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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 » Page 4

book proposals

Penalty Flag: Illegal Use of an Exception

By Dan Balowon February 20, 2018
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Maybe using the word “illegal” is a bit over the top, but at least it grabbed your attention!

Because book publishing can be such a subjective or borderline mysterious field of endeavor, many authors respond to the uncertainty by hanging their hopes for success on something which could best be described as an exception to whatever rules seem to exist.  If indeed there are any rules in book publishing.

If this were a sporting event (and all of life relates to sports in some form), the referee would be forced to blow a whistle, stop the action and call a foul or penalty for improper use of an exception.

Agents and publishers often feel light-headed for constant whistleblowing after reading proposals all day.

If you use anything about C.S. Lewis or Charles Dickens to prove why your story is viable and valuable, you will be flagged.

Comparing your manuscript to a once-a-generation bestselling book or author is most often treated by publishing professionals somewhere between humor and delusion.

Basing your writing future on the necessity of a one-in-a-million exception makes little sense. For certain, JK Rowling’s success completely messed up a generation of fantasy writers.

“So, you’re telling me there’s a chance?”

There are less egregious penalties called when an author uses a once-in-a-blue-moon example of a marketing success which worked for one book, making a case for it working again. Oprah selected about a hundred titles for her book club over the years. That’s 100 among millions of books published over the same period.

Oprah’s book club did no favors to those promoting 99.99% of all books which needed to find ways to sell without the mega-endorsement.

Not only are you banking on lightning striking in a certain place or time, but you also want the hopes and dreams of hundreds of thousands of other authors to be placed on hold to make room so your book is targeted for a bolt from the heavens.

I’ll repeat this for new readers of this blog, but there are hundreds of thousands of new books published in the US every year (close to a million if you count self-publishing). Sheer competition for attention is always present and there are few or no guarantees to anything.

You can spend $200,000 in an attempt to buy your way onto a bestseller list and fail dramatically, or be the recipient of an unexpected free endorsement from someone you don’t know, triggering big sales of your book.

Go ahead, try and make this a science.

In the Christian publishing world, we have another set of issues weighing on authors’ minds.  And these issues are embedded deep in theology and long-standing Christian belief.

It could be argued only the apostle Paul had the theological credentials to write New Testament text and he needed to be first blinded, humbled by God and sent away for nine years to re-boot his thinking before being allowed to speak and write on behalf of God.

Improper exception – you excuse your lack of theological credentials as similar to those who wrote Scripture, like Peter or Matthew.

Why is this an issue? Because their words are considered God-breathed and once the canon of Scripture was settled, any writing which would add or subtract from it is considered false teaching.

Don’t you find it interesting when you truly feel led by the spirit to write something it is always infused with existing Scripture? Or some new revelation about God is not new at all, but only new to you as your eyes were opened to the truth?

When an author says God led them to write something, it is not as dramatic a statement as you think. The Spirit lives inside a believer so one could assume their words are guided by it.

Every Christian writer submitting to the leading of God is guided by the Spirit within them.

Claiming any special extra-biblical revelation is heresy.

Penalty flag thrown, whistle blown. Illegal claim you are the exception.

While you might think your book and your voice deserves to be treated as an exception in some way, most success in publishing is unexpected and due mostly to things not under your control.

Especially for authors of Christian books.

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Category: Agents, Book Business, Book ProposalsTag: book proposals, The Publishing Life, The Writing Life

How NOT to Get an Agent

By Bob Hostetleron February 14, 2018
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It’s a classic writer’s conference anecdote—even funnier because it is true. It didn’t happen to me, but to a friend of mine, who was not only followed into the restroom at a writer’s conference by an avid aspiring writer but was also slipped a book proposal. While in a stall. Free reading material, don’t you know. That’s no way to pitch a book or get an agent. And, though I don’t have nearly the …

Read moreHow NOT to Get an Agent
Category: Agents, Book Proposals, Get PublishedTag: Agents, book proposals, Get Published

Timing Myths Dispelled

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon February 1, 2018
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Sometimes I receive submissions with the note, “I want to get this to the editor before fill in the name of the big conference, or before the holiday, or whatever! Does this make sense? I can answer this question right now. The perfect time to submit a manuscript is… Thursday, 4:45 AM local time, in Guam. Seriously, I understand the desire to enhance a submission’s chances by timing it when the …

