Guest Posts, An Endorsement, A Major Announcement and a Little Kink… Not Necessarily in That Order

Happy Friday to all.  I have two guest posts up today on other sites, and several guest articles from some killer writers lined up for Storyfix.

Go to Cleavage and meet Kelly Diels, one of the most exciting young writers on the internet, who writes about life, money and sex.   My guest post on her site today is precisely about that opinion — she’s simply amazing.  After you read me, read her.  But please don’t compare, she has no competition.

If you’d like a little kink in your Kindle today, go to Bloggingtips for my rant on typos.  I don’t really fit in there – they’re all much smarter than me — but Kevin lets me blog on his site once a week about writing stuff, which is a nice contrast to all the valuable technie content the site covers.  If you have a website and want to go keeper into that world, check this site out.

Then, I hope you’ll read my monster post on Problogger.net, the Entertainment Tonight of online communities.  This article positions my Six Core Competencies model as a valuable context for blog writers, and never mind the schmuck in the comments section who observed that, ironically, my post doesn’t tell a story.  He didn’t get it.  The 30 other commenters there did get it.

I also have guest posts in the waiting room at Copyblogger.com, Writetodone.com, and Menwithpens.ca, each of whom I’ve written for before, and for some crazy reason they’re having me back.

Meanwhile, here at home…

Here on Storyfix, look for guest blogs from Martha Alderson, who has written a notable book on plotting, and one from the aforementioned Kelly Diels herself, which is guaranteed to remind you of why we all choose to do this.

If you’ve got an idea for a Storyfix post — either from me or from you — and would like to pitch me, bring it.  This is a community, after all, and we’re growing every day.

Speaking of that… if you know someone who appreciates cutting edge advice about writing that’s hard to find anywhere else, at least put quite this way, please tell them about Storyfix.  2010 is gonna be epic.

The Get Your Bad Self Published Series

Next week the series will pick back up with Part 7, Trends and Toilets: How Not to Fall Into Either of Them.

I would appreciate hearing any feedback you may have on this series.  The last entry — Part 6: Avoiding the Common Pitfalls (see below) — was one of the best posts yet on Storyfix, in my very unobjective opinion.  Gonna publish it in a major magazine, in fact.  And yet, there’s been only one comment, asking me what the term pedestian writing meant. 

Maybe that’s an ironic explanation in itself.  Hope not.

I’m fearing this series is perceived as yet more writing mentoring, when in fact you were hoping this was some king of never-before-read magic bullet on how to get published.  The only magic bullet out there is a great story, and this series doesn’t just rehash those fundamentals, it positions them against the realities of the marketplace.

The Major Announcement

I’ve reached an agreement to publish The Six Core Competencies of Successful Storytelling with Writers Digest Books.  Release is scheduled for February 2011, which gives you an idea of how quickly the publishing machine works.

This is huge for me, and for Storyfix.  This developmental model is sorely needed out there, and I’m hoping it goes viral and becomes the next Big Thing in the oeuvre of writing instruction.  Will keep you posted on this as the process unfolds.

In the meantime, a reminder that my new novel, Whisper of the Seventh Thunder, is coming out from Sons of Liberty Publishing in late February of 2010, just over two months from now.  I have the ARCs in hand (Advanced Reading Copy) for distribution to reviewers, which I will send to you upon request if you are, in fact, an established reviewer.

A Stocking Stuffer from Storyfix — A Great Gift Idea

My ebook, Story Structure – Demystified, has been out for two months now, and I’ve received a lot of terrific feedback on it.  More than terrific, actually, to an extent that it makes me nervous to quote it for you. 

If you have a writer in your life, or if you haven’t ordered it yet, this ebook would make a great stocking stuffer (which of course requires you to print it out, or may I suggest a virtual stocking stuffer in the form of you forwarding the ebook to their inbox).

If I may, please allow me to reprint an unsolicited email I received this week from a happy reader of Story Structure – Demystified.  When I say that this is typical of what readers are saying, please don’t think I’m embellishing.  I can show you many user reviews just like this.

Here’s what she said:

Treasured Writing Gal Pals–

If you want to know where I’ve been lately (as opposed to being online at my blog or yours), I’ll tell you.  I’ve been scrapping and restructuring all of my manuscripts–ZF-360, The Desolate (formerly known as The Holly Place), Thrice Liam, and Unsubscribe–using this jaw-droppingly helpful e-book I found. 

I haven’t been writing much AT ALL, per se, but instead have been fixing structure problems I didn’t even know my novels had.  The exercise has been painful (isn’t ALL exercise?), but SO WORTH IT.  I can’t wait to get my new, revitalized stories out in the big, mean world again (which I plan to do after the holidays).  I think this time, they might have a fighting chance.
 
This fabulous e-book can be found at http://storyfix.com is called Story Structure: Demystified, and is hands down the best $14.95 I have EVER spent on my writing. 
 
I am preaching to you with all of the zeal of a new convert: a structure convert.  I used to hate outlining, but now can see why I haven’t sold a novel in more years than I’d like to admit (okay, fine: it has been 15 years since Shannon’s Mirror came out).  I was blind, but now I see.  Hallelujah!
 
I know I sound like an infomercial, but this book was literally an answer to prayer for me.  It has re-energized my stories and my whole view of my mission as a writer.  I’m not implying any of you have the problems that I do as a writer, but I know each of you has expressed frustration of one sort or another over your own work in the past.
 
Just so you know?  I’m not getting compensated at all for sending you this little missive.  I just feel the fire and want to share….

 Give the book a look.  See what you think.  And let me know if it seems helpful to you at all.

 Hugs to you all– Luisa

You can order Story Structure-Demystified here.  Or you can read more about it first here.

Thanks for hanging out with me today.  I wish you all a great writing weeking.

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