Releasing something to the public is a daunting task no matter how you cut it. Things that were as obvious as up & down to you may seem opaque, haphazard or even frivolous to the audience that ends up viewing your work. Years back publishing was seen as something quite prestigious, same as having a nice camera or the know-how to use 3D software. Even so, “publishing” as a concept still retains a certain air of prestige I feel. A level of officiality that isn’t so readily afforded to most others. You’ve passed all the trials leading up to this point, & as such have earned the right to be published.

There’s nothing wrong with having to meet some sort of requirement before earning the right to take part in something. That’s just common sense as to how one can uphold the quality of something, make it exclusive. But established bodies having a monopoly on what gets published & what doesn’t hasn’t been the status quo for decades at this point. Webpages made exclusively during the witches hour, zines written in the waning hours between wake & sleep, blogs only typed up behind a shimmering veil of tears. I guess what I’m trying to convey is that there’s an immeasurable amount of talented people walking this earth. All with incredible things to share, but at the same time, they’re individuals that wouldn’t necessarily thrive in the traditional publishing world. This is where publishing on the web, with the only requirement being an internet connection & having something to share. The world is open to all kinds of new creators with new ideas.

Something I heard once is that a system that elevates a specific kind of talent will no matter what eventually have other equal talents slip through its cracks. Not necessarily something that works 1 to 1 with creative fields, but nonetheless an interesting sentiment.

A few of these are more likely than not sites you’ve already heard of. Sites like Webtoon & Substack are already firmly entrenched within the public's knowledge of online publishing. Some picks are a bit out of left field though I’ll admit.

Royalroad is a platform concerned with hosting all types of writing, mainly webnovels & fanfiction. Truth be told I haven't taken too much time to browse their selection of popular works but the one I have read, Delve, was extremely enjoyable. Recommend looking through if you’re hankering for something totally out of left field, at least in my experience.

Other sites like Patreon & Reddit, are featured here more so as a way of highlighting the accessibility of releasing work online. Patreon is of course a more respected or professional platform. But reddit hosts a number of different forums dedicated to hosting various shortform stories.

Mangaplus creators is a website hosted by the shueisha company. Any works uploaded there are entered into their monthly creator contest With the first place winner receiving c.a 780.000isk along with their work being published on the more official section of the mangaplus website alongside popular ongoing series’.

Kind of a contrary idea seeing as a “magazine” is defined as something printed. I think most of these sites realize that fact, that definitionally they are not “magazines”, but that's just semantics really. If one were to ask some Joe Schmoe off the street if a digital magazine counts or not he would probably ignore you as that is just not a question that opens up a lot of dialogue.

The Printed Web, is truthfully more of an archive than a magazine. They do however have a publishing section so at least some of it counts toward this project. The printed web is a collection of different zines, books & things that have been printed. All the links on the site are hosted on google docs which in my opinion lends it a sort of, haphazard charm? A rough quality? All I know is that I like it a lot.

Loop issue no 1, by Walker is an online jazz publication. Streaming revolutionised music distribution, this is a well known fact by now. But was there anyone trying to revolutionize the way people talked about music? Maybe not, but here we have Loop, made with the intent to do just that.

Low-tech Magazine is such a fun idea. I read once that designers these days often work in electronic programs that allow them free reign to use any material in any quantity. In essence the point being made was that these programs only give the illusion of infinite materials, that as soon as the designer steps out into the real world they’ll come to realize that everything is in fact very finite. Low-tech magazine comes & goes with the weather, if it’s sunny in Barcelona, the site is up. If not(or at least not sunny enough), then the site is down. Connecting digital entities to phenomena based in real life is something I’ve always had a soft spot for. This site gives me the same feeling as waking up extra early to catch a pokemon that only appears in the mornings.

RAW Magazine, what I would call the most typical publication on this list. This is of course not meant as an insult. Moreso a statement on how I perceive RAW Magazine I suppose. Using an approach to website design I have only ever seen described as brutalist, RAW magazine has a clear appeal. One of those things where you know if you like it or not with startling immediacy.

These are sites made to host a singular work. Be it comic, webnovel or even a collection of short articles about making articles online. Writing a short blurb for most of these would end up being little more than a summary of that story so the only website that I could really write anything transformative about would be publishsomethingonline.com.

publishsomethingonline.com is in my opinion everything great about web based publishing all in one. It’s a collection of short articles about programming, writing & online publishing. Linking to a bevy of resources & pointing the reader to even more ways to expand their horizons, it’s just a really fun site to read through.

These two belong in the “online magazine” & “Solo publishing ventures” sections respectively, but I just had to differentiate between these two & the rest.

Shortbox Comics Fair is a once a year online comic’s fair held exclusively in the month of october. This means that all comics can only be bought during the month of October. There’s just something about that inconvenience that appeals to me, at least in this context.

17776 is a story told in a way that could only be done digitally. It’s not a particularly long or short read by my estimation & it is well worth your time. Recommend going in blind.