Beyond Dickens: Trends and Tech in Serial Fiction
By Jane Friedman | February 24, 2014 |
By Thomas Hawk / via Flickr
Note from Jane: This piece first appeared in the January 2014 issue of Scratch, a digital magazine about writing and money. I am delighted to run it here at Writer Unboxed, where it can be publicly discussed and shared.
Two commenters on this post were randomly selected to receive a free annual subscription to Scratch, starting with the first issue. They are Felipe Adan Lerma and Marcy McKay. Congratulations!
In September 2011, I received an e-mail from Sean Platt, who requested a meeting to ask for publishing advice. I had never heard of him, but he had significant experience in online marketing and copywriting, and I agreed to meet with him.
At Coffee Emporium in downtown Cincinnati, Platt showed me his unpublished children’s verse, which he was passionate about, but had a low chance of commercial success. Then he outlined a highly strategic plan to self-publish a continuing story in episodes and seasons, like a TV show, that would build suspense with a fast-paced thriller plot and cliffhangers at the end of every “episode.”
What he was describing was a serial. At the time, serials were most often found on the edges of the traditional book publishing industry, at fan-fiction sites and other niche communities. They were also primarily written and given away for free. I advised him on what I knew about self-publishing, but the serial aspect I privately had doubts about.
However, Platt struck me as a high-energy, creative person who was going to do well with or without my advice. He had all the qualities of a shrewd entrepreneur, which later resulted in me inviting him to guest lecture at my university classes. The students hung on his every word because he spoke with enthusiasm and without bullshit.
Inspired by his project, I researched and wrote a piece on serial fiction for Publishing Perspectives in December 2011. Platt’s project, which had launched by that time, was mentioned, along with a few start-ups and the over-reliance of publishing types on the example of Charles Dickens as the ideal serial author.
[pullquote] What first struck me as a fringe activity in 2011 is starting to look more like a potential driver of author discoverability, as well as how we consume stories. [/pullquote]
Since that article (and certainly since the Victorian era!), a lot has happened. Amazon has gotten into the game, and new services like Wattpad are affecting on how writers and readers interact, with participation from mainstream and niche authors alike. What first struck me as a fringe activity in 2011 is starting to look more like a potential driver of author discoverability, as well as how we consume stories. It’s time to take a fresh look at the form of serials: what’s happening with the trend, how authors are using serial publishing services, and why it matters to the future of publishing.
What’s a Serial?
For purists, a serial is a work that the author writes in progress, releases on a specific schedule or deadline (close to the time when the writing gets done), and is produced without a preconceived middle or ending. Such serials often involve reader engagement and may incorporate reader feedback that helps the author mold the story along the way. Bestselling science-fiction author John Scalzi launched his career on a serial, Old Man’s War, and of course everybody knows and even loves shows like All My Children. The soap opera is classic serial storytelling.
Based on that classic definition, what Platt was writing was not a serial, but serialized fiction: a completed work that is published in segments.
However, that doesn’t necessarily preclude authors of serialized fiction (or completed novels, for that matter) from using reader feedback to modify or continue a story. Hugh Howey, known for his blockbuster success in self-publishing his sci-fi novella, Wool, received so much reader demand for continuation that he added more segments to the story over a series of months. In other words, he wrote a serial.
Here’s the thing: “Pure” serials are tough to make money on right away. Today’s authors don’t exactly have a burgeoning market of periodicals willing to pay a meaningful wage for such work. Instead, most writers do it for free, then make money by selling compilations, asking for donations, or building an audience large enough to catch the attention of an agent or a publisher, as in the case of 50 Shades of Grey, which started out as a fan-fiction serial.
[pullquote]Serialized fiction can present an immediate opportunity to profit if an author has the right platform for sales and distribution, which brings us, perhaps inevitably, to Amazon.[/pullquote]
This type of slow-build serial business model—if you can call it one—isn’t appealing to online entrepreneurs like Platt, who seek to make a living right away and can’t wait a year or more, writing a work in progress, hoping for a payday. But serialized fiction can present an immediate opportunity to profit if an author has the right platform for sales and distribution, which brings us, perhaps inevitably, to Amazon.
The Challenge Facing Serial Writers and Startups
There are two ways Amazon enters into the serials discussion:
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Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP): This is the self-publishing platform authors use to publish and sell their e-books, whether or not they’re produced and marketed as serialized fiction.
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Kindle Serials: Launched in the fall of 2012, Kindle Serials is run by Amazon Publishing. Readers who buy a serial while it’s in progress pay $1.99 up front and receive all new installments—usually eight total—for that price. After the serialization is complete, the completed work is sold at a higher price; $3.99 is common as of this writing.
