Sunday, February 23, 2014

The Other Side of the Story is Now Fiction University!

I don't think it's possible to redesign a site and not make a joke about "you might have noticed some new changes," so...you might have noticed the new look this visit.

The rebranding to Fiction University has been in the works for a while now, and we're excited to take the site in this more focused direction. My goal has always been to educate writers and help them improve their craft, and we'll be offering more ways to do that in 2014.

This will be an on-going process, so please pardon our digital dust during this renovation. Besides the new look, the URL will change to fiction-university.com in the coming month. While we don't expect any snags you never know how the internet will behave. If you come across any weirdness accessing the site in the next week or so, this is why. Rest assured we'll be working to fix any issues that might occur as quickly as possible. Our plan is to have support for existing links using the original URL (blog.janicehardy.com) as well as the new URL, as long as Google and Yahoo behave themselves.

What's New and What's to Come...


The How They Do It column has moved to Tuesdays, and there's a great lineup of authors and tips for the year. As an added twist--throughout the year we'll also hear from a writer "In the Trenches" and gain some insight from those still in the submission stage. It's far too easy for writers to feel alone during this tough stage of their careers, and these articles will show that they're not alone.

The new Indie Authors column is on Thursdays. This column will share information and tips for those looking to self publish, covering a variety of topics from detailed how-tos to creating an e-book, to overviews on self publishing trends and philosophies.

There are over 1000 solid writing articles on the site, so look to Refresher Fridays for a helpful article from the archives you might have missed the first time around.

Real Life Diagnostics remains on Saturdays and the random Sunday, critiquing works in progress and answering questions pertaining to those works.

A revised site contents menu bar to make finding the articles easier, with more categories and links to find just what you need when you need it.

For those just starting out or those who need a reminder, you'll find helpful definition links on writing terms, with links to additional articles that explore the topic in more detail.

Here's what else you can look forward to in 2014:
  • Forums so readers can discuss writing and publishing, and even critique each other's work (Spring).
  • Developmental editing and writing coaching services (Summer).
  • Online classes (Fall).

And finally, the release of my first writing book, Planning Your Novel: Ideas and Structure (March). This is book one of a series designed to help writers take an idea, develop it into a novel, write that novel, and ultimately submit and publish it. It will be available in both e-book and paperback format, with a workbook to follow.

It's going to be a great year here at the new Fiction University.

32 comments:

  1. As always, all technical issues can be blamed on me. Janice is working hard at updating the site, table of contents, articles and such, while I poke the computers with a stick and try and get them to behave nicely with each other. If you spot anything unusual, don't hesitate to let us know. We want you to enjoy visiting the site as much as we enjoy making it.

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  2. Ooooh, how cool is the new look? Well done, Janice! Can't wait to see what's next!

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  3. Very interested in the forum and classes, and i like the new look.

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  4. Very cool. Congrats on taking the site in a cool new direction, which you're obviously both excited about and quite capable to handle (as someone who purchased a charity critique from you in the past, and think it was bang on). :D

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  5. I like! Well done, Janice and Thomas!

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  6. Love the logo and look forward to the revamp.

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  7. Congrats Janice! This is a fantastic resource, and I'm excited about the forums idea.

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  8. Thanks so much everyone! We've been wanting to do this for a while now, so I'm all aflutter that it's finally happening.

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  9. I think this is perfect. Go, Janice, and congrats--looks amazing!

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  10. Thank you Thomas and Janice for being the best resource available. Now, how do I gradgiate?

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  11. Hey Janice
    Loving the new look, and the line up for 2014, Indie authors and forums especially. Thanks so much for the fantastic resource you provide :)
    Mike

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  12. Thanks guys. It really means a lot.

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  13. Janice - as a new reader, I am amazed by the organization your site has. However, I am one of those people who likes to start at the beginning. Is there an easy way to jump to the first posts?

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  14. Aha, I found it. This takes you back to the yery beginning.

    http://blog.janicehardy.com/search?updated-max=2008-01-01T13:27:00-05:00&max-results=10

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    1. OK no, here's the first "real" blog post that I could find.

      http://blog.janicehardy.com/2008/07/bob-and-zombies-summary.html

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    2. And not insult you in any way, Janice, I think the amount of work that has gone into this site is staggering. I just like to do this chronologically instead of by topic. Thanks!!!!!

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    3. No worries (and sorry for the late reply, it was a crazy week). The site was never written to be chronological, so you won't gain anything from reading it that way except maybe seeing how my style changed as I figured out how I wanted this site to feel. That's why I created the contents on the side, so you could start at the beginning of writing a novel and work your way through. It let me organize the site in a way people could start where they needed and move forward.

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  15. Sounds and looks so awesome, Janice. I love how this looks and your changes sound so great. Thanks for doing all this work.

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  16. I love the new look. Can't wait to see the new stuff.

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  17. Great move, this makes a lot of sense given the type of information you provide. I point writers to your site often and have so many posts tagged. In fact, I'll be hunting through your archives for some posts on cutting wordcount for my current revision :)

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    1. Thanks! Hope you easily find what you need.

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  18. This looks amazing - thank you for having such a great website. I've been visiting this site for years now :) Congrats on the work and I'm looking forward to learning more!

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  19. So I'm a little late to the party... Congratulations Janice the new design and approach looks great. I'm really looking forward to online classes and the release of your writing book. Your advice is always sound and every time I visit I learn something I can apply to my WIP. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge so well!

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    1. It's never too late to comment (unless it's to enter a contest that's over of course). And thanks!

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  20. I'm really excited about all that new stuff coming!

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  21. Hello Janice. I just found this website. It is a God send. Thank you for your time and talent. I can't wait for the book. I am very interested in classes as well. Do you also offer a writing forum where writing us critiqued?

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    1. Welcome! Good to have you here. There's no forum yet, but there will be soon. Probably in the next month or two.

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