Agency

Tamela Hancock Murray Named Agent of the Year!

By Steve Laubeon September 3, 2026

We are very pleased to announce that during the recent ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) annual event in Memphis that Tamela was named Agent of the Year! ACFW has the largest gathering of Christian fiction authors in the country.

This is the second time she has received this honor!

I can personally attest to Tamela’s abilities and her success. She works extremely hard and loves her clients. Few in our industry can match her understanding of the Christian romance genre. I am so proud to have her as part of our agency.

Join me in giving her hearty congratulations!

Who and What I’m Looking For (Bob Hostetler)

By Bob Hostetleron January 21, 2026

(Updated 1/21/2026) As another year dawns, much has changed—and much remains the same—in the world of Christian publishing. With all that in mind, let me offer an updated answer, as up-to-the-minute as I can make it, to the frequent question I field from aspiring, developing, accomplished, and skilled writers: “What are you looking for?” Influence Aspiring writers often imagine, “Once I have a …

Category: Agency, Agents, Book ProposalsTag: Agency, Agents, Get Published

Bring the Books (What Steve Laube Is Looking For)

By Steve Laubeon January 19, 2026

(Updated 1/19/2026) “Bring the books, especially the parchments,” is a sentence in 2 Timothy 4:13 that has teased readers for 2,000 years. What books did the Apostle Paul want to read while waiting for trial? Theology? History? How-to? (Maybe a little escape reading? Pun intended.) Another writer chimed in a while ago by saying, “Of making many books there is no end” (Ecclesiastes 12:12). And if …

Category: Agency, Book Proposals, Creativity, TrendsTag: Agency, book proposals

Book Proposals I’d Love to See (What Tamela Hancock Murray Is Looking For)

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon January 14, 2026

(Updated 1/14/2026) I’m thankful to the Lord that I’m a literary agent working for Him in Christian publishing. I’m grateful to the readers of this blog for being part of our writing community. As for approaching me with your work, let’s see if our passions match: Christian Romantic Suspense and Suspense Readers of Christian romantic suspense and suspense are a large and devoted fan base. I’m …

Category: Agency, Book Business, Book Proposals, Career, Craft, Creativity, Romance, Trends, Writing CraftTag: Agency, book proposals

Welcome Back, Dan Balow!

By Steve Laubeon January 18, 2021

by Steve Laube

I am very excited to announce that Dan Balow has joined our agency as the Director of Publishing Development and Literary Agent. This gives us four members of our team, me, Tamela Hancock Murray, Karen Ball, and Dan.

I’ve been looking for ways to increase the services our agency provides to current and potential clients. I have known Dan for 15 years and by adding him to our …

Category: Agency, Book BusinessTag: Agency, Dan Balow

Choosing the Best Agent

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon August 2, 2018

Selecting the best agent is pivotal to the career of any author seeking a traditional publisher. A few traditional publishers accept unsolicited (read: unagented) proposals, but as submissions increase thanks to efficient technology and the growing number of aspiring authors, those publishers are becoming fewer. Most traditional publishers prefer agented submissions. In fact, at many conferences, …

Category: Agency, AgentsTag: Agency, Agents

Three Things I’ve Learned as an Agent

By Bob Hostetleron January 10, 2018

Just over six months ago, I became a literary agent with the Steve Laube Agency. Hoo boy. It has been some ride. Lots o’ fun, lots o’ work, and lots o’ learning. So I thought I’d take a few minutes (it’s all I have before the boss calls and starts yelling at me again) to reflect on what I’ve learned in that short period of time. It’s not an easy task, considering I already knew pretty much …

Category: Agency, Agents, Book Business, Indie, Self-Publishing, The Publishing Life, The Writing LifeTag: Agency, Agents

A Year in Review – A Look at 2017

By Steve Laubeon January 8, 2018

I find it a healthy exercise to review the past as it can be encouraging to note progress and look at the foundation for the future. The Industry Our industry continues to create tremendous books but few new ones “break out.” It is hard to gain the attention of readers and buyers in our media-saturated society. And yet books continue to sell! It was almost a foregone conclusion, so in February …

Category: Agency, News You Can Use, Personal, The Publishing Life, The Writing Life, TrendsTag: Agency, News, Trends

The Gift of Readers

By Steve Laubeon December 18, 2017

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I thought it apropos to talk about gifts during this Christmas season. There is one gift in particular that has been given to us year round. You. As a reader of this blog you give us the gift of your time, energy, and attention. According to Google Analytics there have been over 70,000 users who have visited our site more than once this year. I had no idea. If only one percent of those returnees …

Category: Agency, PersonalTag: Agency, Christmas, Gift, readers

The Steve Laube Agency Acquires the Leslie H. Stobbe Literary Agency

By Steve Laubeon December 4, 2017

(Phoenix, AZ) Steve Laube, president of The Steve Laube Agency, has announced the acquisition of the Leslie H. Stobbe Literary Agency. Les Stobbe has been a part of the Christian publishing industry for 62 years, starting as an editor and book buyer, then publisher, book coach, ghostwriter, and the last 25 as a literary agent. Les has been awarded five Lifetime Achievement Awards by writers’ …

Category: Agency, Publishing News, The Publishing LifeTag: Agency, Publishing News