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One
of the best things about the Web is the sheer volume of journals
and zines available online. John Labovitz's massive e-zine-list is
testimony to this. One area of interest for writers is the popularity
of online small magazines devoted to literature. The small magazine
has traditionally been a home for the developing writer and many
succesful authors were first published in this way. However, the
costs involved in producing even a small circulation magazine
are high. This is where online publishing is increasingly important.
It is now possible to produce, at little expense, a high quality
journal that will be seen by thousands.
Already
there are a lot of interesting publications on the Web and these
can only get more numerous. It is also worth mentioning that you
can easily email the editors and authors of most of these journals
and zines which makes for easier networking. Submitting work to
overseas markets using email is much less hassle than using snail
mail and obviates the need to track down International Reply coupons
too.
Not
all these ezines pay, so if you're only interested in recompense,
read the guidelines for contributors carefully!
Alt-X
This
has the reputation as a first-class Webzine with plenty to read
- most of it challenging and interesting, which is what you'd
expect "where the digerati meet the literati". For example, there
are interviews in the Amerika on-line columns with Ginsberg, Ken
Kesey and Amira Baraka. There are reviews of Kathy Acker, Douglas
Coupland and Jeff Noon as well. Plenty of quality new writing
can be found in the Black Ice section. There is plenty more to
investigate too.
Arts &
Letters Daily
Book
reviews, essays and articles culled from the literary presses
online. This is a daily site and catalogues so much content that
it is probably impossible to read an edition in its entirety.
Visually, it looks like an old-style newspaper, with the first
paragraphs of stories on the web acting as links to the full text.
The ads embedded in the columns are refreshingly unobtrusive.
BBR
Directory
Penetrating
the inner core of the small press and seeing what is available
for writers and readers is often difficult. For SF, fantasy and
horror fans and authors it's easier than most with the online
version of Chris Reed's BBR directory. Originally a feature of
Back Brain Recluse magazine, it has been online since 1997.
Weekly updates on news, e-zines, awards, and magazine and story
collections received are posted on the site. Information is also
available by email and in print. Although based in the UK, it
is not limited by geography. An excellent starting point for exploring
the diversity of the small press scene.
BeeHive
Started
in Spring 1998, this hypertext literary journal is academic and
theoretical without being shy of commercialism. There's critical
theory, poetry and fiction too. Encouragingly, it makes innovative
use of Javascript (which didn't once crash my machine). Recommended
highly.
Born
An
interesting online publication that is as concerned with design
as much as with literature - specifically, how the Web allows
creativity to become multi-tasked and multi-threaded. Load your
flash plug-ins and get ready to respond (no room for passivity
here, that's the province of tv land). The update schedule is
bi-monthly at present.
The Bridge
Review: Merrimack Valley Culture
This
magazine is just one part of Lowell: The Flowering City
an impressive multi-media environmental initiative based in Lowell,
Massachusetts. The larger Web site is an interdisciplinary community
forum that centres on a 25-year plan to build the city. s environment.
The magazine, addressing "the environment; bioregionalism; cultural
heritage, and the interwoven concepts of place, nature, and culture",
is open to submissions from authors, poets or artists whose work
relates to the Merrimack Valley. The Bridge Review: Merrimack
Valley Culture.
cauldron
& net
A journal of the arts & new media. The graphic design on this
one is among my favourites. A lot of the contributors frequent
the Webartery net-art
mailing list.
Computers
And Texts
Computers
And Texts, sponsored by the Oxford Text Archive, was an online
journals edited and published by the CTI Centre for Textual Studies.
Its last publication was issue 18/19, Spring 2000, which carried
Evolving Practice: Writers Working Online with trAce -
an overview of the development of this innovative project by its
director, Sue Thomas. The archive is still of interest.
Contentious
In
the creative buzz generated by and about the Web, it's amazing
how often writers are eclipsed by the so-called stars of the HTML
firmament - designers, coders, those who can make Java do something
other than crash your computer... This monthly US Webzine, aimed
at those who write the words that fill cyberspace, sets out to
redress the balance. It's about the issues facing writers who
are adapting to the new medium - such as honing necessary skills,
electronic copyright, getting paid, contracts, networking. There
is also an associated Online-Writing mailing list which pulled
in 500 subscribers in its first week. Looks like a good community
to get involved with.
