New LDStorymakers Website

by Tanya Parker Mills

Finally, I can begin to breathe a bit easier. After a month of ignoring my family (to some extent) and a lot of email in order to keep my nose to the grindstone, I'm pleased to announce a new LDStorymakers website. Whether you're a Storymaker or not, I hope you'll give it a look. If you are a member, please register for the new site if you haven't done so already. (It's easy...just click on the Login button and then the little "Register" word below and to the left; then fill out all the starred fields.) If you're not yet a member or have allowed your membership to lapse, we hope it will get you more excited about joining us as soon as you can.

I'm going to share a few tidbits about the new site that I haven't yet mentioned.

First, don't be alarmed if you have the latest version of Internet Explorer (IE 9) and can't see the menu. My web-savvy friend, Becky (not a Storymaker), is working to fix that today. In fact, we owe a big debt of gratitude to Becky. She's a stay-at-home Mom with great computer skills and while she refused payment for bringing my vision to life (she said "It's been a lot of fun!"), I don't know what I would have done without her. Here I'd been stuck with ideas and a design in my head for months, but no one with the time and HTML code knowledge to build it. I am so grateful I was called to serve under her on the Compassionate Service Committee or I never would have discovered her skills.

Second, there's a section under Community called "For Aspiring Authors" and under that there is a sub-section for Frequently Asked Questions. As you'll see, we've got a chunk of questions already laid out and you should start to see answers as you check back over the next few months. We're hoping this will be a useful link to all you who are still trying to get published.

Third, for members only, there will be a similar sub-section for Frequently Asked Questions relating to writing and the publishing business (both LDS and non-LDS). While it doesn't show it right now, we will be building this as a Wiki-style page so that all members can chime in on a given topic to share their knowledge and experience and help create the best answers for any given issue. We're very excited about this feature! So stay tuned.

Fourth, as you can see from the Home Page, we are gearing the site more toward marketing for our members. Each week there will be a list of latest releases (each linked to their Amazon sale page), a list of book trailers (each linked to their YouTube page), and a featured video. At present, we're putting a book trailer in that position, but after the upcoming conference you'll begin to see a series a fun author interviews conducted with our members (at the conference). Finally, at the bottom of each page on the website, you'll find 3 Author Spotlights that provide a blurb about their latest book and link to each author's website and their Amazon sale page.

While book trailers and Author Spotlights are being drawn at random, if you're a member you need to make sure to let me know if you have a new book or book trailer coming out so I can add them to the drawings. Also, get in touch with me asap if you want to be interviewed at the conference during the Meet and Greet for Storymakers on Thursday night at 7 pm.

Please let me know if you have any questions, problems, or suggestions involving the new website. You'll find my email in the Website sub-section under Contact.

In the meantime, I can finally get back to my WIP!!!