By Maribeth Neelis
When Jeff Bezos bought The Washington Post, we all asked how will this change the world of publishing. But the truth is publishing is already undergoing major transformations, becoming more collaborative and emphasizing quality over quantity, and these websites are leading the way and worth it to check out.
Medium is a publishing platform from the creators of Blogger and Twitter. While it is still figuring itself out, its clean design makes it easy on the eyes. The content is interesting and varied, and readers can comment throughout the articles, creating dialogues with the writer and other visitors, making reading an interactive affair.
Epic Magazine is the brainchild of two fantastic narrative nonfiction writers Joshuah Bearman and Joshua Davis. Currently, they are the only writers, and the site has just a handful of longform stories about all kinds of crazy and true adventures. Think the kind of pieces that are optioned into movies. In fact, Bearman wrote the article that became Argo. And they have big plans for growing this new publishing platform.
Longform recommends new and classic nonfiction and fiction from around the web, which can be read immediately in your browser or saved for later. The site is all about celebrating well reported, longer-form writing. P.S. for any writer-types, they have a great podcast.
Atavist wants to pave the way for the next generation of multimedia storytelling and reach readers on any device. These nonfiction, longform pieces are peppered with audio, video and photographs that give the stories a cinematic feel. They are available for purchase on the site for $2.99.
Buzz Reads, is the longform arm of the website Buzzfeed, famous for bringing funny lists to your Facebook feed. The nonfiction pieces on Buzz Reads are on interesting topics, like searching for sunk treasure in the Great Lakes and python hunting in the Everglades.
What do you like to read online?