Rebuilding, and an Exciting Announcement

Hey Folks,

I’m sending this to all subscribers to the Pro Writers blog and the Free Story of the Week posts.

The Pro Writers posts will resume on Tuesday, June 27. This is a special post to notify you of updates and some exciting news. The Free Story of the Week will be supplanted with the challenge I outline below.

Basically, I’m decluttering and revamping my websites, and I’m prepping to begin a new long-term writing challenge that many of you might find interesting.

First, re the websites….

StoneThread Publishing — I’m giving up on StoneThread Publishing as a separate entity.

StoneThread was designed to give discounts to booksellers and private readers. Thus far (after almost two years) not one bookseller and few, if any, readers have taken advantage of it.

I’ll retain the name as my publisher, of course, unless I get a really good offer.

HEStanbrough.com — This is the once and future home of The Daily Journal.

I’m sending the Journal back down to the minor leagues beginning today. (grin) Those who are subscribed shouldn’t notice a difference.

I moved the Journal to the main site almost exactly two years ago in hopes of garnering new subscribers. But that hasn’t happened, so away it goes. This move will help declutter the main website. From now on, only the Pro Writers blog posts will appear on the main site.

Also, as more Topics from The Daily Journal become Pro-Writers blog posts, there will be less overlap on the main site. So you folks who subscribe only to Pro Writers will get the best of the topics without having to subscribe to The Daily Journal.

If you’d like to subscribe to the Journal anyway, just click the link in the header on the main website.

HarveyStanbrough.com — This is my main website. First, I’m simplifying the menu (I started that yesterday). If you have a moment, take a look and let me know in the comments what you think.

I’m also transfering everything from StoneThread Publishing (individual book pages, etc.) over to this main site. Then I’ll link the StoneThread URL to the main site. I should be finished with this process in a few days.

Now to one more website and the challenge I mentioned above:

HStanbrough.com — This is the new Writing in Public site. This is my modern-day effort to recreate what Harlan Ellison did in a storefront display window several decades ago.

Harlan set up a table and a typewriter in that display area. Then he wrote short stories, one after another, as people watched from the sidewalk. As he finished each page, he taped it to the window so the gathered folks could read the story as it progressed.

I will do the same thing, except I’m posting them online one scene or chapter at a time. No rewriting, no editing, no sleight of hand. I’ll try to remember to spell check them, but that’s it.

Only those who subscribe to HStanbrough.com will witness my efforts to write short stories (and maybe novellas and novels) “in public,” posted one scene or one chapter at a time.

Whether you’re a writer or a reader, if you’ve ever wondered how a story grows from idea through the finished product — or, bless your heart, if you’ve ever wondered how I do that with my stories — this is an excellent opportunity to watch the process unfold.

Everybody who watches NASCAR or Indy car racing watch for one of two reasons: To see whether their favorite driver will prevail or to witness the wrecks first hand.

Wanna see me succeed and watch as I’m building stories? Subscribe. Wanna see me crash and burn? Subscribe. (grin)

Either way, I’ll be glad to have you along.

But don’t dawdle. The new Writing in Public challenge will begin on July 1 at the latest. But knowing me, there’s a good chance it will begin sooner than that.

Note: My efforts at writing in public will replace the Free Story of the Week. But I can’t transfer subscriptions.

If you want to watch me create new stories, you will have to visit Writing in Public at http://hstanbrough.com to subscribe. That subscription goes through a different service so subscribers will get an email update each time I post a new scene or chapter (instead of once per day via MailChimp).

I hope to see you there.

Thanks for your patience, and for being here in the first place. Now back to the work in progress on the websites.

‘Til next time, happy writing!

Harvey