Read moreTiming Myths Dispelled
Category: Book Proposals, The Writing LifeTag: book proposals, Submissions

I Can’t Believe I Wrote the Whole Thing

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon January 25, 2018
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You’re an author with lots of talent and a great idea! You know the market and are confident your story will work. There’s plenty of plot to make word count. So why not sell on proposal? Selling on proposal seems ideal, but might not be a good idea for the new author. Why not? Pacing A new author can’t necessarily gauge how long it will take to write a book. Perhaps the first book rode like the …

Read moreI Can’t Believe I Wrote the Whole Thing
Category: Book Proposals, Craft, Creativity, The Writing LifeTag: book proposals, The Writing Life, Writing Craft

Are You Curating or Creating?

By Dan Balowon January 23, 2018
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Every once in a while, a book proposal crosses my desk and catches my attention with its creativity and approach. It is engaging and makes me think.  Whether I agreed to work with the author or not, I needed to give them kudos for their great work. Rarely, if ever, does something catch my attention (in a good way) which is simply assembled from or built entirely on the thinking of someone else. I …

Read moreAre You Curating or Creating?
Category: Book Proposals, Craft, The Writing Life, Writing CraftTag: book proposals, Creativity, Nonfiction

How Do You Count Lifetime Book Sales?

By Steve Laubeon January 22, 2018
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A key element in a book proposal is your sales history. Of course, you can ignore this if you’ve never published a book before. But if you have published, either with a traditional publisher or independently, your sales history must be included in your next book proposal. Here is an example: Sales History: The Bestest Book Ever (XYZ Publishers, 1996) – 12,449 sold The Other Bestest Book I Wrote …

Read moreHow Do You Count Lifetime Book Sales?
Category: Book Proposals, Book Sales, Get Published, MarketingTag: book proposals, Book Sales, Independent Publishing, Traditional Publishing

The Twelve Statements Before Christmas

By Dan Balowon December 19, 2017
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I pondered whether I should write this post in verse to the tune of The Twelve Days of Christmas, but since there would be a lot of copy/paste activity involved, I didn’t feel like readers would get their money’s worth. Instead, I’ll do this in simple list form, focusing on twelve statements from 2017, which left me speechless. And if you knew me personally, you would know there are very few …

Read moreThe Twelve Statements Before Christmas
Category: Book Proposals, HumorTag: book proposals, Christmas, Humor, Pitching

All I Want for Christmas is a Strong Endorsement

By Bob Hostetleron December 13, 2017
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I often tell developing writers that it is never too early to get a strong endorsement for your book project. In fact, I have included endorsements in book proposals—both my own and clients’ proposals.  Every little bit helps, don’t you know. Invariably, when I start talking about endorsements, a flurry of questions comes. In fact, a writer friend (of long and wide experience in publishing) …

Read moreAll I Want for Christmas is a Strong Endorsement
Category: Book Proposals, MarketingTag: book proposals, Endorsements, Marketing

Yes, It’s Personal

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon October 19, 2017
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We’d all like to think everyone will love all our books. But it just won’t happen. It’s personal, and that’s okay. Based on past posts, regular followers of this blog might conclude that I don’t like any book I start. That’s not true, but I’ll admit I’ve ditched a couple more books lately. One is a classic, but I didn’t like spending time with a protagonist mixing copious amounts of drink and …

Read moreYes, It’s Personal
Category: Book Proposals, Book Review, Get Published, The Writing LifeTag: Agents, book proposals, Pitching

What Makes a Great Hook?

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon October 12, 2017
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Lately, smart publishing professionals have been saying “it needs a great hook” to describe  books they seek. Recently I wrote about the all-important first page, which of course should seize the reader and not let go. However, that’s not the same as the story hook itself. The hook must make the consumer say, “I’ve got to read this!” even before she turns to page one. Nonfiction: The …

Read moreWhat Makes a Great Hook?
Category: Book Proposals, MarketingTag: book proposals, Hooks, Marketing
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