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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 » Encouragement

Encouragement

Handling Disappointment

By Steve Laubeon June 19, 2023
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I do not like to experience disappointment. I do not like rejection, even when it isn’t my personal project being turned down. I do not like to be the bearer of bad news.

And yet I do experience disappointment, rejection, and the telling of bad news–every week. That is the nature of the arts.

The arts (meaning music, writing, dance, and painting) are comprised of thousands of hours of practice, long days of solitude, and truckloads of self-doubt in a world where everyone is a critic.

However, I am inspired by the recitation of the failures of Abraham Lincoln during the 26 years before he was elected President of the United States. During those 26 years he:

Lost his job.
Was defeated for the state legislature.
Failed in business.
Lost his sweetheart to death.
Had a nervous breakdown.
Was defeated for Speaker.
Was defeated for nomination for Congress.
Lost renomination.
Was rejected for land officer.
Was defeated for U.S. Senate.
Was defeated for nomination for Vice President.
Again was defeated for U.S. Senate.

I find that list invigorating. I began in this business forty-two years ago as a part-time shelf-duster in a bookstore. In these ensuing years, I experienced many disappointments and failures, yet God has blessed our family in so many ways.

If you get slapped with a rejection letter today:

“Woe is me! For the Lord has added sorrow to my pain. I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest” (Jeremiah 45:3).

If your agent tells you that your latest proposal is flat and needs work:

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).

If your editor goes on a rampage and takes a machete to your manuscript:

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us—they help us learn to endure. And endurance develops strength of character (Romans 5:3-4).

If your self-talk begins shouting the word “Loser” in a shrill voice:

As I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless . . . like chasing the wind (Ecclesiastes 2:11).

If any of these things hit you, remember:

Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

 

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Category: Encouragement, Faith, Get Published, Personal, Rejection, Theology, Writing CraftTag: disappointment, Encouragement, Faith, Rejection

When the Outlook Is Bleak

By Steve Laubeon April 26, 2021
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by Steve Laube

In the constant ebb and flow of this industry we have authors celebrating and authors in tears. Ask any agent and you will hear the same. For every author excited about their new contract there is another experiencing bitter disappointment.

And I wish I could fix it.

To hear the anguish is difficult, but to be the one who delivers the bad news is heart-wrenching. Why is it …

Read moreWhen the Outlook Is Bleak
Category: Book Business, Career, TheologyTag: Career, Encouragement, Outlook

Writers Expect Good News

By Steve Laubeon December 3, 2018
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Writers expect good news...any day now. Is it the curse of eternal optimism?There is this hope within each writer that it will be their manuscript that is chosen for publication. And the money will rain on them like a spring shower.

Despite the odds.

Despite the competition.

Despite the cynical, horrible, no-good, very-bad agents who review them.

Expectations

Are these expectations …

Read moreWriters Expect Good News
Category: Encouragement, Get Published, SteveTag: Book Business, Encouragement, Writing Craft

Søren Kierkegaard on Writing

By Steve Laubeon June 18, 2018
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Søren Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher and writer in the mid-1800s. His works have been highly influential for the past 170 years. He is not without his critics but a couple years ago Christianity Today ran an article titled, “Why We Still Need Kierkegaard.” My own journey has included wrestling with Fear and Trembling, Sickness Unto Death, and Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing. Recently I …

Read moreSøren Kierkegaard on Writing
Category: Encouragement, Inspiration, The Writing Life, TheologyTag: Encouragement, Inspiration, The Writing Life

Books Change Lives

By Steve Laubeon April 9, 2018
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I have to let you read this story. An author recently wrote this to me: I’d like to share something with you that I’m not sure a lot of authors get to share. Two months ago, I noticed my novels on my youngest daughter’s nightstand and found her reading them every night. I didn’t want to scare her off from reading them by asking questions, so I just let her read. A couple …

Read moreBooks Change Lives
Category: Inspiration, The Writing Life, TheologyTag: Career, Encouragement, Inspiration, The Writing Life

Write Like You Brush Your Teeth

By Bob Hostetleron August 9, 2017
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I listen regularly to a half-dozen podcasts. One of them recently talked about how valuable “systems” are in making life run more smoothly. The podcast host said that making something a habit is the simplest but also one of the most effective “systems” a person can install in his or her life, because it eliminates the need for decision-making. For example, he said, did you decide to brush your …

Read moreWrite Like You Brush Your Teeth
Category: Get Published, The Writing LifeTag: Encouragement, Get Published, The Writing Life

Is Your Glass Half Empty?

By Steve Laubeon June 12, 2017
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Over the decades it has been interesting to listen to and read the various pundits regarding the publishing industry. Typically those who spell out doom and gloom get the attention (fortifying the idea that “if it bleeds, it leads”). At the same time there is the optimist position which is often derided for being unrealistic. After awhile I’ve learned to smile and simply get back …

Read moreIs Your Glass Half Empty?
Category: Christian, Encouragement, Faith, Inspiration, Personal, The Publishing Life, The Writing Life, TheologyTag: Encouragement, Faith, The Publishing Life

The Writer’s Responsibility

By Dan Balowon June 6, 2017
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When you decide to pursue writing as a career or even an avocation, you probably are unaware of the responsibility bestowed upon you by the decision. There is no official ceremony involved, but there should be. This responsibility will change the way you interact with friends and relatives. It could even cause some friction between you and those close to you. Here’s the promise you make, which is …

Read moreThe Writer’s Responsibility
Category: Encouragement, The Writing LifeTag: Discouragement, Encouragement, The Writing Life

The Damaged Author

By Dan Balowon May 16, 2017
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Anyone can easily identify a person who has been damaged by life and in need of help. The same is true with damaged authors. If you are in this category, writing about your experiences and the lessons learned can be both cathartic and spiritually fruitful, but taking a damaged-life perspective into the professional world of book publishing will rarely work for anyone. If you know someone who is …

Read moreThe Damaged Author
Category: Book Proposals, Encouragement, Faith, Get Published, PitchingTag: Encouragement, Get Published

The Isolated Writer

By Dan Balowon February 14, 2017
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In general, writers do not do their best work in a group. The very nature of creative writing is a solitary pursuit, but without taking great care, can morph into a feeling of isolation. And this can occur whether an author lives in a quiet rural town or in midtown Manhattan. (The one in New York, not Kansas) So, how does an author, feeling isolated and alone stay motivated? How do they develop …

Read moreThe Isolated Writer
Category: Career, Encouragement, Social Media, The Writing LifeTag: Career, Encouragement, The Writing Life
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