Read some interesting topics over the past couple of days that mentioned the rise of serial fiction, shorter pieces of fiction with an overarching plot posted on blogs, or publishers like Amazon. It basically works like serial TV shows, where each episode has its own contained plot, but there are also larger storylines that cross into each episode, sometimes playing behind the scenes, sometimes taking front stage.
Funny enough, I looked into doing this with a friend of mine a couple of years ago, but we abandoned it for various reasons. It was a post-apocalyptic tale of a man on the run, chased by a skilled hunter, told from both angles. I thought it was an intriguing idea, and the story came back to me when I read about the recent rise of serial fiction.
Looking back, I wish now that maybe I had kept it going. The question I have is: does it work? Do enough readers like that format to make it worth the effort, or is it best to stick to what works?
I’d love to hear anyone’s thoughts on this!
I’ve actively resisted the serialized novels on Amazon. It just feels gimmicky and unnecessary. I know a handful of authors have seen some success in serializing their work as audio: Mur Lafferty and Scott Siegler come to mind, and there’s a new one I’m just dipping my toes into called Tincture (at TinctureStory.com). But in all of those cases, it’s been audio/written content that was released for free as a serial but then sold as a single volume.
An interesting hybrid might be the Dead Man series, which are stand-alone novellettes in the same world (they might have some over-arching story arc). I don’t know how successful they’ve been, but they keep making more of them.
The one I know the best is Hugh Howey’s Wool, which started out as a short story, but lead to more attached to it until he basically released it as a full-blown novel. He’s doing another series in much the same way.
I don’t know that I’d call it gimmicky, not necessarily. Twenty years ago the idea of a novel that was over 1,000 pages long might’ve been called gimmicky.
Maybe it’s just another sign of the publishing world changing.
Hey, by the way, I like your new picture.
In regards to serialization being gimmicky, I think it is how you approach it. It you offer them at a lower price point, then I don’t feel folks feel cheated or that you are teasing them along. If they don’t like it, they’ve only invested a small amount (say a dollar or so) and can move on. But if they do like it, then can wait until you are finished and get all at once. I guess it is about offering value for their money. As long as they feel they are getting a good story for their money, I think anything works.
Thanks for your comment, Nila. I guess it’s just a matter of pricing the content to match the quality and length, which is really the same with anything. You don’t want to rip off readers, or they won’t come back, but you don’t want to give everything away, or you’ve no chance at making any sort of living by writing the series. If that’s the goal, which it definitely is in my case.
And thanks for the kind words, I thought it was about time to look halfway professional, even though I’m not even close yet. Small steps and all.