Hello my beautiful writer friends…
I’m writing to you from a beautiful rainy spring day in upstate New York. When you live in L.A. and the sun bakes down on you pretty much all day every day, rain is especially BEAUTIFUL.
I’ve been on the East Coast for a few weeks, launching my first app on the Apple/itunes store.
Man, if you think these little babies on your phone are LITTLE, think again. Even though I had a team of developers, it’s been the HARDEST thing I’ve ever done. Even harder than delivering 120,000 words to a publisher in 12 weeks.
Seriously. The details have been endless–so many things I didn’t know I didn’t know. And, I didn’t help myself trying to create something truly gorgeous and visionary and one of a kind. Sheesh. But, by early reviews, it looks like all that work has paid off because that’s what they’re saying, so I’m feeling very grateful I didn’t know any better and flung my optimistic self into the app mix:) And, many of the top media shows here have told me they want to have me on. Now we’re looking at angles and schedules and mostly fall shoots (a lot of shows close up soon), so it’s exciting.
One of my favorite early reviews:
“The Boyfriend Log app is simple and practical, yet I’ve never seen anything like it and can’t believe it’s never been done before—a mark of something that could very well change the world. I wish I’d thought of it!” ~ Evan Marc Katz, Dating coach with over 5 million blog readers, + author of Why He Disappeared
I’d love to share a bit about the process, since so many of you have asked me why, and how I’ve ventured into this new territory. I’ll be sharing more on that in the coming months, too. And, I’d LOVE to have your support in downloading the app, as well (and writing a positive review if you love it), and letting your tribe know about it (sample tweets and fb examples below).
First, the why: I’m a writer. Why bother with an app? And, a relationship one at that? Isn’t that a little off-topic? I mean, what’s the deal?
The Why
Like many of you, I’m always thinking about how to expand my platform. Gone are the days when an author could just write a book, go to Europe for six months, and hear from his agent that he has a boat-load of money waiting for his return (as is rumored to have happened with Richard Bach after the 1970 release of the runaway hit, Jonathan Livingston Seagull). Even though I’ve published a bunch of books, I was thinking the same thing last year when thinking of selling my upcoming book–one that’s more personal than the others I’ve done.
Since I’m more known for being a publishing expert than a storyteller of my life, how would I go about building that platform? Hmm. Then I thought about something personal I’d done in my life that had SAVED my emotional sanity, and my dating life. It had literally transformed my disastrous love life. What if I wrote a magazine article about that diary? Not only could I help other people stressed in their love lives turn things around as I had (now happily in love with a GREAT guy), but I’d be creating a following for a different type of writing. Makes sense, right? My agent thought so, too.
So, I crafted an article called: The Boyfriend Log (soon to be published in a national magazine–stay tuned). It tells the story of a diary I kept to keep me from being co-dependent and dating men who didn’t treat me well. Here’s the gist: When I was married and my man showed me CLEAR signs that he wasn’t happy, I would log it in my diary. Until he’d apologize and get back to being loving, at which point I’d feel like I was cheating on him, on us, and often erase my diary. Yep. Codependent, anyone? When he left me for another woman after 19 years, I decided that I’d never again stay so attached to a story that I’d erase reality. I vowed that when I got a new boyfriend, I would FORCE myself to keep a diary every single day.
Sure enough, those first few months of entries were dreamy. But over time, the entries began to change. Some days were beautiful, others awful. Was there more good than bad? I couldn’t tell. I suspected there were patterns, but couldn’t decipher them. Until I thought to color-code my days. Whoa. Then our patterns became crystal clear. In living color. Which is a great thing because my sister and friends were exhausted by my frequent SOS calls!Fortunately, it’s hard not to ignore a sea of sad (blue) days when they’re staring you in the face.
Needless to say, when I’d get weak and want to run back to a bad relationship, all I had to do was look at my log and I no longer had a co-dependent bone in my body–the color coding didn’t lie. My assistant, Natalie, tried the same thing and it worked as well (you’ll see she’s the star of the video, playing me). Bingo. I knew I had something of great value to share, and not just for recording bad times, but good ones as well. A way to make happy relationships even stronger by focusing on the positive and doing more of what works.
But it wasn’t until years later–last year, in fact–that I thought to turn it into an app. I saved my money and decided to go for it. I found my team, and we’ve been working round the clock since November, which I’m told is lightening fast to get something like this launched. Ah, deep breath.Hopefully the word on everyone’s lips will soon be: What color is your relationship?
THANK YOU FOR HEPING ME SPREAD THE WORD. I can’t tell you how much it means to me. Here’s a few ways:
1. If you have an iPhone (Android coming when I can), download the app (it’s free) by going to our site, and clicking the download button on the home page (you can see a dramatic video on the app on the home page, and a more light, fun, relationship-saving video the About page): www.TheBoyfriendLog.com.
2. Go to the iTunes store and leave a review if you indeed love it. You can keep it short. If you mean it, 5 stars would be appreciated! Whatever feels right for you to write is great. IMPORTANT: save a copy of your review before it asks you to put in your nickname. If the name you choose has already been used, it will have you start over and erase your review.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/boyfriend-log-daily-journal/id842625735?mt=8
3. Like TheBoyfriendLog Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/theboyfriendlog
4. Follow TheBoyfriendLog on twitter: https://twitter.com/theboyfriendlog
5. Spread the word: Tweet, Facebook, blog, whatever moves you.
Sample tweets/fb posts
Love. We all want it. But it’s complicated. One day sweet, the next messy. Is your relationship more good than bad? www.theboyfriendlog.com
Finally, be your own eye witness in love & see your romance at a glance. Your friends will appreciate the break! www.theboyfriendlog.com
Wow.Take the guesswork out of your love life with the app that makes knowing when it’s right–or not–way easier.www.theboyfriendlog.com
I’m blown away! An unbelievable app that finally makes sense of our love life. What color is your relationship? www.theboyfriendlog.com
He loves me, he loves me not: But how do you feel and what do you really want? A new app makes sense of it all!!!www.theboyfriendlog.com
Learn to trust yourself in love by tracking the reality of your relationship in living color. Seeing is believing. xo www.theboyfriendlog.com
Love doesn’t have to be confusing, but you can’t change what you can’t see. Crack the code of your relationship. www.theboyfriendlog.com
I adore you.
Thank you so much for your support!
Yours,
Linda
xo
P.S. Join us for our second Your Big Beautiful Book Plan Book Proposal course call this Thursday night! You can still sign up, and we’ll email you all of the downloads and mp3s. The course is a blast and people are KICKING BUTT on their proposals. I love answering the live questions, too. So much fun. So sign up, and… We’ll catch you right up and get your proposal done by by this summer!
P.S.S. We have two spots open for our August 25th Carmel Writing Retreat, and we’re definitely doing a November retreat from the 10th – 14th! Come bliss out in the beauty and get my eyeballs and paw-prints on your book baby. You’ll have the time of your life and get your book baby birthed. Like these gals have.
P.S.S. please forward this to anyone you know who needs relationship support (maybe someone you’re tired of getting calls from!). Because seeing is believing and clarity really is queen. Girlfriend Log coming soon, too!