The Cortland
Review
Recent
Real Video poetry readings viewable with the Real Player G2 are
online at The Cortland Review. They're part of the ongoing schedule
of this online audio literary magazine specialising in Real Audio.
Audio interviews are part of the package, and as well as looking
at CD audio and music releases, it has links to some interesting
archives sound files, including the likes of Seamus Heaney and
Robert Creeley.
Crash
Media
Welcome
signs of a professional split personality here. Crash Media, based
in Salford and London, is a bi-monthly tabloid newspaper and an
online publication too - for and by its readers. Encouragingly
it's not interested in reproducing its paper-based version verbatim
online, instead it is actively exploring the medium of the Web.
Media activism, electronic disobedience, music and literature
(including hypertext) are some of the things it carries.
If you crave lively discussion threads and a "low-interference
editorial policy", try this one out.
Cybering
A
fascinating new ezine with a focus on mediated relationships and
communities is worth checking out by anyone with an interest in
how being online changes or confirms life style and choices. Submissions,
from rants to "hauntingly wrought prose" covering topics from
online gaming to webcams and subcultures are being sought. The
first articles online covered notions of virtual geography on
the net and virtual identity.
Duct Tape
Press
Everything
you'd expect from an e-zine, and then some. It comes as no surprise
to find literary links, fiction and poetry, but drama and non-fiction
are also on this site and they're looking for screenplay submissions
too. The opportunity to review submissions online makes for some
interesting debate about whether the pieces are as close to the
cutting edge of writing on the Web as the zine claims - "We particularly
welcome writing that is formally and/or thematically challenging
and unconventional" their guidelines say. If you have original
online writing on your own Web pages and are interested in joining
a Web ring to share your work with others, there's a form to enable
that.
ducts
Ducts
is a quarterly Webzine that encompasses art, literature, humour
and criticism. The frames-based design is strong and the content
far from one-dimensional. Literally in the case of multimedia,
which is something the editors are keen to include more of.
Empire:ZINE
This
monthly zine, which is especially strong on biographies, profiles
and links, covers all sorts of literary forms and styles from
traditional novels to poetry. It's well laid out and authoritative
(there are even footnotes to make the academic feel at home) in
a print-style sort of way. It is definitely not staid, however.
Event Horizon
When
Omni online went terminally offline, the award-winning fiction
editor Ellen Datlow gathered her team and became involved with
this project instead. Leading edge fiction is part of the mix
in the webzine, along with columns designed to provoke a reaction.
Suspended active publication at the end of 1999 but still good
reading
FEED Magazine
Coverage
of hi-tech and the arts is prominent on Feed with news reports
on events such as the Flash Film Festival where Web animation
meets Hollywood, journalism and ethics, Stephen King and e-publication
etc. Plenty of essays too on a wide variety of subjects, from
hypertext to the impact of thirty years of feminism, and the Microsoft
anti-trust trial to postmodern fiction.
geekgirl
Geekgirl,
the world's first cyberfem webzine, is consistently challenging,
stimulating and downright good fun. Not
only aesthetically pleasing, but just as informative as anything
thrown up by MacOS, Unix or Windows.
Grist
Although
the main page interface is a triumph of design over content, it's
worth checking out every active link your mouse can find. There's
a lot of modern poetry to be found here plus some criticism and
essays.
Hackwriters
Hacks
writing for free is a strange concept, but Hackwriters doesn't
pay contributors. Then again it doesn't charge its readers either.
There is a healthy catalogue of work in the archives ranging from
fiction and travel writing to essays. All topics are up for discussion
in this forum with the rider that they have to be analytical or
questioning and not be sexist, racist or so forth. Submissions
are welcomed.
Ixion
An
online art and literary magazine featuring novel extracts, short
stores, non-fiction and artwork. The subject matter is eclectic
and the standards are high. Back issues are indexed on site.
Jacket
Jacket
is a free Internet-only literary magazine which is published from
Sydney Australia by John Tranter.
