The Steve Laube Agency is committed to providing top quality guidance to authors and speakers. Our years of experience and success brings a unique service to our clients. We focus primarily in the Christian marketplace and have put together an outstanding gallery of authors and speakers whose books continue to make an impact throughout the world.
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Content
To help the author develop and create the best book possible. Material that has both commercial appeal and long-term value.
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To help the author determine the next best step in their writing career. Giving counsel regarding the subtleties of the marketplace as well as the realities of the publishing community.
Contract
To help the author secure the best possible contract. One that partners with the best strategic publisher and one that is mutually beneficial for all parties involved.
Recent Posts
Fun with Book Terms
I love books (good thing, since I’m a writer and literary agent). I love reading them, of course; but I also love holding them, buying them, touching, holding, smelling, studying, even just seeing them on the shelf.
So let’s have some fun with book terms. I find them fascinating. Maybe you will too. Here’s an even dozen:
ARC
An ARC, or Advanced Reader Copy, is a prepublication copy of a new book that a publisher and/or author gives to reviewers, potential endorsers, and others for feedback and support.
Callout (also “pull quote”)
Often used in magazines—but sometimes in books—a callout is a short quote or passage from a book’s text that is copied, pulled out, and set apart on a page for emphasis.
Dummy (also “mockup”)
Sometimes, especially when art is a key part of a book, an author or designer creates a book that shows the relationship between the book’s words and the design.
Ex Libris
This is a Latin phrase (often used on bookplates) to identify the book’s owner. It means, literally, “from the books” or “from the library.”
Flyleaf
The blank page (“leaf”) or pages at the beginning or end of a book’s printed pages.
Folio
When a printer takes a single sheet of paper and folds it to form two leaves (four pages), that’s a “folio” (which also refers to the resulting book). It’s also the term that refers to the size of a book.
Frontispiece
An illustration or plate inserted immediately in front of the title page, with the illustration facing the title page, often abbreviated as “frontis.”
Gutter
The inside margins of the pages in a bound book are called the gutter.
Leading
Back in the day (before computers), typesetters would place a strip of lead between lines of print to keep the distance between the lines consistent. Thus, “leading” refers to that space between lines (pronounced as “ledding” not “leeding”).
Recto
The righthand page in a book is the “recto” or “front” side of the page.
Quarto
Picture a large sheet of paper, printed so that it can be folded, then folded again, so that when the folds are slit, it forms eight pages to be bound in a book. That’s a “quarto.” It also refers to the book that is formed that way.
Verso
The reverse side of a “recto” is a “verso.” Get it? It’s the lefthand page in a book in which both sides of a leaf are printed.
You probably already knew those, didn’t you? Well, you get a gold sticker. But you probably have a few of your favorite terms related to books and publishing, don’t you? Do tell, in the comments.
Leave a CommentMusic to Write By
Some write in silence. Some write with music in the background. Some write with music playing through their headphones (or earbuds). I’m curious to know what you, our readers, listen to while writing or if you write in silence. In the comments below, let us know your favorites. Maybe we can discover some new musical inspiration together. I read somewhere that Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight series, credits the group Muse as her inspirational background music. She even provides a playlist on her website of the songs she listened to while writing Eclipse. (Here is that playlist.) Years ago, …
Fun Fridays – April 19, 2024
Clever video about a seemingly lowly device. Avoid connecting the metaphor to theological ideas, but they are present. Instead, think of your journey as a writer and the calling you have to use the gift you have been given and leave God’s mark on the world with the work of your hands. Do any of you use a pencil to write your thoughts? If so, what kind of pencil do you use? ShareTweet
Before Pressing SEND
I love seeing work from talented authors. Reading a marketable proposal from a hardworking author interested in a long-term career makes me take notice. Are you this author? If so, what I’d like to help you do today is to keep you from being rejected because of a misstep that’s easy to avoid. The manuscript is too short. Gift books can be brief, but fiction is different. I often receive novella submissions. Some Christian publishers sell novella collections. However, I don’t have a place to pitch a lone novella, hoping it will find a home in a collection. Writers already working …
Story Structure Part #10
This is it, folks. The last post in this series. If you’ve hung around this long, thank you! I really hope you’ve found it interesting and helpful. Last time we talked about the falling action of the story, and now we’ve come to the end. The Resolution What is the resolution of the story? “The End,” right? Well, yes. But it’s not wrapping everything up; it’s wrapping everything up well, so the reader feels satisfaction with the ending. You don’t want to end a story that makes the reader slam the book and throw it against the wall with a …