Change is good. Feels like a root canal sometimes, but in the end, when the swelling goes down and you look in the mirror, that tuned up smile has an extra twinkle in it.
If you’re on the site reading this, then you’ve probably noticed the changes. A little more than subtle, yet not quite a complete identity overhaul on the scale of a witness protection program. Cleaner is the key word.
If you’re reading this via email or a feed, please drop by, check us out.
There are changes behind the curtain, too.
My Books page is now the real deal — it pretty much sucked before — with all my titles, with my novels (past and present, including the new Kindle editions) and my several writing craft books. I’ve also tweaked up the pages linked to the upper menu, including the Peer Review page, which had gone comatose because, well, it was invisible. I encourage you to participate in that program.
A completely new wrinkle…
… is the announcement of my new monthly newsletter program.
I’m calling it “Writers on the Brink — A Storyfix Community,” and you’ve already been exposed to it with that little popup window asking you to sign up. Why sign up? Because I need to do this right, and the newsletter will be too full of specific value-added material and special fun deals to throw out there in general. Those who come to the party will get the best appetizers. And the hard stuff.
Please opt-in. You won’t get spammed or over-sold, and you will get special treatment. My goal is to over-deliver.
The posts themselves will take on a new energy going forward.
There may be less of them, but what I put here will be written from a place of passion and relevance, and won’t be the predictable by-the-numbers stuff that has led us to this point, and that fill the pages on most writing websites. All the 101-level posts are still here, in the Archives, for new arrivals and those who want a brush up. Going forward… think of this as storytelling grad school, with a point of view for everyone. Even the pros go through training camp before every season, and this site is nothing if not a place to prepare for the Big Leagues.
And finally, I’ve published a personal statement…
… sort of a rare thing on sites like this.
Why? Not because I’m opening the kimono for reasons better dealt with by my psychotherapist. Rather, to postion this as a passionate, courageous and risk-friendly place. Not everyone likes my style, but you can’t question my intentions. I’m here to help. And to grow.
Thanks for making Storyfix.com one of the leading fiction writing websites on the internet. If you have a Story to tell, there’s always a cushy chair available for you here.
Love to hear from you. Tell me what you’d like to see this year, and I’ll try to accommodate what fits.
Welcome to 2012. May we all write our asses off and find bliss in the process.
Don’t forget the gift-with-purchase deal on my new ebook, Warm Hugs for Writers. Read about it HERE.
23 Responses
I’ve already signed up for the newsletter and I am getting the pop up on every single page load as well. I am using Chrome.
Still no pop-up for signing up for your newsletter when I come on your website. I really would like to subscribe to it!! Isn’t there another way, or a link you could post?
That is going to be my new mantra –
“May we all write our asses off and find bliss in the process.”
My co-workers looked at me funny when I laughed out loud, it’s perfect!
Larry, it’s been so long since we chatted, but I’m always lurking here in the background, reading and enjoying your posts. Your new design looks great and is user-friendly. I was just thinking the other day that I should write an article about why it’s okay to let your readers see you change and evolve as a blogger. Good luck, and all the best with Storyfix in 2012!
I love the new clean look! Looks more professional. Looking forward to your new posts.
Hi Larry,
Love the new website; happy new year to you and your family. I hope you have a great one this year. Thanks so much for all your help and advice throughout 2011 – and 2010 for that matter! Can’t wait to see what gems you pull out of Larry’s Writing Box this year.
Darren
Liking the new look and looking forward to 2012. Thank you for taking steps to move us beyond 101 and into the best we can be!
Hi Larry,
I’ve been an avid follower for awhile but I’ve never had the newsletter pop-up for me to sign up. Or, am I mistaking getting emails from you as being the newsletter? Sorry, have a migraine so not to “with it” today! Love the new look. All the best for 2012!
@Curtis — thanks for this.
” Sort of puts a wrinkle in what’s to follow — celebrating my cool new look, when now the cool new look has a gaping hole in it. ”
That’s what makes you real! The wheels are off for all of us in some way. You don’t paper over it with celebrity graphics. Like I said, thats what makes you real.
