The Vandal Press Manifesto

A Publishing House for the Blockchain Age

Traditional publishers are in decline. They beg us to subscribe, plaster ads all over their content, and dress up other ads as content. They prey on our anger, sell our data, track our movements, and hire consultants to think up other desperate ways to monetize their increasingly risk-averse offerings. All this and they still struggle to make a profit. They have been in denial about something for over a decade, something they will soon have no choice but to admit. The ad-based model inherent to the current internet simply cannot support quality writing.

The ad-based model was a central fixture of Web 2.0, implemented by establishment publishers (publishing houses like Penguin and media companies like Vice) who never figured out a reliable way to charge a fair price for good written content online. Vandal Press is a new kind of publishing house built on Web 3 technologies. We distribute our writers’ work solely through decentralized and/or distributed platforms that allow for peer-to-peer micropayments directly between writers and readers. We are not a tech company; the platforms have already been built. We are a publishing house for the blockchain age, one that utilizes the most cutting edge distribution technology in existence. The Church used the printing press. Penguin used bookstores, then Amazon…