The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World…Word by Word

The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World Word by Word

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How to Edit and Proofread Your Own Manuscript with Denise Loock

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There are two ways to get better at writing. One is to practice writing, so your first drafts are better. The second is to learn how to edit your first drafts into better second drafts. It is common for some beginning authors to feel like the second draft is different, rather than better. This doesn’t need to be the case, however. You can learn how to become a better self-editor. In fact, that is exactly what we are going to talk about today.

We have a special guest on the show who is going to teach you how to edit and proofread your own manuscript.

She is a general editor for Iron Stream Media, and she’s the director of PENCON, the annual conference for Christian editors and proofreaders.

Denise Loock, welcome to the Christian Publishing Show.

Links:

Craft Book Recommendations:

You can listen to this episode How to Edit and Proofread Your Own Manuscript with Denise Loock on Christian Publishing Show.

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Preface, Foreword, Introduction. Oh My!

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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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Why Was My Submission Rejected?

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From Day One as a big, important literary agent, the least favorite part of my job—by far—has been saying no. It’s the worst. And it makes me feel like I’m the worst. Feel sorry for me yet? Seriously, the process of reviewing one submission after another, expecting to find one shining sterling silver needle in the overwhelming haystack, is a sure way to bring down my spirits. I try to respond to …

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What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?

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Sometimes, interviewers ask when you first knew what you wanted to do in life. As a child, I remember aspiring to be a dancer because moving to music looked fun. But when I found this “magazine” I had made for my mother when I was ten, I realized my interests (aside from trying to get my mother to buy Cocoa Krispies cereal) tended toward my future reality. In the photo, notice that the lucky old …

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Spoiler Alert!

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Sometimes authors submit proposals that don’t reveal the ending of a novel. I’m the first to admit that a teaser will encourage a reader to buy a book. Once the reader has to know how the story ends, they’re hooked! Yes, agents are readers. However, when evaluating a novel for representation, we are marketers. Agents must consider if editors will be interested in the book. In turn, editors must …

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When Your Proposal Doesn’t Sell

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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 …

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Testing the Truth

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Years ago, after a class on taxes at a writers conference, an attendee shook her head. “That teacher’s going to get a lot of people in trouble.” I couldn’t deny that some of the suggestions offered seemed risky. I disregarded most of what I’d heard as I made my way out the door. This experience is rare, but it does happen. Conference directors engage well-known, established instructors for …

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Why Is the Book Proposal So Important?

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This question has been raised many times: “Why do I have to jump through your hoops to create a proposal only to have it rejected with a form letter?” It’s a Job Application Your proposal is, in essence, an application to have a business (corporate or sole proprietor) to pay you to publish your book, to spend their money on your work in a effort to create a profitable product. …

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Submission Mistakes of the More Subtle Variety

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I wrote a post on this blog a while ago (here) about some embarrassing and even disqualifying mistakes writers had made in submissions to me. One reader commented on that post, expressing gratitude and then adding, “What would be helpful to me is to hear the subtle or inadvertent mistakes aspiring authors make when sending a proposal to you. Can you help us with that?” Why, yes, Louise, since you …

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What We Can Overlook

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My office receives thousands of submissions a year. We’re thrilled to see proposals so well crafted that they’re ready to submit to publishers. Those submissions are few. Most contain mistakes. We don’t want you to feel stymied, as though agents are looking for reasons to reject proposals and will pounce on any infraction. Rather, let’s consider what my office may be able to overlook when the …

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