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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 » Marketing » Page 8

Marketing

The Keys to a Great Book Proposal

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon May 17, 2012
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“I think book proposals are one of the most difficult things to write, second only to obituaries.”

When I received this email I could relate. I’ve never written obituaries, even though writing one’s own is a popular goal-setting exercise. But I have written and read many book proposals so I know they aren’t easy to write. Sometimes they aren’t easy to read. So how can you make your book proposals easy to read? When my assistant and I are scanning proposals, here are the key points we first notice:

1) Format: Is the overall look of the proposal easy on the eye? A poorly-formatted proposal won’t be rejected if we are wowed by the content, but proposals with a pleasing appearance make a great impression.

2) Title: Tell us immediately what we are viewing: Fiction/nonfiction? Series/standalone? Genre? Historical/contemporary?

3) Hook: What is the spirit of your book?  Fried Green Tomatoes meets Star Trek? Or A Systematic Approach to Spiritual Spring Cleaning?

4) Back Cover Blurb: In two or three short paragraphs, make me want to buy your book. Take the time to make this sparkle, because great back cover copy will help sell me on your book, then the editor, then the pub board, then marketing, then your readers.

5) Info: Can critical facts be found with little effort, including:

a.) published/unpublished status
b.) sales figures for published authors
c.) manuscript status, including when it can be completed
d.) manuscript history

6) Summary: I find that one-page summaries usually work best. If you have already invested in a lengthy summary, you can include a short summary and a long summary.

7) Market Comparisons: Showing us books that are similar to yours will help us know where your book will fit in today’s market. Be respectful rather than critical of other authors’ work when comparing. Show how your book fits into the market, but is still unique enough to attract readers.

8 ) Endorsers: This area causes many authors anxiety because they may not be acquainted with big name authors, or they are afraid that listing a friend may be promising too much. Rest assured that no agent or editor thinks a big name author is a guaranteed endorser. We all know that popular authors’ schedules are packed and that the timing to read your book may or may not work. I recommending listing three names of authors you know well enough that you can approach them for an endorsement. If you honestly have no idea, it’s better not to list anyone than to list impossible names. Don’t distress — your agent can work with you here.

These key points are by no means inclusive. I have only hit the high points on some of the areas that tend to make authors jittery. Don’t worry. Do your best with the proposal, and write the best book you can. That’s all we ask!

For complete guidelines, visit our site here. These may be our guidelines, but they are universally accepted as an excellent and proper way to write a proposal.

We look forward to seeing your work!

Your turn:

What do you think is the hardest part of a proposal to write?

What is the easiest part of a proposal to write?

Leave a Comment
Category: Book Proposal Basics, Book Proposals, Branding, Get Published, Marketing, TamelaTag: book proposals, Get Published, Marketing

Writing to Market: Bad Advice?

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon May 10, 2012
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Throughout my career I've seen various responses to the advice that declares "Write to market!" In other words "write what sells" because that is what is most important for a writer. Is this good advice or bad advice?

It is both.

Here is when it's bad advice: When you're made to feel you have to write a certain type of book just to break into the market, any market.

If you think, for …

Read moreWriting to Market: Bad Advice?
Category: Book Business, Get Published, Marketing, Tamela, Writing CraftTag: Marketing, passion, Rejection

News You Can Use – May 8, 2012

By Steve Laubeon May 8, 2012
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Traditional Advertising is Truly Dead - Not sure I agree with the over the top headline, but the article does make some excellent points. A quote from the article:
"The equation used to be: money x media = business.
The new equation is: time x media = business.
In other words, every company is a media company."
Microsoft has invested in Barnes & Noble's Nook - But before everyone gets …

Read moreNews You Can Use – May 8, 2012
Category: Marketing, News You Can UseTag: fiction, Marketing, Twitter

News You Can Use – May 1, 2012

By Steve Laubeon May 1, 2012
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Amanda Hocking is Happy with her Publisher – An update from the woman whose self-published ebooks garnered a monster traditional deal.

