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The Steve Laube Agency

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The Steve Laube Agency

The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World Word by Word

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Home » book proposals

book proposals

Why Should I Follow Your Guidelines?

By Steve Laubeon July 21, 2025
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Believe it or not, we once had someone write and say that forcing an author to follow our guidelines when submitting a proposal is the height of arrogance. An artist should be allowed artistic freedom of expression, and cramming ideas into a preprescribed format is squelching that creativity.

While I understand the frustration and the amount of work involved in creating a proposal, there are reasons why we ask that writers follow the guidelines.

Definition of “Guidelines”

We use the word “guidelines” instead of “rules” intentionally. They are designed, in part, as a help to writers who don’t know where to begin when putting together a proposal.

You could say that rules are meant to be broken, but guidelines are meant to be followed. But even then, some get caught up in the details of the guidelines and miss the point. We get questions about font size, preferred font, whether to include an author photo or not, how many pages equal a chapter, page margins, what sort of salutation to use, what to say in the cover letter, etc. They are all legitimate questions; but accompanying the question is a fear that if the writer does it wrong, they will be rejected.

Standardization

When working through our considerable number of submissions, it quickly becomes obvious which writers have taken the time to review our guidelines and try to follow them. It is also obvious that some are oblivious to the help that ours, other agencies, books, and online resources provide.

The advantage of a general format is that we can quickly find the parts of a proposal that help our review process. If I have to dig to find a half-page summary of the book or a section about the writer, I can get frustrated. I’ve seen proposals that lead with chapter one, page one, and bury their cover letter at the end of the document. Please don’t do that.

Treat It Like a Job Application

Writing a proposal is like applying for a job in the technology sector. There are certain things that you know are going to attract Apple, Alphabet (aka Google), Facebook, or X. Those are a “standard” part of every application. But if you are wise, you will have gone to each company’s website and followed their guidelines. If they want a one-page resume, you don’t send two. If they ask for two, you don’t send one. In other words, you should customize your application to meet the interests of that particular company.

Try to stand out as a professional. Artistic rebels can still be professional about their rebellion!

Standing out as a “Grumpy Gus” or worse suggests that working together might be difficult.

The Underlying Reason for Guidelines

One thing to remember is that it isn’t anyone’s arrogance that requests following a guideline. Our guidelines are based on what the publishers ask of us. The publisher wants certain information because the bookselling outlets (online and physical) ask for certain information when being presented with a new book. The store wants that information because they know that you, the consumer, are asking for that information when making a purchasing decision. It is ultimately your fault that we have guidelines! (See me smiling when I write that?)

The bottom line is that we all want to sell books.
The consumer wants to know what the book is about and why they should buy it.
The store wants to know what the book is about and why they should stock it.
The publisher wants to know what the book is about and why they should publish it.
And the literary agent wants to know what the book is about and why they should represent it.

Artistic Freedom

Therefore, the writer, if they want a reader to buy their book, needs to consider what the reader is looking for and put that in the proposal. That doesn’t change what you write in the book. It merely wraps the entire concept into a package that can ultimately be presented to a reader and which says, “Buy me. Read me.”

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Category: Book Proposals, Get Published, Marketing, PlatformTag: book proposals, Get Published, Guidelines

What Is the Best Way to Submit My Self-Published Book?

By Steve Laubeon April 21, 2025
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We are asked this question so frequently that I have to re-run this post on a regular basis! Since it has become so easy to self-publish, many authors are creating their own books, both in ebook and print form. Later, those authors are not quite sure what to do if/when they want to approach an agent. Or pitch to an editor at a conference. Should they just send a copy of the book with a letter? Or …

Read moreWhat Is the Best Way to Submit My Self-Published Book?
Category: Book Proposals, Indie, Self-PublishingTag: book proposals, Get Published, Self-Publishing

How Do You Know What Will (or Will Not) Sell?

