How can I, as a hobby author, present my work to a large audience and maintain influential interactions with my readers?

This question posed to me in 1999. The answer was the initiation of my literary platform e-Stories.de on September 14, 1999. From the beginning, I was conscious that the purpose was not to simply replace the book with the screen. My goal was to tap into the endless possibilities that the then-nascent internet offered and to forge a connection between authors and readers. With this, the opportunity arose to publish stories and poems without the necessity of a publishing house, while receiving direct feedback from readers. Never before has an author been this close to their readers.

Authors discover like-minded individuals on the platform and often, friendships and joint projects (books, readings, etc.) emerge from these encounters.

e-Stories.org - The Leap to the Global Stage

In April 2004, I launched my international project e-Stories.org, which initially operated independently, but is now fully integrated into e-Stories.de. This new platform offers you short stories and poems in seven languages. Our authors hail from more than 100 countries and present more than 250,000 poems, short stories and spoken contributions! It's a near-inexhaustible source for lovers of both German and foreign literature.

Our motto is 'Language connects - People and Cultures'. This has become the ethos of e-Stories.org. Our goal is to provide an impartial platform for people of all ages, genders and ethnic backgrounds. Through stories and poems, we aim to share more about different people, their values and cultures, thus building contact, friendship and understanding amongst us all.

Learning Languages with e-Stories.org

Here, you will find exciting texts from all areas of life by native speakers, whether you want to learn German, English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese or Dutch. e-Stories.org provides an exciting and entertaining alternative to the mundanity of vocabulary learning.

My Promise:

The fair treatment of our authors and readers is a matter very dear to my heart. Without our authors and readers, e-Stories.org would not exist, so they hold top priority for us. There are no charges, hidden subscription costs or other pitfalls on e-Stories.org.

Our commitments are:

• Our service is free to both authors and readers. The publication and reading of texts cost nothing.
• Authors retain the copyright to their texts and may at any time request the removal of their texts or profiles.
• We do not share personal information with third parties nor use it for advertising purposes.

I hope you enjoy your time with e-Stories.org!


Joerg Schwab
Founder and Operator of the forum