10 Best First Lines in Fiction - Chosen by editors at the Guardian (UK). Do you agree or disagree?

How We Will Read in the Future - An excellent interview with Maria Popova, the curator for the great BrainPickings blog. (The article is about 2,500 words long …

Read moreNews You Can Use – May 1, 2012
Category: News You Can UseTag: Craft, ebooks, Google Ads, Marketing, Reading

News You Can Use – Mar. 20, 2012

By Steve Laubeon March 20, 2012
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Why Finish Books - I loved this essay! He had me at the picture of C.S. Lewis...

Why Your Book Isn't Selling - Suggestions from a book marketing expert.

The Publishing Industry May Not be Falling Apart After All - One author suggests that today's crisis sound awfully familiar. And underneath all the talk of seismic changes and Amazon, she has a valid point. If you click all the way through …

Read moreNews You Can Use – Mar. 20, 2012
Category: News You Can UseTag: Book Business, Estate Planning, Facebook, Get Published, Marketing, Reading, Twitter, Word of Mouth

News You Can Use – Mar. 6, 2012

By Steve Laubeon March 6, 2012
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Your Average Facebook Post Only Reaches 12% of Your Friends - Exposing yet another challenge to the world of marketing, either through traditional means or through social media.

New French Law Seizes Digital Rights - "Any book published in France--which would include translated foreign-language books--that went out of print in France--not necessarily elsewhere--before 2001, can be scanned into …

Read moreNews You Can Use – Mar. 6, 2012
Category: News You Can Use, SteveTag: Copyright, Creativity, Curation, Facebook, Marketing, novels, press releases, Writing Craft, Writing tools

7 Ways Agents Measure Social Media

By Steve Laubeon February 20, 2012
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Guest Blog by Thomas Umstattd We are thrilled to have Thomas Umstattd as our guest today. His company built our web site and we unabashedly recommend their services. Thomas built his first website at the age of 13 and taught his first web design class at only 16 years old. He has been helping authors and small businesses use the web ever since. Thomas currently serves as the CEO of Castle Media …

Read more7 Ways Agents Measure Social Media
Category: Agency, Book Business, Branding, Guest Post, Marketing, Social Media, SteveTag: Branding Platform Agents, Facebook, Marketing, Social Media, Trends

News You Can Use – Feb. 14, 2012

By Steve Laubeon February 14, 2012
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It has begun - The Welcome Assault on Costly Textbooks- But is this the best way to do it? Free online publisher-quality textbooks for five of the country’s most-attended college courses. Funded by big charitable organizations like The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It could change the economic future of some major textbook publishers. I fear the homogenization of Education or the control of …

Read moreNews You Can Use – Feb. 14, 2012
Category: Book Business, News You Can Use, SteveTag: Book Business, E-Books, Facebook, Marketing, Pinterest, Publishing News, Self-Publishing

News You Can Use – Feb. 7, 2012

By Steve Laubeon February 7, 2012
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Author Says McGraw-Hill Cheats on Royalties - Details of a pending lawsuit.

What is Pinterest? -  The latest craze in Social Media Networks. AuthorMedia shows you the simple steps to sign up and tips on how to use it in the next article below.

Three Ways an Author Can Use Pinterest - Last week an editor told me how she was following a couple of her authors on Pinterest and how much she liked …

Read moreNews You Can Use – Feb. 7, 2012
Category: Book Business, News You Can UseTag: Book Business, Contracts, Facebook, Get Published, Grammar, Legal, Marketing, Social Media, Trends, Writing Craft

Your Brand is Not a Limitation

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon January 19, 2012
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It is All About Expectations What if you bought a recording from a music group expecting their usual collection of ballads, only to hear guitar anthems? Or what if you picked up a book with a pink cover that promised a love story but ended up reading a novel where hapless and nameless victims suffered gunshot wounds on every page? You’d be disappointed, right? I would be. You don’t …

Read moreYour Brand is Not a Limitation
Category: Book Business, Book Business, Branding, Career, Get Published, TamelaTag: Book Business, Branding, Marketing, Tamela, Writing Craft
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