The Kindle Serials platform—and the Amazon e-book retail platform in general—offers a functionality, convenience, and delivery mechanism that’s difficult to find elsewhere, especially for authors (and publishers) who want to monetize digital fiction and reach a mass audience of digital readers without launching a major website or developing an app. Of course, Amazon also comes with the usual downsides of that particular monolith: total control over their terms and products, opaque analytics, and business goals that can be at odds with those of authors and publishers.
Take publishing start-up Plympton, launched in fall 2012, which focuses on publishing serials of literary and classic literature. They partnered with Kindle Serials for distribution of their first three titles, but haven’t released any serials since then, and don’t plan to continue working with Kindle Serials.
As Plympton founder Yael Goldstein Love told me, “The direction they were going is they wanted their titles to be Amazon Publishing titles, not from other publishers. They were a little more of a drugstore [mass-market] book than we were.” Once Plympton realized it wasn’t an ideal fit, Love says that slowed them down, because there wasn’t another immediate way to serialize. “Just having lots of little e-books isn’t very elegant and doesn’t take advantage of the form. We’ve been experimenting with various things. We’re building an app to get the right platform for serialization. A lot of other people are running up against the same problem.”
For better or worse, lots of little e-books is exactly the path that Platt started out with—in collaboration with his writing partners—using Amazon KDP to drive sales and discoverability.
In fall 2011, Platt released the first “season” of Yesterday’s Gone in six e-book installments, each costing $1.99. However, over the last two years, his approach has evolved. Platt told me, “I always felt from the start that we were delivering a broken experience. [The serial] really shouldn’t be in e-book form, they should be an app. You pay for it once on the front end and you get automatic updates.”
[pullquote]”The serial really shouldn’t be in e-book form, they should be an app. You pay for it once on the front end and you get automatic updates.”[/pullquote]
This, of course, is the exact functionality of the Kindle Serials program, and Platt has partnered with Amazon Publishing on two serials, Z2134 and Monstrous. For the serials that he still publishes independently, Platt now releases each season as one complete e-book file, rather than dividing it into episodes. (The season is still split up into episodes for narrative purposes.)
The logic to Platt’s practice of, effectively, de-serializing his serials, is reader convenience, but it’s also good business sense. “If we want to charge $6 for our season, the smart thing is waiting until we’re done and releasing it. Doing it both ways was crippling us; you are sending attention to two different places. You have half the people buying one product, and half the people buying the other product, and you’re not getting the [Amazon] rank you need to.” Furthermore, by releasing the entire series as one product at a higher price point, Platt and his partners stand to earn more money. Amazon KDP pays 70 percent on e-books priced between $2.99 and $9.99, and 35 percent on everything outside that range—making low-priced shorter works less profitable.
The Kindle Serials Experience
Amazon released about 50 Kindle Serials in 2013 and plans to publish more in 2014. Most are genre fiction in the mystery/thriller, science fiction & fantasy, and romance categories. When considering what projects to publish in serial form, Jeff Belle, vice president of Amazon Publishing, told me they look for the “true” serial. Books that have already been written and are just released on a chapter-by-chapter basis don’t work for them. With an ideal serial, Belle said, “You’re talking about working with an author who wants to create content essentially in real time, weekly or every other week, and engage an audience who is responding—who know they are involved in that creative process.” When looking at the long-term success of the program, Belle says that’s the component they will continue to improve and invest in—making it easier and easier for readers to become more engaged in the book.
One of Amazon’s most successful serial projects has been Option to Kill by Andrew Petersen, which had sold 119,000 copies by late 2013. Other successful serials Belle cited had sold 20,000 to 30,000 copies. As a general rule of thumb, half of Amazon’s serial sales happen while the story is still in progress, at $1.99; half of sales happen after the fact. While encouraged by the results so far, Belle says he’d like to see Amazon sell even more copies during the live serial phase.
[pullquote]One of Amazon’s most successful serial projects has been Option to Kill by Andrew Petersen, which had sold 119,000 copies by late 2013. Other successful serials Belle cited had sold 20,000 to 30,000 copies. [/pullquote]
Writing at large volume on fast turnaround isn’t for everyone. Author Neal Pollack enjoys writing fast, and he has spent the last two years writing books with Amazon Publishing, and his latest projects, Downward-Facing Death and Open Your Heart, have been serials. For the first serial, about a yoga detective, Pollack wrote 10,000 words a month. For the second, he had to provide 30,000 words upfront and 10,000 words a week. Amazon provided editing and proofreading support, and Pollack says they gave him the best editor he’s ever worked with in his career. “She kept me in line and kept the story moving. If it was grinding down, they’d tell me— and if it needed to be slowed down a little bit, they’d tell me. Perhaps there wasn’t much attention paid to the overall arc of things because we did have to get it done fast.”
