I'm not sure what you're asking, but if you're just looking for a writers forum, Absolute Write has everything you need to know.

At first surf I didn't find any conversations about research papers. There was a lot of current events chatter. Maybe I haven't found the right forum. Maybe I need to join and post and see what happens.

There are some work at home forums that discuss writing jobs. It seems that with most of them you submit samples, they hire you, you write about a particular subject and then you are paid per word if they post your story on their site. I am sure there are similar options for original content.

I think beagles might do this so you may want to message her and ask her about it. It's a little different than what you are asking about it but it may send you in the right direction.

I think you were in the activity stream, which must be latest posts. I haven't been there for a few years so that's new. You have to click on the forum tab on the left. There's a section on publishing.

You said you have been to how-to sites, so I'm unclear of what you want. Maybe I'm just dense today.

What about SheWrites? (If you are a woman)

and, if there isn't, contact GW about starting one!

I do online/SEO and marketing writing which I think is different than what is being asked about here.

You want techniques for cutting down your story? Or for doing the self-publishing of the book? Amazon has a self-publishing market for ebooks but I don't do that so I know almost nothing about it.

I'm sure there are probably lots of forums you can look to in order to get tips about editing manuscripts, etc. I searched for "writing technique forum" and a bunch of stuff came up.

You mention a researcher. What is their role? How many stories do you have and do they all need editing?

You mention a researcher. What is their role?

I think (correct me if I'm wrong, Imhappy) that she means people who would use the book as a source for doing genealogical research.

Okay, gotcha. When she said cousin bait, I thought she meant that the entire book would be read for family enjoyment.

We each have different questions but in a nut shell we want to publish our family history.

My goal is to break my brick walls and to get correct information "out there" for others researching our family. I've done a tree at ancestry which did produce "cousins". Unfortunately they are stuck at the same ancestor as I am. There must be someone who knows something we don't know. (Not to mention all the trees copied from each other with people who couldn't possibly be the same family.) I have put my tree on every site I've found so far and they give the ability to contact me. There is an Old published Bailey/McCauley family history book that married my gggrandfather to the wrong McCauley sister. I'd like to get the correct information circulated. The book was self published many many years ago and no longer available to be bought. (thank goodness)

The nitty gritty question among us seems to be print on demand and/or ebook? Or both. How many pages? Include a pedigree report? -Mine run 30 pages- And which site to "sell" it? I don't care about making money. I want information from someone who can help me find my ancestors! I have a DNA match with one person who has settled on a Bailey name but I'd like to see something that shows he is our ancestor. We need more DNA matches and some kind of trail to Benjamin Bailey.

We all know enough about the people we have found to write their stories and I've got a really good start on that. That's how I got the 800 page estimate! What documentation do I need to include and what can I take out? Take out all of it and if someone wants to know how/why I think/know that they can contact me for the documentation? The parts of the story that I have surmised and/or figured out from circumstantial evidence are identified as such.

I have friends/acquaintances who are writers (published by a major house.. as well as self-published and selling more to their mothers than than the public) I also come from a family with a number of genealogists. My first thought in reading this thread is that what you really want are resources for a very specific type of writing that comes out of genealogy. My grandmother wrote many long stories and much longer pieces with the intent of one day compiling them in a book. Her arthritis and a few other health issues kept her from completing that effort before she died but she shared the pieces she did write with her many family connections-- god bless her, she lived to be able to use the internet to more effectively reach the "cousins" across many generations and lines. I think this is very common.

Anyhow, I got a little off track. I think you should be looking at genealogy forums for a mentor/guide/experienced master who also writes.. vs a writers' forum. You might get some limited insight from other types of writers but I don't know that they are going to be able to give you the information you need to get started -- or to set realistic goals and expectations.

If you are hoping to write something with broader appeal-- a biography or a set of stories intended for an audience beyond your family, there are a number of writers groups as well as writers' workshops. You might want to start with the major universities in your area. I know there are a number of major writers retreats and conferences in the upper midwest.

Thanks, Funky. I'm doing like your grandmother. I wrote the stories for my aunt and my cousins but none of them care. I think you've got it; a genealogy forum. That's how this all started, sort of. It was a genealogy software forum that morphed into publishing.

I guess this is really 2 projects. I want to find parents for two of my grandfathers so I need to publish some sort of ahnentafel report. I have read at least a hundred of them looking for these guys. The old handwritten ones don't usually have location or dates so it's much harder to know if it's even the right family. Google books has lots of books on line and I swear I've read them all. Also a lot of really old newspapers. I've read those, too. For the people who lived/died before records had to be kept, newspapers and books are my only hope.

I did put those stories on my ancestry tree and some "cousins" have saved them to their tree but it hasn't produced any useful leads on the grandfathers we're all looking for.

I want a discussion on content and then which publishing company a forum member knows well enough to guide me through setting up the book. All the online publishing sites have directions but they all assume you have done it before. They leave out steps that they know are obvious but that I don't know to do. Years and years ago I was setting up a printer and I could NOT get it to work no matter what I did. Finally got the book out and the first thing it said was, check to be sure your printer is plugged in. Duh. So I checked and after I plugged it in it self installed.

I can't really give you advice as it's nothing that I ever got into too heavily but there are plenty of resources out there. The one thing I will say is, be patient and keep digging. My grandmother was able to trace back many generations but it took her many years.. most of my lifetime (50 yr).

My mother has done some research on my father's side. She was stalled for a very long time before she discovered that my paternal great great grandparents took the name of the british ship captain before they landed at Ellis Island. They were from sweden and wanted a more american sounding name. There are lots of reasons you'll run into road blocks.. but in time you will get through them