Independent publishing takes many forms. A glossy magazine or a spreadsheet website. A rugged newspapers or an Instagram channel. A podcast, a newsletter, a hand-crafted fanzine. An artist book or chunks of code on a server.

We see independent publishing as a culture rather than a market, driven by collaboration instead of competition. We see communities gather and thrive around written or spoken word. We see real world impact by organizations build around a shared publishing practice. In this sense, it does not matter if you print on paper or post online.

As such, our publications often exist in the realm of the unlikely. They are highly dependent on their creator’s health, motivation, and skill – as well as infrastructure in production and distribution. We want to share best practice in the field and work together on new collaborative ideas to sustain publications. It is always easier not to publish.

From the world of printed matter, we extend Indiecon‘s scope into the quiet, odd and poetic web. To learn from the publishers who populate it and the ones in-between. To share skills between the makers of more or less tangible publications. And to discuss the shared perspectives on building communities, and self-organizing for a common cause.

Indiecon is a joint effort of independent magazine, book, art print, zine, newsletter, podcast and website publishers from all over the world. The three-day publishing festival is based at Hamburg’s Oberhafen, a former freight yard now creative quarter right in the city centre.

Founded in 2014, Indiecon has since developed into a regular platform for an international scene of publishers – and become an annual destination for visitors from media, arts, book trade and the creative industries. In 2024, more than 140 publishers from 60 cities in 30 countries including India, Japan, USA, Ukraine, South Korea, Peru and Taiwan will exhibit their work.

Indiecon is powered by an ever-growning community of independent publishers who participate as organizers, exhibitors, speakers or hosts for workshops and roundtables. It is put together by brueder, a creative cooperative for design, code and content based in Hamburg and Berlin. We have been deeply involved in digital and printed publications for many years. Feel free to get in touch!

Indiecon was founded in 2014 by Urs Spindler, Malte Spindler, Martin Kaumanns, Philipp Gieseler and Malte Brenneisen.