Jagged
"We
are aimed at a crowd craving content a little off the mainstream,"
says the developer of this online magazine. No reason for them
not to get it either. Jagged looks at contemporary culture via
entry points such as books, films, music, sex, travel and technology
- which covers most bases. Literary people might want to check
out Robert Towell's exploration of the fate of the writer in the
21st century: "Wu-Tang Killed The Poetry Star". The magazine has
a cleanly designed interface with articles that are thought provoking
and archived via an easy to use search facility.
Journal of Computer-Mediated
Communication
JCMC
is a quarterly journal of new media that's been on the Web Since
June, 1995. Previously it has looked at topics such as Network
and Netplay, Electronic Performance, Virtual Organisations and
Collaborative Universities, Online Journalism, electronic commerce
Kairos
This
specialised journal sets out to provide a forum for teachers and
tutors of all sorts of writing disciplines at university level.
It aims to incorporate the traditional practice of juried academic
publication with a wholesale adoption of the metaphysics of hypertext.
There is an extensive and fascinating FAQ about the rationale
and methodologies employed. And then there's the journal itself
covering issues as diverse as video conferencing, design, and
performance and the Web. Anyone with an interest in education,
writing and the Web should investigate further.
Lexikon
Publishing
Fiction
and poetry are the key to this UK-produced zine. It's available
in print, on disk and in audio cassette format as well as in PDF
and HTML formats online. It isn't free, but subscriptions start
at only £4. Throughout 2000, it intends to showcase new writing,
with particular emphasis on work by writers who are women, members
of ethnic minorities, and gay or lesbian. The design is graphically
clean, but there are some disconcerting roll-over effects on the
navigation sidebar which might send you scurrying to get your
glasses prescription checked. As well as a vehicle for writing,
the site also contains resources for writers, such as a small-press
database, literary festival calendar, book reviews etc.
Literary
Kicks
The
zine with beatitude. Basically loads of material on all things
beat. Ginsberg, Ferlinghetti, Snyder, Corso, McClure, Kerouac
etc. Also articles on related films, Buddhism and latter day beats.
It's well presented with good photos.
Masthead
"Masthead
is a manifestation of a hope in possibility. It has been made
in the certainty that it is better to speak, no matter how futile
that speaking might be, than to suffer the complicity of silence."
Noble sentiments and a noble venture into the bargain. In Australia
and New York you can pick up print copies. Back issues are archived
online - fiction by Alison Croggon, poetry by Les Murray, plus
drama, activism and an interview with German avant-garde composer
Mauricio Kagel.
OnCue
From
Ohio, USA, comes this online magazine. A home for poetry, fiction,
creative non-fiction, essays and anything else with a literary
flavour. It carries original work as well as reviews and is not
overly concerned with length. They say they're even willing to
consider posting novels. It's worth seeing if your tastes mesh
with the editor's.
Pif Magazine
Pif
is a monthly literary ezine that runs fiction, comment, poetry
and reviews. Often it runs theme issues (issue 24 was devoted
to humour), and advertises the fact beforehand so that contributors
can get ahead of the game. The variety of voices is strong and
varied, the focus is wide - too covering graphics, movies and
music as well as the written word. It hosts Pilot-Search - a useful
literary search engine incorporating a directory structure. Categories
include: anthologies, awards, online writing, literary agents,
writing retreats, journalism and so forth. It also collates book
reviews from a variety of sources such as Salon, New York Times,
etc.
Pitch '99
1999
brought a change in name from Anatomy to Pitch for the annual
anthology of new writing edited by students on the MA in Writing
at Nottingham Trent University. There was a change in the print
format too, from A4 to A5. The content is as strong as ever, though.
An exclusive interview with Iain Banks, an extract from Graham
Joyce's new novel Indigo and Mahendra Solanki talking about writing
and MA courses are backed up by poetry, fiction and non-fiction,
largely contributed by MA students. 1998's magazine, on the theme
of unsuitable
behaviour is still online.
Proof
Published three times a year, Sheffield Hallam university
staff and students are prominent in this zine, but contributions
are accepted from a wider audience. Submissions are judged by
a committee. Poetry, prose and multimedia all feature.
