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The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World…Word by Word

The Steve Laube Agency

The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World Word by Word

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Home » book proposals » Page 6

book proposals

WHAT Were They Thinking??

By Karen Ballon March 8, 2017
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You know, one of the things I’ve learned since becoming an agent is that people have an odd sense of what’s appropriate. Happily, quite a lot of what I receive is well prepared and enjoyable to read. But I’d have to say that anywhere from a fourth to even, on a bad week, a third, of what comes in falls squarely in the “I don’t THINK so” camp.

So here, just to help you avoid such things, are some of what came to visit me in the last month or so.

Please, my friends, do not:

Send queries. Just queries. It says—twice, mind you—on our agency website guidelines to please not send just queries. Why? Because we can’t make a decision about representation based on a query. So save us both a little time and just go ahead and send in the full proposal.

Respond to the agents assistants when they tell you what you’ve sent in isn’t what the agent needs for review by saying “Sure it is. Just send it to the agent.” When I heard this, I shook my head. I’ve made it clear to my assistant that I need the information in a full proposal, so she’s to request that. So why on earth would she go against what I’ve asked of her? And why on earth would someone demand she do so?

Paste your proposal into the body of the email. We need those proposals in a document, Word or PDF, whatever. My eyes thank you.

Send a proposal for a type of book the agent doesn’t represent. (How, you ask, can you know? Check the agency’s website. Most agents list what they do and don’t represent. And no, your proposal won’t change the agents’ minds. Honest.)

Send an email with a hyperlink to your writing, saying “Check out my book/writing here.” Not gonna happen.

Respond to the agent letting you know s/he is going to pass on offering representation by asking him/her to critique your proposal and tell you how to make it strong. As much as we want to help, we just don’t have the time to do that. Besides, there are plenty of places online, including most agency websites, that give the basics of creating a strong proposal.

Send an email in 6 pt type. Yeah, SIX point. Makes my eyes hurt just remembering that one. I realize some computers don’t make nice together, and the typeface may leave your computer at a perfectly fine 12 point type and land in my inbox in a perfectly minuscule point size. Know how to avoid that? Use Time Roman, 12 point type. Most computers “see” that the same.

Send your proposal email cc’d to a list of 50 agents. Please, send one proposal per agent.

Put in your email that, if the agent isn’t interested, you’d like them to recommend another agent who would be. Why not? Because it’s your job to do that homework, not ours.

Send proposals to a Christian agent that contain:

Graphic sex

Voodoo spells and conjures

Obscenities

Alternate life-styles

Reasons the organized church is Satan

Send an email that asks the agent to pass on the url for your wonderful book to their many friends and contacts so that we can all jump right on over to that site and buy said book.

Mistake hyperbole and arrogance for marketing copy or confidence. What do I mean? Well, don’t say in your pitch that:

your writing is the most amazing writing the agent will ever read

your book idea is the most original idea the agent will ever have seen

your book will sell a million and make you both wealthy

the agent will regret it for the rest of his/her life if s/he passes on this opportunity

(Yup, I got all four of those in the last three weeks. And darned if they weren’t all dead wrong.)

So you can see that some days are a bit of a…challenge. But here’s the good news: YOU! You folks are here, reading the agency blog, because you want to be educated and to do things well. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!

I appreciate your hard work, and you, a lot.

 

 

 

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Category: Book Proposals, Humor, PitchingTag: book proposals, Pitching

Is Your Writing Controlled by Fate?

By Dan Balowon February 21, 2017
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I was going to title this blog post something along the lines of “Calvinist vs. Arminian Authors,” or “Predestination vs. Free Will in Publishing,” but these titles inferred an entirely different angle than I intended. Every author believes their book, if published and promoted enough has the potential to sell well. No author writes a book feeling deeply it will sell 349 copies. Someone messed up …

Read moreIs Your Writing Controlled by Fate?
Category: Book Business, Book Proposals, MarketingTag: Book Business, book proposals

What is Your Attention Span?

