Preprints and preprint servers have been proven to revolutionise and disrupt the standard approaches to scholarly publishing in many disciplines. Yet, the concept of preprints is new to many researchers in Earth Sciences. In this townhall we will introduce the general concepts of preprints and preprint servers and their benefits for the researcher, illustrating this with a demonstration of EarthArXiv, a community-led preprint server. The general introduction will be followed by an interactive discussion on preprints, the exchange of experiences and an outlook to the future of publishing.