Wish I could help you with which button to push.
Onward and upward
Hey Larry
This is neat. One criticism – the horizontal scrolling is not nice.
Great stuff.
Cheers
Larry. Yep, very clean. Like a good photograph, the eye slides over the landscape but never leaves the page. Excellent.
Re: Some don’t like your style? They need a copy of Warm hugs….
I know a guy. Seriously, I did, who as a poor kid moved from Gatesville, TX to Houston. Rough as a cob as they say. Both the town and the kid.
Kid prevails. He unloaded His philosophy on me at his mother’s funeral,
” Rev. Dr. Curtis, if your making everybody happy your not doing anything.”
Not everybody liked his style either. But I found few who didn’t want to shake his hand.
Onward and upward.
I’d love to sign up for your Writers on the Brink newsletter but, alas, there was no popup. But the new look is great.
@Dan — thanks for the heads up. It’s a browser thing, I think… the links open from my end, but during the remodel we had trouble nailing 100% in each browser. Are you used an older verson of Explorer, perhaps. On a Mac? Can you recall which links failed? Inquiring webmasters will want to know.
Thanks again. L.
I´m all signed-up.
Now I´m just waiting for the first couple of high-quality pornos to reach my mail. Let it be HD, please!
But NO! NO-no-no!
Seriously, very seriously———–I am excited. Truly excited about the coming weeks and months. Your dedication is simply amazing (and that being said without a trace of ass-licking! I swear). To get such high quality information- for free……….arrghhh.!! It blows my mind.
But just what the hell is your motivation??
(Beside the obvious (exposure, ect..)) Others offer some bits of information here and there, but when it comes to the specifics they usually want to see the money first.
Not that I am complaining.
But you truly seem to have some kind of personal desire behind it all.
————-
Whatever, whatever….!
Thanks for not changing every single thing on the page. The shock would have been tremendous! A day, or two more, and I´ll forget the old site ever existed.
Good work.
Go get them all this year, Larry!!!!!
Nice, clean use of the Thesis theme, Larry. It looks nice. Just want to let you know that several images on your book page don’t load. The image links appear to be broken.
Larry,
The update looks great, looking forward to the new content in the “Community.” Keep up the good work.
Happy New Year and congrats on the new, cleaner, more up front and personal website. You keep growing . . . and that’s inspiring!
I love the new look and look forward to the new year with all it has to offer. I’m ready to learn more and put it into practice! Thank you!
“and this site is nothing not a place to prepare for the Big Leagues” – Larry, I think you left out an “if” between “nothing” and “not.” I would usually ignore such finger faults, but this one confuses the meaning of the sentence.
Thanks for bumping up the type! I’m eager to see what you have in store for us in this new year. Thanks, as always, for sharing.
PS. Do you still have a “Bait and Switch” deconstruction on your to-do list? As far as I know, you’re the only one offering deconstructions and they’re very helpful.
I’ve been a silent watcher for many many months now. I have most of your books (as money allows) and have almost read them to tatters (except the electronic ones. hooray for electronic!). I just wanted to comment that the site looks really good now. It’s very clean.
I can’t wait to see what 2012 holds in store!
Excellent job on the new website. Easy to navigate, very easy on the eyes. And I’m enjoying both “Warm Hugs for Writers” and “Get Your Bad Self Published.” I’m afraid my biggest problem since finding your blog and your books is, I’m reading more about writing than I’m actually writing. But your teaching has been more practical than anything I’ve come across in all my years of writing, so I’m going to indulge myself for a little while longer and soak up as much as I can, while still putting in some time every day to write. Thanks for sharing your expertise.
Hi Larry! I just wanted to bring something to your attention that my husband and I have noticed (to do with the new website look). We’ve signed up for your newsletter, thanks to the handy little pop-up that presents itself on loading storyfix.com, but now that we’ve signed up the darn thing *keeps* popping up every time we load a page… it’s a little bit frustrating!
Just thought you might like to know about it 🙂
Thanks for your awesome blog and ebooks, hubby and I are big fans.