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The Steve Laube Agency

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Home » The Writing Life » Page 2

The Writing Life

Best Advice for New Authors – For Working with Their Publisher

By Steve Laubeon July 2, 2018
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The idea to write this post came from a conversation this past week with a client who turned their manuscript in to the publisher a week early. The editor was thrilled! Thus began a short exchange on what every writer should endeavor to do in their career. This may seem simple but is important to reiterate.

Do your best work. Always.

No shortcuts. No “mailing it in.” No “sending junk and let them fix it.”
It is called work. Not vacation.

Meet Your Deadlines

We know that “life happens” and often it is more than okay to ask for a deadline extension. But try not to make it a habit. A habit becomes a reputation. A reputation becomes a  reason for the publisher to say “no” to your next project.

I’m not talking about the request for an extra week or even an extra month. I’m talking about multiple extension requests on the same book. And on subsequent books.

I heard of one publisher who offered more advance money to the writer if they met their deadline. The chronic delays on past books caused too many in-house problems for the publisher so they offered a cash incentive! It didn’t work.

Be Polite and Professional

In the words of one author “No drama!”

It can be easy, with email, to forget there is a real person on the other end of your keyboard “send.” A 4,000 word missive on how your editor is an idiot and everyone else in the office deserves to be fired will not endear you to your publishing team. (I’m not making that one up. A real person was reduced to tears by an author’s vitriolic email.)

A polite discussion on your frustration with the cover…with delays in marketing…with slower than expected edits…with request for 24 hour turnaround for edits or marketing copy… All these things can be aggravating. But kindness and politeness can work wonders.

If you need a “Darth Vader” when all else fails…that is something an agent can provide, when (and only when) it is appropriate.

Before you hit “send” consider showing your angry letter to your agent who will likely suggest a different line of inquiry.

Make Your Publisher’s Job Easier

That may sound goofy to some. “The publisher works for me, not the other way around,” was said by one author.

So let’s put it in another context. If your day job has you in an office with other people, would you treat those people with such disdain? If you are the boss, do you wonder why staff quit so often?

If you get a task with a difficult turnaround time deadline, try your best. If it is unreasonable it’s okay to say “That’s an awfully tight deadline and since I’m in the ER right now with my child I may not be able to do this today. But I will try, even it’s not my best non-distracted work.”

Versus, “No way. I can’t, I won’t do that today.”

Having been an editor and an agent I can see both sides of the equation. Landing on the side of kindness, self-control (and other fruit of the spirit) is the right thing to do.

If the “job” becomes onerous then a conversation with those issues as the topic is needed. I’ve seen those conversations reap wonderful results and increase professional friendship and cooperation.

On the other hand, I’ve seen the nasty conversations destroy professional relationships.

Remember to Say Thank You

Need I elaborate? It is part of the advice to be polite, but needs a special reminder.

A marketing person at a publisher is likely working on 10 or more urgent projects at once. Sort of like rush hour traffic. One blown tire and the congestion brings the freeway to a halt. The marketing person didn’t put the nail in the road. But it messed up the best laid plans for that week’s to-do list.

Editors are not sitting with their feet on their desk with a favorite beverage doing the daily crossword puzzle. When I worked as an editor, I could have 20 different projects in various stages queued up. One editor who worked for me had a practice of closing the door and turning off the overhead lights…then flicked on a single lamp over the work space. The editor said, “If I let my concentration move into the shadows I can no longer focus on the task in front of me.”

The point is, we can all claim to be busy and be truthful. Recognizing and acknowledging the work that has been done well is a good thing to do.

By the way, I do think editors and marketers should, on occasion, say thank you to the authors too, but that is another post for another day.

Your turn:

Any other tidbits of advice you can lend to the discussion?

 

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Category: Book Business, Career, The Publishing Life, The Writing LifeTag: Book Business, Career, The Writing Life

A Request for a Full Manuscript! Now What?

