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‘Story Physics’ Launched, Kindle and Paperback

As some of you are aware, Amazon.com released the paperback two weeks ago, a good thing.  But the Kindle version hasn’t been available until now, which confused and frustrated some readers.

One was so pissed off she posted a 3-star review (out of 5) on the book.  Without reading it.  My response to that: WTF?

Anyhow, here’s the Kindle link on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Story-Physics-ebook/dp/B00DH40XQM/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1371660724&sr=1-1&keywords=story+physics

I assume the other digital venues have it now, as well.

Click on the book cover to the right to go to the Amazon.com paperback page if that’s your preference.

As for bookstores… some already have it, some will get it, some will blow me off.  They can always get it via special order.

Thanks for caring about this, or tolerating it if you don’t.  More content soon.

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22 Responses

  1. I’m a little late to the party but I just “ran” out and got a copy for my kindle. I love Story Engineering and recently lent it to my mom (who recently came out of the writer closet too). Can’t wait to read this one!

  2. <>

    This is just like those very clever people spoiling your book’s amazon reviews by giving it a one-star review just because amazon somehow delivered too late. >_<

  3. I’m excited to read this, but at about 3/4 through my current novel, I’m not ready to commit the time.

    I discovered Mr. Brooks at a time when I finally became aware of the shortcomings in my writing and was ready to do something about them. 9 terrible novels brought me to this point, and Mr. Brooks (and another writer) gave me some direction for story structure, outlining, and generally planning before I started writing. Although I’ve modified the outline as I went along, I have to say that this is the first time I managed a coherent story with all the subplots and characters assisting in reaching the final resolution.

    Time will tell if it is any good. I do know that it’s far better than what I’ve done before. After I finish writing, I will read [u]Story Physics[/u] during my rest period before editing begins. Hopefully it will inform my editing, not lead me to scrap my book!

  4. @MikeR–Well said. I discovered the website first, through a link on someone else’s blog while skimming for information on Amazon’s whole self publishing trend. When I hit this site, it didn’t take long to see there was real information here, and my next step in processing craft. So I grabbed SE and sort of looked at it as Larry’s textbook, and this was his classroom. One I could opt fully into by getting his questionnaire, which became the homework assignments I’ve been working on for the last six months.

  5. Finding this web site (from the book that I happened-upon in a bookstore and had been thumbing through), told me far more about Larry’s gifts as an effective instructional writer than any “Amazon review” possibly could have. Like so many things in the Internet world, reviews are fairly easily gamed, and only “bots” are fooled. Whereas, when you listen-in on what a person says on a regular basis, and to what the people in his retinue say in open exchange, really, that’s what sells the book and its author.

    There are two pieces to this: the content, and the teacher. The content is not altogether new-ideas, but that’s the lesser part: the teaching is excellent, the approach Works, and the presentment is Effective. Even in this very thread, being one of many, you see: “it, plus your questionnaire, has set me on a “re-write” of unfinished first draft. The questionnaire and Story Physics has shown me that I’m still on the journey of finding my story.” (… and given me good reason to have confidence that, thanks to you, I will achieve my elusive goal.) You can’t fake that. You have to earn it.

    Writing is hard. Teaching is much harder. Teaching through a mass-market book is harder still. You say you were once a pitcher with a 90-mile-an-hour fast ball. Well, you hit two balls in a row right out of the park. These books are Good.

  6. my wife ordered this and my copy came in the mail today. looking forward to delving into this and hoping a few more gears click during my reading.

  7. I thought I rated SE a while back, but discovered I hadn’t done so when looking over my ratings. I rectified that oversight and gave SP a top rating as well.

  8. Ah, the joys of today’s “reviews” where anyone can rate anything, regardless of whether they know what they’re talking about–or not.

    Sucks to be making a living writing books or selling stuff, when anyone can crank a low score due to any reason at all.

    That all being said, I think the word on the street is getting to the point where nobody is taking any online rating of anything seriously anymore.

    We had watched the movie The Master the other week and that was the worst movie I’ve seen EVER. Yet it has a 8+ rating on IMDB? WTF?

    Look at the top movies on IMDB and it’s hilarious what’s in there. Forget the story, if it has lots of explosions, then it’s good.

    Books? Amazon, Good Reads (okay Amazon bought them) have ratings of books by author and if they like the author then the book is good, regardless of the quality of the story.

    Technical stuff? Can’t tell you how many times I see a good-great rating for a computer part BECAUSE IT SHIPPED FAST! (are you freakin’ kidding me–the shipping = the quality of the computer part)?

