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The Steve Laube Agency

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The Steve Laube Agency

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Helping to Change the World Word by Word

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Home » Get Published » Page 3

Get Published

When Your Proposal Doesn’t Sell

By Steve Laubeon May 10, 2021
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It happens. Despite all efforts and good intentions, not every proposal we shop will end up being contracted by a major publisher. Of course, our agency tries our best to keep that from happening. We carefully choose which projects and authors we represent. We work with our clients to create and develop top-notch proposals. And our success rate is extremely high.

But that success rate is not 100%.

Here are four examples of projects I represented in years past that did not sell to a major publisher (but great projects nonetheless):

  1. The autobiography of a well-known, former NFL coach who became a follower of Christ late in life. In his later years, he devoted considerable time to prison ministry. The story gave deep background into his time in the NFL.
  2. An extraordinary graphic novel series. It was ahead of its time, but no publisher was willing to take the obvious risk to produce and distribute the project. The author-artist later found his own backing and formed a company to create the material. They found a nontraditional distributor and ended up selling more than 250,000 units.
  3. An already self-published book on the importance of character in a person’s life, what it is and how to cultivate it. The author was a judge and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in his state. His credentials were impeccable. He was media-ready and spoke regularly on the topic.
  4. A supernatural fiction manuscript that caught my eye for its great story line and wonderful storytelling. The combination of being a debut author and having a thinly veiled science-fiction thread caused it to be rejected by everyone. The author shelved it and wrote another novel, which didn’t sell. The author shelved that one and began writing nonfiction where the author has become quite successful.

So what do you do if your project doesn’t capture a major publisher’s attention?

Try Again
See the fourth example above where the author did not give up, even switched to a different discipline entirely and found the perfect outlet for his talent. This is the most-common solution for professional writers. Tears of frustration may be shed, but they step back and come up with a new idea.

There’s more to this story! After developing a following as a nonfiction writer and a platform, I sold that original novel to a publisher nine years after the original attempt. Then seven years after that the author was able to publish yet another novel.

Do It Yourself
Let me reiterate that self-publishing is always an option if (a) you have an audience to which to sell the book, (b) you have the gumption to be an entrepreneur and sell your project successfully, and (c) you have the money to invest in making it an excellent final product. The first example above is what this author did. He was well loved in his community, even did local TV commercials, and thus had a ready-made market for his story. (He passed away a couple of years after publishing his book, but it remains in print to this day.) This is a perfect example of where self-publishing makes a lot of sense.

Find Another Way–Anything Is Possible
The second example above illustrates this strategy. The author did not take no for an answer and ended up with a company behind his work.

The judge, example three above, retired from his position and continued to speak and influence those around him. He continued to sell his self-published book to his listening audience. He was no worse off than before he approached me for representation. He gave it a shot, and it didn’t work out.

Or do as one lady did at a writers conference. During her 15-minute writers conference appointment, she asked me point-blank, “Do I have what it takes to be a successful writer?” I stammered a bit, not wanting to hurt her feelings. “You have the foundation of a good story, but it is going to take a lot of work to get it ready to be competitive.” She thanked me and abruptly ended the meeting. Later that afternoon she came bounding up to me full of smiles. She proclaimed, “I quit! I called my husband and told him I’m quitting this writing stuff and taking up knitting instead. I’m so happy! Thank you for telling me how much work it was going to take. I’d rather spend that time doing something I know I will enjoy.” The moral of that story is to ask yourself the ultimate question of whether you are willing to continue to work hard in order to overcome any objections to your next idea.

______________________

[A version of this post ran in February 2013. It has been thoroughly revised and updated.]

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Category: Agency, Book Business, Book Proposals, Get Published, Self-Publishing, The Writing LifeTag: book proposals, Get Published

Coming Full Circle

By Guest Bloggeron February 17, 2021
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by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Today's guest blog is from Kim Vogel Sawyer a best-selling author whose books have topped the sales charts and won awards since 2005, when she left her elementary school teaching job to write full time. Her books have won the Carol Award, the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, and the Inspirational Readers Choice Award. Her stories are designed to offer hope and …

Read moreComing Full Circle
Category: Career, Get Published, Guest Post, Inspiration, TamelaTag: Career, Get Published, Inspiration

Ten Commandments for Working with Your Agent

By Steve Laubeon November 9, 2020
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By request, here are my ten commandments for working with your agent. Break them at your own peril. Thou shalt vent only to thine agent and never directly to thy publisher or editor. Thou shalt not get whipped into a frenzy by the industry rumor mill fomented by the Internet. Asketh thy agent if what you’ve heard is true. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s success. Be content with …

Read moreTen Commandments for Working with Your Agent
Category: Agency, Book Business, Get PublishedTag: Book Business, Contracts, Copyright, Facebook, Get Published, Internet Usage, Marketing

Letting Go of Your Babies

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon February 13, 2020
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One of the worst mistakes writers can make is being too possessive of their words. They fight for each adjective, adverb, and conversation tag.