By Steve Laubeon June 25, 2018
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Katie sent the following question: What should an author do if they receive a full manuscript request from an editor as a result of a contest, but the editor works for a small publisher and the author wants to explore other options first (e.g. getting an agent, finding a bigger house, etc.)? I would like to avoid a breach in etiquette here, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s …

Read moreA Request for a Full Manuscript! Now What?
Category: Contests, The Writing LifeTag: contests, Contracts, The Writing Life

Wronged in Business? When You Want to Hold a Grudge

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon June 21, 2018
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Even though we’re doing business in the Christian community, none of us is immune from feeling wronged at one time or another. Perhaps an editor should have bought your book instead of someone else’s. Maybe you know a publisher didn’t promote your book with sufficient enthusiasm. Someone who doesn’t understand you could be making negative comments about you.  Or someone could (intentionally or …

Read moreWronged in Business? When You Want to Hold a Grudge
Category: Book Business, Communication, The Writing LifeTag: Career, Grudge, The Writing Life

Good and Bad Advice on The Writing Life

By Dan Balowon June 19, 2018
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After graduation from college, I got an entry level job at a radio station, programmed with call-in talk shows. I carried out the trash, conducted regular “Frosty-runs” to Wendy’s for the news director, painted the sales office, screened callers for the shows during off-hours, took transmitter readings, got coffee for the hosts, and anything else the boss wanted. Once in a while, they let me push …

Read moreGood and Bad Advice on The Writing Life
Category: Career, Contracts, Economics, Marketing, Platform, The Writing LifeTag: Career, The Writing Life

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

Why I Read to the End

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon May 17, 2018
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I am the world’s worst about abandoning novels I read for leisure. I’ll give a book a fair chance, but as soon as I find I don’t like it, I have no compunction about tossing it aside to pursue a different story. And believe me, as a literary agent, I have many books to consider. In any room we spend time in at home, several books stay within reach. Authors must earn my time and effort. So how does …

Read moreWhy I Read to the End
Category: Reading, Writing CraftTag: Reading, The Writing Life, Writing Craft

Finding Time to Write

By Bob Hostetleron May 16, 2018
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How do you find time to write? You don’t. Non-writers try to find time to write; writers make time to write. A couple lifetimes ago, after having been a pastor for seven years, I took a desk job—the first time in my adult life when my job wasn’t 24/7. But it was also the first time when I had a boss on site, and set office hours. I had written and published a few articles every year during my …

Read moreFinding Time to Write
Category: Social Media, Technology, The Writing Life, Writing CraftTag: The Writing Life, Time

Your Commitment to Your Reader

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon May 10, 2018
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When you’re working to get your book published, you feel you have lots of people to please. First, you have to be satisfied with your book. Then, you need to find an agent to partner with you to present your work to editors, who are her customers. Then the editor must sell your work to the editorial committee. Then it goes to the publishing committee. So along the way, you’ve had lots of people to …

Read moreYour Commitment to Your Reader
Category: Career, Editing, Inspiration, Writing CraftTag: Book Business, Career, readers, The Writing Life

Your Obligation to Your Editor

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon May 3, 2018
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You’ve done all the hard work of writing and pitching a book and now your agent has secured a contract for you. Congratulations! Now you’re set to work with an editor! You may have met the editor at a conference. You may have talked with the editor many times during 15-minute pitch sessions over several years. You may have attended their workshops and spotlight sessions at conferences. This may be …

Read moreYour Obligation to Your Editor
Category: Editing, The Writing LifeTag: Editing, Editor, The Writing Life

Twenty-five More Quotes About the Writing and Publishing Process

By Bob Hostetleron May 2, 2018
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In recent weeks I have posted a bunch of quotes about words, writers, and writing. But there are so many that I had to return to this proverbial well once more. Following are twenty-five more quotes, mostly about the writing and publishing process, which have been sent to me by friends hither and yon (mostly yon). “Reading maketh a full man; and writing an exact man” (Francis Bacon). “It’s …

Read moreTwenty-five More Quotes About the Writing and Publishing Process
Category: The Writing LifeTag: Quotes, The Writing Life
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