 13,000 total days spent working with and for book publishers over the last thirty-five years. It’s been a great experience, for sure; but as I look back at the thousands of …
Thomas Umstattd, Jr. Joins The Steve Laube Agency
I am very excited to announce that Thomas Umstattd, Jr. has joined the agency as our newest literary agent. We continually look for ways to increase the services our agency provides to current and potential clients. I have known Thomas for 12 years; and by adding him to our agency, we can expand our role in helping to maximize our client’s sales through his extensive experience in marketing, …
New Author Acronyms for The Oxford English Dictionary
Last week the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) added a bunch of new words to their august tome. What made news is that four of the words aren’t words at all but acronyms that have crept into our everyday communication via the Internet. “Words” like LOL, OMG, BFF, and IMHO.
In honor of this auspicious occasion I thought it would be fun to see if we can find other acronyms that should become part of …
Four Myths about Agents
I was amused when I recently received a note from an author who had decided I’m a human rather than an infallible goddess. Not sure if I should be glad or disappointed! Since many authors don’t interact with agents, let me dispel a few myths about us: 1) Myth: Authors don’t need an agent for traditional publishing. Some traditional publishers will accept unsolicited proposals, but those …