As a long time zine collector, I agree with Pansity and her plug for fanzines. I'd like to recommend another that I've been meaning to reread. Dale Clark's
Resolutions in Time is a great novel. [spoiler]For those who loved the 1840 storyline and thought Judah Zachary was a chilling villain, you're in for a treat.[/spoiler]
I do wwish to defend online fanfic though. I've read some good stories here, and they were free. I've been burned a few times with incredibly poor material bought via snail mail. I won't give specific titles. Natural selection has probably made them extinct any way.
There is one novel I was reading online before it was abruplty yanked off of the net. I decided to see if it, by chance it may have made its way back. I'm gratified to see that it has. I've now saved the entire story as a Word file and plan to read it this summer. Here's the link
http://www.readersclubs.com/darkred/ Bear in mind
I never finished it, so I can't speak for the resolution. What I did read have a lot of promise. Besides, it's free; what is there to lose?
I've had several conversations both by phone and email in which I was encouraged to send my fanzine out via snail mail. The unspoken assumption seemed to be that an e-dcoument does not have the same value as a printed, paper book. To which I counter, fine. Do what I do, print it up. You can take it to KINKOS, as I have done, and print it for much less than it would cost me to do it, charge you for it, pay for two return SASEs, ship it to you, insure it, and then pay for lost copies. In the end I believe that we should take pride in what we produce. I've seen poorly written stories online. There are also serials start out with promise but are never completed. I make it a policy to never read a serial until the final chapter is in my hands. That mandate is mirrored in "The Collins Mausoleum". I also have to say that I have a few serials on my fanzine shelf that are unresolved too.
I'm firmly in both camps. If I hear about a fantastic zine, I'll rush to the PO and send out a check. I also love to read decent fiction online. Here's a final link. I sent out the outdated location for Jean Graham's fiction before AOL Hometown disappeared. Jean is a wonderful writer who's published her stuff in many zines. Most, if not all of these stories were
originally printed in various publications. They are available now, free of charge.
http://jeangraham.150m.com/