Publishing a book directly on the Internet

Question

I want the last two books I've written to exist only as Internet links (as php files)—no registration, no printed text, just links—follow the link and start reading for free. But here's the problem. None of the known book sites, such as Amazon and GoodReads, allow access without registration. They also don't seem to allow posting a direct link to a book, rather than having it as a pdf or already printed. On the other hand, I feel very uncomfortable posting links to my books as posts in discussions on Twitter (I don't use Facebook and would like to keep it that way) or on forums, literary or non-literary, their registration requirements notwithstanding. I also tried other avenues, to no avail. I wrote to the local branch of the New York Public Library—the manager didn't respond to my email. Has anyone had any experience with this type of publication, completely free and directly accessible on the Internet?

Answer 1

You can set up your own website or create a blog on sites like Tumblr, Blogger, or Wordpress and publish your stories there. Many writers have done so. The problem is that you'll need to do some kind of marketing to draw readers there.

There are also websites that are dedicated to publishing stories, such as Wattpad, Royal Road, or Scribble Hub. There's a community of readers and writers there and there is some likelihood that your stories will be discovered by some readers without any marketing on your part. Some of these sites have a certain focus, e.g. Literotica is dedicated to erotic stories and Archive of Our Own is for fanfiction, so you'll have to find out which one befits your own stories.

There are also forums like Reddit that allow publishing stories.

Answer 2

There's a report by the American Psychological Association on race and intelligence that nobody will link to because it establishes something with rigorous dry science that people don't like. Discussion of it online is literally suppressed. So I posted it on Dropbox so nobody can delete it.

You can't sell paid stuff that way, though.