An Ezine is similar to an online magazine. Online Magazines share some of the features that come with blogs and online newspapers, but they can usually be distinguished by their writing approach towards editorial control. Magazines typically have editors or editorial boards that review the submissions and perform quality control functions in order to ensure that all the material involved meets the expectations of the publishers and the readers. Online Magazines that are part of the World Wide Web (all, or part of a web site) are often called webzines. Ezine is a more specialised term, and is mainly applied to small magazines and newsletters that are often distributed by any electronic methods, such as email. Some social groups may use the terms cyberzine and hyperzine when referring to electronically distributed resources. Similarly, some online magazines may refer to themselves as “electronic magazines” to reflect their readership demographics, and more importantly to capture alternative terms and spellings in online searches. Online magazines representing matters of interest to specialists in or societies for academic subjects, science, trade or industry are typically referred to as online journals.

Business Model

Many general interest Ezines will provide completely free access to their online content, allowing users to browse for free, some sites, however, will sometimes charge a subscription fee in order to access some of the premium functions or content that the website offers. In order to do this, Ezines may generate their main income based on targeted search ads towards their website visitors, such as banner ads, affiliations to retail websites, or classified advertisements. The original Ezines, Online Magazines and disk magazines, due to their low cost and initial non-mainstream targets, may be seen as disruptive technology to traditional publishing houses. Often, the high cost of print publication, and the large web readership that currently exists, writers have been encouraged to embrace the internet, and take their work to be published online.

The Growth of Ezines

In the late 1990s, Ezine publishers began to adapt to the interactive qualities of the Internet as opposed to duplicating magazines on the web. Publishers of traditional print titles and entrepreneurs with an eye to a potential readership in the millions started publishing online titles. In the 2000s, some webzines began appearing in a printed format to complement their online versions.

Ezine Conferences

Between 1998 and 2005, a series of webzine-focused conferences in San Francisco and New York brought together independent personal online publishers in order to share their experiences of the Ezine world. After a short break, Filmakers Ryan Junell and Eddie Codel organized the return of the Webzine conference to the Bay Area, it took place over 2 days and consisted of 3 main areas: speakers and panel discussions, workshops and a self-organizing area called the Master’s Lounge. Today there are many conferences that address online magazine publishing from a variety of perspectives.