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The Steve Laube Agency

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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 » thanksgiving

thanksgiving

Money Problems?

By Steve Laubeon November 21, 2022
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Money is of significant importance to every one of us. Some writers live on the revenue generated by their efforts. We represent a number of clients who are the main breadwinners in their families.

It is unfortunate that the role of the agent is regularly defined by the size of the deal. The film Jerry Maguire made the slick, money-centered agent into a cliche with his client shouting, “Show me the money!” Don’t get me wrong; I firmly believe the “labourer is worthy of his hire” (Luke 10:7, KJV). You and I earn our wages. There is no entitlement or handout. If I represent a weak project, it won’t sell; and I won’t be paid. If you write a weak project, it won’t sell either.

The problem comes when money, usually a lack thereof, becomes a distraction. I remember talking to an author years ago who would live off advances and royalty checks as if they were a weekly salary. Once the bank was empty, the author would go to the publisher and beg to borrow against future earnings. This yo-yo financial state created enormous pressure on the ability of that writer to create new material.

While that is an extreme example, it is illustrative of the dangers of mismanaging money. But what about those who are driven by the need for bigger deals or even a new deal, citing money as the catalyst of their anxiety?

I came across a convicting list titled “Signs That I Love Money” from Alistair Begg in his message “Restructuring Our Finances.”

Signs that I love money:
(1) When money thoughts consume my day
(2) When the blessings of others make me jealous
(3) When success is defined by what I have vs. what I am in Jesus Christ
(4) When my family is neglected in my pursuit of money
(5) When I close my eyes to the genuine needs of others
(6) When I live in paralyzing fear of losing my money
(7) When I am prepared to borrow myself into bondage
(8) When I give to God my leftovers, rather than my first-fruits

Ouch. I wish I had not read that, for I am guilty. Instead, I should endeavor to turn that around and redeem the problem by being thankful. And what a perfect week to be thinking about that.

As we move into the season of Thanksgiving, let us give thanks. Thanks for the provisions we do enjoy. For the roof over our heads and the food on our plates. For the freedoms we enjoy and our Lord who will provide (Jehovah Jireh).

In October 1863, in the midst of a horrific Civil War and only a few months after the Battle of Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed these words:

We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that [the gifts of God] should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged with one heart and one voice by the whole American people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens … to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.

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Category: Book Business, Money, PersonalTag: Money, thanksgiving

4 Ways to Be a Grateful Writer

By Bob Hostetleron November 16, 2022
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How great is it being a writer? Sure, there are downsides. Rejection. Revision. Poverty. And so on. But all in all, writers are a privileged bunch. We get to write! We get to “live and move and have our being” among words, sentences, magazines, blogs, and books. We know how to use semicolons and apostrophes (well; some of us’ do anyway). We sometimes even experience the joy of knowing someone has …

Read more4 Ways to Be a Grateful Writer
Category: Personal, TheologyTag: thanksgiving

Write a Fan Letter Today

By Steve Laubeon September 19, 2022
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Everyone likes being appreciated. It can be as simple as receiving a “thank you.” For the writer, a fan letter is like a cold drink of water in the middle of a desert wasteland. The writing life is a bit like placing your words into a bottle and tossing it into an endless ocean, hoping it doesn’t sink and simultaneously hoping someone somewhere will find those words and be …

Read moreWrite a Fan Letter Today
Category: Book Business, Career, MarketingTag: appreciation, fan mail, thanksgiving

Wishing You Peace and Love on Thanksgiving Day

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon November 26, 2020
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On this Thanksgiving Day, let us approach this new season with a sense of peace and the constant reminder that the Lord is in control. I post this well-known prayer in hopes you might appreciate reading it again. From St. Francis of Assisi: Prayer for Peace Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; …

Read moreWishing You Peace and Love on Thanksgiving Day
Category: Personal, TheologyTag: Faith, thanksgiving, Theology

Give Thanks to God

By Guest Bloggeron November 23, 2020
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There is a verse in scripture which sets out in bold relief the great besetting problem of the human race. It is Romans 1:21: ‘for even though we knew God…we did not give thanks.’ Astonishing! How can we actually know God and not give thanks? Scarcely a day passes in which we are not deluged by at least a hundred instances of God’s goodness to us. Thanksgiving ought to be the most natural of human …

Read moreGive Thanks to God
Category: Guest Post, TheologyTag: thanksgiving

A Personal Thanks

By Steve Laubeon November 25, 2019
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Since this is the week when those of us in the United State celebrate Thanksgiving, I thought I’d take a moment to say a few words of gratitude. To Tamela and Bob Tamela Hancock Murray and Bob Hostetler are two of the finest literary agents in the business. It is fun to work alongside you both. There is a reason you were both nominated for the Agent-of-the-Year award by ACFW this year. [Now, get …

Read moreA Personal Thanks
Category: PersonalTag: thanksgiving

Fun Fridays – Nov. 27, 2015

By Steve Laubeon November 27, 2015
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Enjoy this Thanksgiving song with a melody that will be implanted in your mind for the rest of the day! You are welcome.

Read moreFun Fridays – Nov. 27, 2015
Category: Get PublishedTag: thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon November 26, 2015
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Today I will be cooking a Thanksgiving dinner for my family and I hope you will be celebrating with those you love as well. Perhaps you will be able to take a few moments to ponder the Gospel entry from the Book of Common Prayer, presented in more than one translation. God Bless you. Readings for Thanksgiving Day The Gospel St. Matthew vi. 25 JESUS said, Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall …

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Category: Christian, Faith, PersonalTag: Book of Common Prayer, Faith, thanksgiving

Are You Seeing Ghosts?

By Karen Ballon November 25, 2015
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I read something this morning that I don’t recall ever reading before. I mean, I’ve read the story more times than I can count, but one line caught me today: “But the whole group was startled and frightened, thinking they were seeing a ghost!” Recognize it? It’s from Luke 24, when Jesus appears to the disciples as they’re walking along the road. He even tells them, “Peace be with you.” And what do …

Read moreAre You Seeing Ghosts?
Category: Faith, Personal, The Writing LifeTag: Faith, thanksgiving, The Writing Life

The Whole Story and Nothing But the Whole Story

By Dan Balowon November 24, 2015
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I certainly believe the U.S. was founded on general godly principles, but the founders were still human beings lacking the all-knowing and all-seeing ability we might want to assign to them. They were not gods. The founders of the United States disagreed with one another on just about everything. While most Americans enjoy a level of freedom not enjoyed by most peoples in the world, the road to …

Read moreThe Whole Story and Nothing But the Whole Story
Category: Get PublishedTag: Get Published, Stories, thanksgiving
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