KBoards Rocks - (was I Quit Kindleboards' Writers Cafe Today)

EDITOR'S NOTE: For those of you coming here from Witchrants: I have asked them to remove the link to this post, and they simply refuse to.  I don't support what they have to say.

As a matter of fact, I feel the opposite way. I'm super glad whoever wrote that post has finally left KB, because it appears with their departure, the forum has become the truly rockin' sort of writer's hangout it always felt like it could be.

So if they won't remove the link to my post from theirs, I simply removed my post so they couldn't use it as support for theirs.

I never thought Kindleboards was a "dangerous" place or that it had a problem with bullies.  Rather I felt that it was too safe because anyone who wanted to take offense was allowed to shut down conversations.  They kept discussion of writing to such a trivial level that it really wasn't useful to anyone but beginners.

Well, after I saw that Witchrants post, I went back to KB to take a look, and I was really amazed at how the place has transformed.

Yes, it's still mainly a forum for self-publishers -- emphasis on the publishing.  Most of the discussion is still about marketing and business -- but that's the sort of things most people have questions about.  (That's actually pretty normal for any place where writers get together.)  And now there is a full range of discussions about writing too.  (Even those marketing discussions are actually allowed to focus on, gasp, how to write a good book!)

I don't know if it's because the control freaks left, or if it's just because the indie publishing culture as a whole is becoming more mature and diverse.

I myself am unlikely to go back.   It's an unfortunate truth: the better a writer's forum is, the more time it takes away from your writing.

However, I feel I can recommend it as a good writer's hangout, and it has always been one of the best places to hang out to pick up information on this new world of self-publishing.

It's no longer called "Kindleboards" though -- Amazon objects if you use their trademark -- so now it's  the KBoards Writer's Cafe.

See you in the funny papers.