04 July 2026

NIEMANDSLAND began as a response to failure and frustration. Before the project existed, I published a book and built a website on Wix. Neither of them really helped me move forward. Eventually, I took the website offline. Months passed, and the book's sales remained modest.
At the same time, I was very active on Threads. I hoped to find readers there, but that proved much more difficult than I had expected. Eventually, I stopped posting.
The idea for NIEMANDSLAND came almost by accident. I was looking for a way to create something of my own with very little money and as few resources as possible. I went through my existing texts, searching for a theme that connected them. Work became the obvious starting point. I gathered stories about factories, night shifts, and working life, and published them together as the first issue.
Now I had my first magazin, but still no readership.
So I started looking for ways to reach people online. I was already familiar with the Internet Archive, so I created an account and uploaded the first issue. I knew only a few people would discover it there, but as a place for preservation and free access, it felt like the right decision.
After that, I moved to Reddit and searched for communities that might appreciate independent publishing. r/zines turned out to be exactly what I was looking for. I shared the magazine there and waited for the first readers and comments. I knew that building an audience would take time, so I began working on the second issue while I waited.
The name NIEMANDSLAND is inspired by the title of my first book. To me, "no man's land" is not a geographical place but a state of being, one experienced by many of the characters in my writing.
After becoming active on Reddit, I also looked for a better solution for my website. Neocities turned out to be the perfect platform. Since I had already learned HTML in school, building the archive was straightforward.
NIEMANDSLAND grew out of a desire for independence. Independence from expensive commercial platforms and traditional publishing houses. It is a project built on simplicity, free access, and the belief that literature can exist outside conventional structures.
Today, NIEMANDSLAND is an independent literary archive and magazine dedicated to experimental prose, essays, and visual work. Every issue is freely accessible.
I am proud of what I have created, and I hope NIEMANDSLAND will continue to reach and inspire readers for many years and decades to come.