Anybody have favorite internet-only author(s)?

October 25, 2006 2:49 PM

Anybody have favorite internet-only author(s)?

I'm considering sticking some of my seemingly unpublishable material up on the internet, but before I do, I want to look over similiar sites.

I'm interested in free, good fiction that's only be released on the internet (or has made the leap from the internet to print, I suppose.)

Thanks.

posted by Football Bat to Media & Arts (15 answers total)

Does Tucker Max count?

The terms "favorite" and "seemingly unpublishable" immediately churned out his name/website in my head. He has printed a couple books, I believe, with the genesis of it being his (large) internet following.

Note: According to Tucker, his stories are non-fiction. I haven't read his books, so I can't vouch for whether they are completely non-fiction.
posted by littlelebowskiurbanachiever at 3:02 PM on October 25, 2006

Ditto Tucker Max, although I don't believe it's fiction. Adding on Maddox and Paul Graham, both of whom are also nonfiction.

(The only awesome online fiction I can think of would be webcomics, but that's not really what you're looking for.)
posted by limeonaire at 3:26 PM on October 25, 2006

Jorn Barger


(btw, is he travelling or smth ? it's been awfully quiet lately on his main blog)
posted by Substrata at 3:28 PM on October 25, 2006

sorry, missed the fiction part, although i like Jorn's musings
posted by Substrata at 3:29 PM on October 25, 2006

Kevin Fanning's mostly internet only. Paul Ford's another favorite, though he hasn't been internet only fo years.
posted by Zosia Blue at 4:02 PM on October 25, 2006

Kevin Fanning is awesome. I'm also a big fan of Michael Van Vleet.
posted by hot soup girl at 4:22 PM on October 25, 2006

I third Kevin Fanning.

I also am a Michael Barrish fan.
posted by pedantic at 5:12 PM on October 25, 2006

Never heard of any of these folks. Thanks for the links!
posted by dobbs at 5:34 PM on October 25, 2006

Justin Hall.
posted by jayder at 6:08 PM on October 25, 2006

Michael Barrish's site has lain fallow for some time; he's only recently started updating again, to my great joy. I recommend checking out the archives and his stories (The Letter is one of my favourites).

What I love most about Barrish is the way he conflates fact and fiction; his site appears on first glance to be a straightforward (if unusually eloquent), personal diary-style blog - when in fact he often takes a little bit of truth and turns it inside-out, or weaves it into a fictional tale. Here's an example of a blog post that appeared plausible, but was in fact completely made up. I also suspect a number of his posts are based on dreams. He is ace.
posted by hot soup girl at 6:28 PM on October 25, 2006

Best answer: Joshua Allen's been writing his peculiar novel, Chokeville, online for ages now. It's a bit dense for my tastes, but I used to enjoy his old site, Fireland; hopefully it's due for a resurrection.
posted by hot soup girl at 6:39 PM on October 25, 2006

Cory Doctorow.. made the leap to print after making his name on the internet. Most of his work is released under a Creative Commons Licence.
posted by TheOtherGuy at 8:22 PM on October 25, 2006

Oh yeah, I just thought of another classic: the gleefully meanspirited and inimitable Girls Are Pretty, by Bob Powers. I think there might have been a book at one point, but if there was, it came from the website.
posted by hot soup girl at 9:58 AM on October 26, 2006

Waiter Rant
posted by growabrain at 8:58 PM on October 26, 2006

Response by poster: Everybody: thanks.
posted by Football Bat at 10:34 PM on October 26, 2006