    Some people shouldn’t be allowed to rate things.

    Alas, the bigger picture of my little ol’ rant here, is that the world IS dumbing down to the lowest common denominator.

    The “world” language is turning into “texting” or txting, or whatever they call it.

    Unfortunately the brains literally are NOT being developed (IQ, cognition–smarts) due to bringing up the kids on TV, computers, and games.

    I don’t know what we’re going to do in the future, but it doesn’t look pretty. Today’s “tough guy” will call you names and give you low scores, but in person–heck they won’t even show up.

    I was thinking the other day that we should have the national anthem changed. “The home of the Brave, and the land of the free”–those words don’t jive with what I see out there anymore.

    Anyone got any thoughts on that?

    Larry, as Denzel said in Remember the Titans, “You’re Hall of Fame in My Book!

  9. @ Larry

    I will get on that review I promised you and counter the negative vibes with a five-star. Don’t let the cranky people get you down.

    Re: Kindle vs. Paperback –

    It is a different reading experience. I bought Story Engineering on Kindle and plan to buy a hard copy because on a Kindle, you don’t have the graphic designer’s guideposts for reading the material. Everything is sort of just mashed together, and if it requires much thought, can be difficult to follow. Charts and graphs never come out right. It’s difficult to navigate, so if you wanted to return to a particular passage, you’d have to have “bookmarked” it when you first read it. And, of course, the thing has to be charged up to turn on. There is a range of quality in Kindle files, too. (I won’t buy another one until they give us a solar-powered e-reader.)

    I like to get a Kindle version when I don’t know yet what the book is going to be like – to test things out, try a new author or subject. Then, if I love it so much that I can give it a permanent home in my already cramped living space, I shell out the often 2 x as much money for a hard copy. Authors I like get more, not less.

  10. People sometimes don’t understand that some things are beyond our control. I once had someone leave a one star review because Amazon decided to change the price, slowly raising it from where it had been for months. He accused “the authors” of being greedy and corrupt, jacking up the price and cutting pages from the book, and said he would never support us by buying the book. I calmly explained we have no control over when Amazon decides to end a sale, and the pages have not changed. I acknowledged how frustrating it must have been for him to see the price change day after day, slowly increasing, and apologized. You know what? He bought the book and got his library to buy the book too. 😉

  11. Though I certainly need time to absorb everything fully from SE and SP, I hope Larry continues and gives us the 401 advanced course, and maybe even a book on structuring characters. The character stuff in SE was a pretty neat and concise take, but with so many cardboard characters floating around out there, I think a fresh and lively take is needed. Plus what comes after structure and plot but character, y’know?

    But I very much get what Olga is saying. SE + SP + Questionnaire = A Writing Course. It takes time, and most definitely sends you back over your WIP to ferret out the story on many levels. And when you look at the total cost, no one give more bang for the buck.

    Thank you, Larry 🙂

  12. Larry, I am one of the oldees who likes the book in hand for underlining and note taking. Defacing, yes, I’m guilty and I love every mark. Ordered Story Physics the last day of May. The third day of June it was on my front porch, and my front porch is in the piney woods of East Texas. And I suggest you stop writing “how-to” books with this one because it, plus your questionnaire, has set me on a “re-write” of unfinished first draft. The questionnaire and Story Physics has shown me that I’m still on the journey of finding my story. I’m nearly finished with the first read of Story Physics and already see my first big error. My First Plot Point must be reworked. Good book, Larry.

  13. Squatting on my Google Drive, 18 pages of notes distilled from Story Physics, presented as questions to ask (and answered for my current WIP), targets, smacks to the side of the head—of the why didn’t I see this before nature and general repetitiveness to drill said wisdom into my core brain.

    SP sat for a week unread as was finishing another WIP and I had to be in the right head space to “listen” and process.

    SP & SE = advanced college degree in what it takes to do what we love, to the best of our ability!

  14. Oh, the Kindle version is around 50% more than the paperback. Talk about WTF. Not in your power, I know. That’s publishers for you.

  15. Larry, I’m sitting here with my coffee and about to leave for a five day camping and flyfishing escape. This made my day. I just diwnloaded it and will devour it between fly hatches. As far as ratings–and I remind my partner of this whenever she reads hers–Moby Dick has 42 one-star ratings. ‘Nuff said?

  16. I downloaded “Story Physics” yesterday on the Kindle and in the process of the first read-through. So far it is really good, but then I would have expected nothing other.

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