RealTime
Australian National Arts Online
Real
Time is an Australian print journal dedicated to the arts and
performance. It also has an online presence. It's exhaustive in
scope and will appeal to artists working in any number of fields.
There's a regular slot looking at writing and the Web. In issue
29, there's a review of trAce's Noon Quilt project. There is also
an account of the interplay between text and art in the context
of online video gaming based on Alex Hutchinson playing Ultima
Underworld in a rather more reflective frame of mind than is usual
for gamers. He draws parallels between online games and MOOing,
arguing that "Hypermedia should give the user a new way of interacting,
not merely a new way of reading."
Riding
The Meridian
A 'zine edited by Jennifer Ley, which features the net-lit-art
world. Leading-edge net-art and writing with valuable critique
and essays. Not accepting new submissions until 2002.
Rivative
Derivative
used to be a print zine in New York, Rivative is the online successor.
It's difficult to pin a label on it in terms of content. "Literary
and animated excursions for your amusement" is its own strap line
- which seems to sum up its fiction and artwork quite well.
Salon Magazine
Salon
has earned itself a high-brow reputation, with columnists such
as Garrison Keiler and Camille Paglia sounding off on not always
high-brow subjects. It has plenty of material on books, reviews
and literary news with some rich archives, especially of interviews
with prize-winning authors.
Salt Hill
A
well-designed and easy-to-navigate online version of a literary
journal that's strong on fiction, reviews, poetry and hypertext.
The pages are pleasantly unfussy yet elegant, the content meaty.
Several competitions, including poetry, fiction and hypertext.
*spark-online
This
is a useful Webzine to check out and will probably find its way
onto quite a few bookmark lists. Its rationale is to discuss anything
related to electronic communications: all aspects of digital culture
from the sale of human eggs online to what it means when we let
storytellers into our home via the medium of digital TV. This
is the sort of forum that could become more and more important
to keep up on as the Internet is poised to move sideways from
being a computer-based medium to one accessed through all sorts
of digital devices. The tone is accessible and submissions are
asked for.
Stirring:
A Literary Collection
A
monthly that specialises in newer writers. Short stories, poetry
and play scripts are published - traditional and experimental
work share Web space. It's not a paying market, but it does offer
free critiques of work. Contests, writing and photography, are
another feature that might make it a site worth visiting.
Switch
The
new media art journal of the Cadre Institute of the School of
Art and Design at San Jose University aims to encourage critical
dialogue about art and the impact of technology on emerging art
forms. The political and cultural stance it champions is well
illustrated by the interview in issue 12 with a member of the
anarchic etoys art activist group that was dragged into a court
case in 1999 by the eToys outfit. The interview is couched in
terms of "the struggle of the rhizomatic, decentralized Internet
community vs. the overwhelming forces of e-commerce that have
taken the net by storm". The design will prove over-fussy to casual
surfers who want to navigate the archives quickly.
Telepolis
Telepolis
is an e-zine on Net culture, electronic art and music, and contemporary
criticism. It is based in Berlin and London. It has been going
for afew years and has redesigned itself to streamline access
to its data - no animated gifs, no frames. The content is all
and it is impressive too.
Web Del Sol
Certainly
one of the finest literary sites on the web at the moment. There's
always plenty of interesting material here and heaps of links
to other quality sites. Including New Media site i-newmedia.org
The
Writers' Mirror
This
UK-based Webzine for writers should be of interest to traditional
print-based writers - those who are likely to subscribe to publications
such as Writers News or Writer's Market.Not updated since 2000.
Writers Write
If
you are going to have a one-stop resource for writers on the Web,
it has to be a large one. Writers Write is large, and its range
is wide. Apart from how-to articles in fields as disparate as
songwriting and technical writing, it has links to book reviews,
interviews, e-commerce sites, writers' homepages, conferences
and lists of paying markets. The focus is on writing as a commercial
activity, and the information in that regard is useful, but it
could be even more so. The initial lists are of market titles
only, and they are not always self-explanatory, so if you don't
want to miss a possible lead, you could end up clicking on everything
in sight - which can prove time-consuming. On a site as ambitious
as this, the chances are high that something of interest regarding
writing for print or ezines will be found.
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