In this episode we get all excited about going from Point A to Point B. Yeah, we're pretty cool.

StorytellersAZ is a meetup for anyone who wants to tell better stories. We meet the second and fourth Wednesday of every month from 7-9pm at Gangplank in Chandler. If you'd like to attend, show up. 

If you'd like to be a part of our podcast, email tyler@gangplankhq.com.

You can subscribe, for FREE, via iTunes or RSS. Click on the iTunes link takes you to the iTunes Store or RSS (both totally free!) via your preferred reader.

Not all bloggers are photographers, but with a little work, we can be. While taking your own pictures is a bit of work, it's far better than stealing images from other sites.

Yes, I realize it's not theft. And no, linking the image isn't the legal way to obtain permission. While many of us are happy with a link (go ahead and use anything I write, as long as you give me some credit), not everyone can be so nice about it.

Photographers especially. In the episode we talk about CompFight.com and a few other sites that are great for finding images. Be sure to check them out FIRST the next time you need an image in a blog post.

GOOGLE IMAGES ISN'T ENOUGH!

StorytellersAZ is a meetup for anyone who wants to tell better stories. We meet the second and fourth Wednesday of every month from 7-9pm at Gangplank in Chandler. If you'd like to attend, show up. 

If you'd like to be a part of our podcast, email tyler@gangplankhq.com.

You can subscribe, for FREE, via iTunes or RSS. Click on the iTunes link takes you to the iTunes Store or RSS (both totally free!) via your preferred reader.

The world of self publishing can be scary. So many options, so many buttons and so, so many tasks that most writers just aren't ready to handle.

But we're happy to report that the actual process of publishing via Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) is fast, easy and helps novice publishers through typical issues.

In this episode, Matt Fox of Persuasion Theory talks us through his experience publishing Friction Free Sales & Marketing using Amazon KDP. Seems pretty easy, although I can't guarantee everyone will be able to sell books this way. As we discuss in the podcast, publishing is one of many steps toward selling enough books to retire to an island. If that's your thing, of course.

StorytellersAZ is a meetup for anyone who wants to tell better stories. We meet the second and fourth Wednesday of every month from 7-9pm at Gangplank in Chandler. If you'd like to attend, show up. 

If you'd like to be a part of our podcast, email tyler@gangplankhq.com.

You can subscribe, for FREE, via iTunes or RSS. Click on the iTunes link takes you to the iTunes Store or RSS (both totally free!) via your preferred reader.

In this episode we discuss how best to get ourselves exposure. While most of us hate the term 'personal branding', the ideas and reasons behind the term aren't bad.

As Tyler was prepping for his TEDxPhoenixSalon talk, he was looking for ways to promote himself. Turns out that giving a great speech should have been more important than any promotion or branding.

Think about that for a second.

Ch...ch...CH...CHANGES!

It's time to change things up, as our meetings and this podcast have grown a bit stale. Starting at our meeting next week, we'll have one business writing question and one creative writing question. Hopefully the biz guys can help the creatives with structure and the creative guys can help the biz guys with spice. Or gals. Or whatever.

See you next week!

Want to have a say in just what that is? Show up!

StorytellersAZ is a meetup for anyone who wants to tell better stories. We meet the second and fourth Wednesday of every month from 7-9pm at Gangplank in Chandler. If you'd like to attend, show up. 

If you'd like to be a part of our podcast, email tyler@gangplankhq.com.

You can subscribe, for FREE, via iTunes or RSS. Click on the iTunes link takes you to the iTunes Store or RSS (both totally free!) via your preferred reader.

I'm always asking Katie to look over my stuff, but besides proofreading, it's probably not a good idea.

Why?

Because it's always, always too personal. For both of us. We discuss what we think about this in the episode.

Also, StorytellersAZ the podcast will be retired once it hits episode 50. We may continue meeting, we may continue to record, but it will be a new project with a more specific direction.

Want to have a say in just what that is? Show up!

StorytellersAZ is a meetup for anyone who wants to tell better stories. We meet the second and fourth Wednesday of every month from 7-9pm at Gangplank in Chandler. If you'd like to attend, show up. 

If you'd like to be a part of our podcast, email tyler@gangplankhq.com.

You can subscribe, for FREE, via iTunes or RSS. Click on the iTunes link takes you to the iTunes Store or RSS (both totally free!) via your preferred reader.