By Steve Laubeon February 13, 2017
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I came across the study that claims the average person now has a shorter attention span than that of a goldfish. Eight seconds. This means most people tend to lose concentration in less than ten seconds. As an experiment, I read the above paragraph out loud. It took about 10 seconds to complete. That means I just lost you. At least the goldfish will swim around its bowl and come back to the same …

Read moreWhat is Your Attention Span?
Category: Communication, Craft, Inspiration, Reading, The Writing LifeTag: book proposals, Creativity, Writing Craft

A Roundup of Some Queries

By Steve Laubeon January 23, 2017
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Periodically we try to show you some of the more unusual things we receive, unsolicited, by our agency. These are by no means all of them (not exhaustive…just exhausting). Just a few to help those who read this blog avoid the same mistakes. Disclaimer: We do not suggest that any of these writers are insincere. In fact it is evident they believe in what they are presenting. But at the same …

Read moreA Roundup of Some Queries
Category: Book ProposalsTag: book proposals, Query Letters

Should an Author Query by Phone?

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon January 12, 2017
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Recently I was asked by an author (not a client) if I could spend “ten minutes” talking on the phone about a book before I see the submission. I prefer to see the work first. Some questions may enter the author’s mind in response to that. Here are my answers. What’s the matter, are you too “busy” or snobby to talk to authors? No, I am not. In fact, I believe most people find time to do what they …

Read moreShould an Author Query by Phone?
Category: Book Proposals, Get Published, Pitch, Pitching, The Writing LifeTag: Agents, book proposals, pitch

We Care, But We Must Choose

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon December 8, 2016
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If you go through my trash, you might think I’m the world’s worst person. Why? Because my discarded mail might lead a casual observer to think that I don’t care about: The paralyzed. The blind. Amputees. Orphans. Israelites. Health needs overseas. Impoverished people living overseas. People suffering with: Lupus Muscular Dystrophy AIDS Multiple Sclerosis Emphysema Diabetes Heart disease. Cancer …

Read moreWe Care, But We Must Choose
Category: Agents, Book ProposalsTag: Agents, book proposals

The Send…A Proposal’s Weakest Link

By Dan Balowon December 6, 2016
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You spend hundreds and hundreds of hours writing and re-writing your book. You work meticulously to craft a proposal for an agent or publisher. You talk to your friends about the big step you are about to take, the step of sending your proposal out. The power of email will carry your message to the world. Then you copy 135 names into the email address field, use a generic greeting and send it out …

Read moreThe Send…A Proposal’s Weakest Link
Category: Book Proposals, Get PublishedTag: book proposals, Get Published

How Long Should You Wait for an Answer?

By Steve Laubeon October 31, 2016
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You have sent your project to an editor or an agent. Their guidelines state “We will respond within 6-8 weeks.” Do you mark your calendar on day 56 and send that person a query the minute the deadline passed? This past week one of my clients set a personal record for waiting. She was contacted by a magazine asking to publish a poem she submitted…in 1990. You read that right. …

Read moreHow Long Should You Wait for an Answer?
Category: Agents, Book Proposals, Pitching, The Writing LifeTag: Agents, book proposals

Two Types of Nonfiction Books: Which Are You Writing?

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon September 22, 2016
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Broad Appeal I receive a number of emails each day advertising new books and older books being released as ebooks. Recently one notice contained summaries of several titles in a series. I thought the book on three views regarding remarriage after divorce sounded interesting. As faithful blog readers, you may gasp, “Is Tamela getting divorced?” The answer is a resounding, “No!” I credit my long …

Read moreTwo Types of Nonfiction Books: Which Are You Writing?
Category: Book Proposals, Branding, Marketing, PlatformTag: book proposals, Niche Books, Non-Fiction

The Proposal Review Process

By Karen Ballon August 17, 2016
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You’ve all been there (and if you haven’t yet, you will…). You put together the perfect proposal and finally, finally send it off to agents for their review. So what happens next? Well, from your point of view, waiting. And waiting. And…(yes, we’ve covered that before. The waiting. That’s not what this is about.) But how about from the agent’s point of view? What on earth are they doing all that …

Read moreThe Proposal Review Process
Category: Agency, Book Proposals, Get PublishedTag: Agency, book proposals, Process
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