By Steve Laubeon February 24, 2025
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There is a mysterious magic embedded in the mythos of the publishing industry: the ability to pick successful books. I was recently asked, “You say ‘no’ so often, how do you know when to say ‘yes?’” I wish I could claim that every agent and publisher have a secret formula we consult to know what will sell. Ask any group of us for that secret and we will all laugh because there is no “secret.” We …

Read moreHow Do You Know What Will (or Will Not) Sell?
Category: Book Business, Book Proposals, Branding, Career, PlatformTag: Agents, book proposals, Career, Pitching, What Sells, Writers

Bring the Books (What Steve Laube Is Looking For)

By Steve Laubeon January 13, 2025
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(Updated 1/13/2025) “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 …

Read moreBring the Books (What Steve Laube Is Looking For)
Category: Agency, Book Proposals, Creativity, TrendsTag: Agency, book proposals

What I Am Looking For (Dan Balow)

By Dan Balowon January 9, 2025
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(Updated 1/9/2025) The longer I am around Christian publishing, the more I see history repeat itself. Steve Laube and I will often comment to each other about how many of the bestselling authors in the Christian book world are the same today as they were a generation ago. So, this work has a substantial element of “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” What am I looking for in book …

Read moreWhat I Am Looking For (Dan Balow)
Category: Agency, Book ProposalsTag: Agency, book proposals

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

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon January 7, 2025
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(Updated 1/7/2025) 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 …

Read moreBook Proposals I’d Love to See (What Tamela Hancock Murray Is Looking For)
Category: Agency, Book Business, Book Proposals, Career, Craft, Creativity, Romance, Trends, Writing CraftTag: Agency, book proposals

Are You Pitch Perfect?

By Steve Laubeon December 2, 2024
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A critical key to landing a book deal is the presentation of your idea in such a way that the editor or agent is completely sold on the concept. In musical terms, perfect pitch is the rare talent to name or pick out a note without having any reference point. This is illustrated by this youtube video where they clear your mind, then give you a tone, and ask you to name the note; most people fail …

Read moreAre You Pitch Perfect?
Category: Book Proposals, PitchingTag: book proposals, Pitching

Why Does It Take Editors and Agents So Long to Read My Proposal?

By Steve Laubeon October 28, 2024
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Recently, a writer posted this question: I submitted a proposal to a publisher 6 months ago. The guidelines said that a response would be provided at the end of 4 months. At the end of 5 months I sent an email query to confirm that they had actually received the submission–still no response. Now I am at the end of 6 months.…Do I give up? I wish I had a magic wand to solve this problem for …

Read moreWhy Does It Take Editors and Agents So Long to Read My Proposal?
Category: Agency, Book Business, Book Proposals, Common QuestoinsTag: book proposals, Rejection

Know Your Genre When Making a Pitch

By Steve Laubeon August 5, 2024
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Awhile ago I received a call that illustrates a common error a writer can make when making their pitch: the problem of not knowing the genre in which they are writing. The call went something like this: Writer: I’m calling to see if your agency handles westerns. Agent: That is a tough genre to sell in the current market, but a lot would depend on how well you can write it. Writer: Some …

Read moreKnow Your Genre When Making a Pitch
Category: Book Proposals, Branding, Conferences, Get Published, Marketing, PitchingTag: book proposals, Genre, Get Published, Pitch; Genre; proposals, Pitching

Who Decides to Publish Your Book?

By Steve Laubeon May 1, 2023
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The editor you met with at a writers conference liked your proposal and asked you to send it to her after the conference. She was already talking about format and promotional ideas. Or you submitted a proposal and received an enthusiastic response from the acquisitions editor. Four (or maybe six to eight) months later, a rejection letter showed up in your inbox. What happened? No matter how much …

Read moreWho Decides to Publish Your Book?
Category: Agents, Book Proposals, Career, Get Published, Pitching, The Publishing Life, The Writing LifeTag: book proposals, Get Published, Publishing Decision
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