In the spring of 2011, I found myself frustrated in not being able to format my brownie cookbook correctly in order to publish it on Amazon Kindle. I’m well versed in technology and it did not make sense to me that there was not an easy solution to help me.

So, I launched a research project that included using writer’s forums to see if there were other writers having the similar issues, and if there were, how I would solve them. An interesting and surprising thing happened, instead of finding the solution I sought after, I discovered a lot of other writers in the same bind.

I asked questions and followed up leads, and after two months of research I still did not have the information I needed. That is when I discovered a new use for writer’s forums. I started asking writer’s what kind of ebooks they were trying to publish and where they were getting hung up the most.

Quickly patterns surfaced, and I was able to see a gap in the Kindle eBook publishing market. I knew the gap was temporary, however, I also knew if I could create a solution it would help many others as well, and that is what I did. I created a video tutorial called: Quick Kindle Formatting Secrets. I sold it at a low price to cover my time and make a small profit. Then, as I expected, Amazon made changes to their platform to make it more accommodating for authors who wanted to publish their own ebooks.

As technology continues to move forward, there will be many more reasons to utilize writers forums. Here is a short background on what they are so you can find out how they can help you also.

A writer’s forum is an online community where you can find different types of information. Some of them are information based, where you can ask questions and receive answers. Others are more for critiquing or simply finding other writers to communicate with.

With writing being such a solitary art, it is no wonder we need to reach out and find like minded people. I use writer’s forums to help me brainstorm ideas for some of my articles and ebooks. I used them for research in particular subjects and niches I would like to learn about, either to write about or to create tutorials to help solve common problems.

There are forums strictly for writers, and some are more specialized like the Amazon Kindle forum. Whether you are looking for writing help, a critique, or answers to questions about writing or publishing, you can find a lot of places to check out online today.

Here is a list of the most popular writers forums according to a Google.com search in July 2014.

Writer’s Digest Forum
http://www.writersdigest.com/forum/index.php

Writer’s Cafe
http://www.writerscafe.org/

Writing Forums
http://www.writingforums.org/

Absolute Write Forums
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/

Writer’s Beat
http://www.writersbeat.com/

Enjoy the forums, and happy writing!




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