In this episode we talk about my fear that I don't sound like I write.

Yes, I may have been severely overthinking my TEDxPhoenixSalon talk, but oh well.

It was a fun episode.

StorytellersAZ is a meetup for anyone who wants to tell better stories. We meet the second and fourth Wednesday of every month from 7-9pm at Gangplank in Chandler. If you'd like to attend, show up. 

If you'd like to be a part of our podcast, email tyler@gangplankhq.com.

You can subscribe, for FREE, via iTunes or RSS. Click on the iTunes link takes you to the iTunes Store or RSS (both totally free!) via your preferred reader.

('Someone' may have uploaded two raw recordings because he was impatient and didn't check the final file to make sure it was done. This is now the correct file.)

Brian LaPan takes over hosting duties in this episode about designing ebook covers. 

While fretting about ebook covers may seem pointless, let me assure you that they absolutely matter when customers check out your stuff on Amazon. Pay someone to design yours for you, unless you're a designer. You'll thank us.

StorytellersAZ is a meetup for anyone who wants to tell better stories. We meet the second and fourth Wednesday of every month from 7-9pm at Gangplank in Chandler. If you'd like to attend, show up. 

If you'd like to be a part of our podcast, email tyler@gangplankhq.com.

You can subscribe, for FREE, via iTunes or RSS. Click on the iTunes link takes you to the iTunes Store or RSS (both totally free!) via your preferred reader.

Of all the tricks storytellers have up their sleeves, few are more important to fiction writing than generating ideas. Sure, we can always look to our lives, our environment, our friends or our experiences, but those can get stale after a while.

B.J. West knows this well. After a career which includes working with many of the Sims franchises, West is finally able to ship the idea he had long ago. Listen to the interview to discover what prompted him to create the decks, what he based them on and why he thinks you could use a set.

<a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bjwest/story-forge-brainstorming-cards-for-storytellers"><img src="http://tdhurst.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/DoctorWho.jpg" alt="" title="Story Forge Example" width="400" height="562" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-6832" />

StorytellersAZ is a meetup for anyone who wants to tell better stories. We meet the second and fourth Wednesday of every month from 7-9pm at Gangplank in Chandler. If you'd like to attend, show up. 

If you'd like to be a part of our podcast, email tyler@gangplankhq.com.

You can subscribe, for FREE, via iTunes or RSS. Click on the iTunes link takes you to the iTunes Store or RSS (both totally free!) via your preferred reader.

Most writers, at least before they become rich, famous and immortal, seldom write about stuff they know. They're given assignments by their bosses, beats by their editors, topics by their clients or piece together bits of unfamiliar ideas and weave them together.

In this episode, our gang talks about some of the struggles we face when writing about the unknown. While research and experience can often solve the issue of not knowing enough, not LIKING the subject matter is another issue entirely.

Our advice? Suck it up, do the work and cash the check. Then go write what you know and like.

You can subscribe, for FREE, via iTunes or RSS. Click on the iTunes link takes you to the iTunes Store or RSS (both totally free!) via your preferred reader.

StorytellersAZ is a meetup for anyone who wants to tell better stories. We meet the second and fourth Wednesday of every month from 7-9pm at Gangplank in Chandler.

If you'd like to attend, show up. 

If you'd like to be a part of our podcast, email tyler@gangplankhq.com.

On a warm night at Gangplank Chandler, your almost-always host Tyler Hurst joins poet Sarah Marques, REALTOR Elizabeth Newlin and blogger/podcast editor Debbie Walker talk about the trademark that's supposed to be at the end of REALTOR, Debbie's kids and how we prefer to tell and write stories.

The order of storytelling can be either non-linear or linear, which is something we all approve. It works especially well on TV shows. Also, Elizabeth calls me out for not remembering how Tyler told a story.

You can subscribe, for FREE, via iTunes or RSS. Click on the iTunes link takes you to the iTunes Store or RSS (both totally free!) via your preferred reader.

StorytellersAZ is a meetup for anyone who wants to tell better stories. We meet the second and fourth Wednesday of every month from 7-9pm at Gangplank in Chandler.

If you'd like to attend, show up. 

If you'd like to be a part of our podcast, email tyler@gangplankhq.com.