My early writing suffered from too many words. I once wrote an artist didn’t “really” understand the difficulties of making a living in his profession. The editor kindly cut all instances of “really,” “just,” “so,” “very,” and other weak words …

Read moreLetting Go of Your Babies
Category: Book Proposals, Craft, Writing CraftTag: Craft, Get Published, Writing Craft

Never Burn a Bridge!

By Steve Laubeon December 2, 2019
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The sale of Thomas Nelson to HarperCollins and last week's sale of Heartsong to Harlequin brought to mind a critical piece of advice:

Never Burn a Bridge!

Ours is a small industry and both editors and authors move around with regularity. If you are in a business relationship and let your frustration boil into anger and ignite into rage...and let that go at someone in the publishing company, …

Read moreNever Burn a Bridge!
Category: Agency, Book Business, Book Business, Career, Communication, Rejection, The Publishing Life, The Writing Life, TheologyTag: Agents, Editors, Get Published, Rejection, Trends, Writing Craft

Always Be Learning

By Steve Laubeon October 7, 2019
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During the Summer of 1978 the #1 hit on Christian radio was the classic “He’s Alive” by Don Francisco (click here to listen). That same Summer I attended a Christian music festival in Estes Park, Colorado and decided to take a class on songwriting being taught by Jimmy and Carol Owens. I settled into my chair near the back of the room with notepad ready.

Just as the class was about to start a …

Read moreAlways Be Learning
Category: Conferences, Get Published, The Writing Life, Writing CraftTag: Book Business, Conferences, Craft, Get Published, Writing Craft

Book Manufacturing

By Steve Laubeon August 5, 2019
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If you ever get the chance to visit a printing press, do it. I've had the privilege to visit two of them. The first was Standard Publishing's printing press in Cincinnati. Their plant is quite large and they do a wide variety of printing, everything from books to curriculum to Star Wars coloring books.

The other plant was Bethany Press International in Bloomington, MN. During my years with …

Read moreBook Manufacturing
Category: Book Business, Publishing History, The Publishing LifeTag: book manufacturing, Get Published, printing

What Are Average Book Sales?

By Steve Laubeon June 24, 2019
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A writer asked me, “What does the average book sell? An industry veteran at a writers conference recently said 5,000. What??? I know it all depends …. but … nowhere near 5,000, right?” My simple answer? It’s complicated. It depends. Average is a difficult thing to define. Each publishing company defines success differently. If a novel sells 5,000 copies at one publisher, …

Read moreWhat Are Average Book Sales?
Category: Book Business, Book Sales, Get Published, Money, The Publishing Life, The Writing LifeTag: Book Business, Book Sales, Get Published, Trends

Who Gets Paid in Publishing?

By Steve Laubeon March 18, 2019
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The economics of publishing is a bit of a mystery if you are just coming into the business. With all the talk about indie publishing vs. traditional publishing and the talk about how writers can get rich if they follow a certain plan, I got to thinking. Maybe we should do a quick look at the economics of publishing to see if anyone is making off like a bandit. Sorry for you non-numbers people, but …

Read moreWho Gets Paid in Publishing?
Category: Book Business, Get Published, Money, Writing CraftTag: Book Business, Contracts, Get Published, Money, Writing Craft

How to Know if Self-Publishing is for You

By Dan Balowon August 14, 2018
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Technology and Amazon.com have opened up the world of book publishing, making it far more “democratic” than ever before and allowing anyone with word processing software and connection to the internet, to become a published author. The traditional publishing industry is a $25 billion or more industry in the United States, generating about 300,000 new titles every year in all categories and …

Read moreHow to Know if Self-Publishing is for You
Category: Agents, Get Published, Marketing, Self-PublishingTag: Get Published, Self-Publishing
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