Helping to Change the World…Word by Word
The Steve Laube Agency
Helping to Change the World Word by Word
About Steve Laube Steve Laube, president and founder of The Steve Laube Agency, a veteran of the bookselling industry with nearly 40 years of experience. In the 80s he was a bookstore manager. He then spent over a decade with Bethany House Publishers as an editor. Fifteen years ago he became an agent where he […]
You can listen to this episode 001 – Book Proposals 101 with Steve Laube on Christian Publishing Show.
www.NovelMarketingConference.com
Since we recently discussed the role of a synopsis in a fiction proposal I thought it important that we address what the nonfiction author needs to provide. This is one of the main differences between the fiction and the nonfiction book proposal. I’ve seen many authors confuse the two and create extra work for themselves. Not a Synopsis but an Outline I intentionally did not use the word …
Attention all novelists! Every fiction book proposal must include a synopsis. Everyone who teaches on the book proposal says you need one. But why? Those two to three single-spaced pages of agony will never be seen by anyone else but editors and agents, so why? Why, oh why, must a novelist create a synopsis? I understand how difficult it is to write a synopsis. And yet, you need to do the work. …
There is an important question that needs to be answered in your book proposal in the “Manuscript Status” section. When will your manuscript be ready? This information is important whether you are writing fiction or non-fiction. When Will Your Book be Done? Fiction: If you are a first time novelist, never before published, your answer should be “The manuscript is complete and …
There is an important question that needs to be answered in your book proposal in the “Manuscript Status” section. What is the length of your book? This information is important whether you are writing fiction or non-fiction. How Long is Your Book? Think carefully before you declare a word count in your proposal. I don’t know how often I’ve seen someone propose a 280,000 …
If you think about it, the first step leading to the eventual sale of any book begins with grabbing someone’s attention with a short description of the book content. The proposal or short description motivates the agent, publisher, book retailer or reader to take the next step, which is different for each, but everything is set in motion by something less than the full manuscript. No one first …
Awhile ago, I was reviewing a proverbial stack of nonfiction and fiction proposals. As I read them, I noticed something. And I saw that something again just recently as I read over proposals during a series of 15-minute meetings with conferees at a writers’ conference. What was that something? In their proposals, more and more writers are comparing their work to icons in publishing. As in: “My …
I … Love … Coffee … Love going into coffee shops, love ordering the perfect brew, love the ambiance of Starbuck’s and Caribou coffee and Seattle’s Best and Coffee People, and you name it! When my hubby wants to do something special for me, he’ll let me drag him to a coffee shop. Of course, when I’m done ordering, he bellys up to the bar, stares the barista in the eye, and says, …
When I mention adding comp titles to a proposal, this is the response I often get from both nonfiction and fiction authors: “AARRRGGHH! Why? It’s so hard!” Well, there are two main reasons as to the why: Comp titles show there’s a market out there for books like yours. Comp titles help the editor/author “get” your book better. Now, that doesn’t mean you can just grab any book that’s similar …
Last week we tackled the proposal synopsis. The cool thing about creating that aspect of the proposal first is that you can use it as the springboard for your hook: those few lines at the beginning of your proposal that draw an editor/agent deeper. (One note here: many writers have asked if they need to put something in the hook about genre. My vote: put the genre right after the title on the …