Pollack has worked with a range of traditional publishers, and he says that Amazon is willing to work faster. Even though they have an editorial calendar like anyone else, he said, “They are a digital era publisher and company, and they recognize that working fast is important.”
[pullquote]Pollack’s serial sales have been well north of 10,000 copies, or, as he told me, “enough to sustain a book career.”[/pullquote]
The speed of publishing also has a financial reward. “If you receive a certain modest advance for a piece of fiction, which is what most writers get these days, but if you write a book in six weeks and it’s published two months after you start it, that makes more economic sense than three years,” Pollack said. “I realize that not all writers are interested in or capable of doing a novel that quickly, but I am. So it makes a certain amount of economic sense.” His serial sales have been well north of 10,000 copies, or, as he told me, “enough to sustain a book career.” He estimates that serials make up 25–30 percent of his overall income.
What About Wattpad?
In the grand scheme of things, Amazon’s serial efforts are quite new, and charging for serials, even if only $1.99, makes their business model quite different from other established players in the space. Currently, the biggest player, in terms of user base and name recognition, is Wattpad.
Toronto-based Wattpad started in 2006—before the Kindle and Nook were even available—and now has more than 20 million users, which includes the often-trumpeted participation of Margaret Atwood. Strictly speaking, Wattpad isn’t a platform for serials; it’s a platform for all types of writing. But the predominant creative activity on Wattpad is the work-in-progress. Participating writers tend to be female teens and young adults producing genre fiction and fan fiction, the latter of which is Wattpad’s fastest-growing category. Its millions of stories are freely accessible to anyone in the world, and its user base has one writer for every nine readers—a writer’s dream.
Therein lies part of the reason Wattpad is attractive to certain writers: it offers a real chance to directly reach and grow a readership—even if it means giving away the writing for free—and also be front-of-mind with fans due to Wattpad’s ability to ping a devoted readership whenever a new story or installment gets posted. In 2009, Wattpad launched a mobile app for content delivery; today, 85 percent of their traffic comes from mobile devices, and they send 6.7 million push notifications per day. Unlike Amazon, where authors have limited insight into the size of their fanbase, without a means to access readers directly and consistently, Wattpad offers a platform for ongoing interaction. Ashleigh Gardner, Wattpad’s Head of Publishing Partnerships, told me, “The focus of Wattpad has been the connection of the reader and writer.”
[pullquote]Wattpad offers a real chance to directly reach and grow a readership—even if it means giving away the writing for free—and also be front-of-mind with fans.[/pullquote]
There’s another motivation for writers to use Wattpad: “It can be very daunting to write a book, but it’s very easy to write a chapter,” Gardner said. By building an audience and getting feedback right away, a writer may be encouraged to continue and build on their efforts rather than giving up when faced with a slump or self-doubt. When you consider the age of writers using Wattpad (three out of four users are under the age of 25), and also the very positive community that Wattpad has created (there is no “dislike” button, and appreciation and positive comments are the rule), one could see Wattpad becoming a preferred path for young writers to learn the craft and get their career footing. But can it pay?
Monetizing Wattpad Activity
Traditional publishing deals represent one way to monetize a huge Wattpad fanbase. Authors Abigail Gibbs and Brittany Geragotelis both received six-figure deals from New York publishers for the young-adult books they serialized on Wattpad; another Wattpad author was named one of TIME’s Most Influential Teens of 2013 for racking up 19 million reads. Gardner said, “If you have a huge fanbase, it becomes really easy to monetize.”
Another model is using Wattpad to serialize a completed work, and making it clear to readers that the full work is available for sale elsewhere, for those who lack the patience to wait for future installments. (Platt’s writing partner maintains a Wattpad account for this exact purpose.) For writers who transition to traditional publishing from Wattpad, the fans who played a role in that success expect the authors’ work to be made available for free to them, in serialized form, out of courtesy and respect.
How does Wattpad itself make money from the 59,000 stories that are updated to their site daily and its 16 million unique monthly views? They don’t charge site users, and they don’t retail any type of content, product, or service. They do accept display advertising, but even Wattpad CEO Allen Lau has said that’s not the long-term business model.
There may be a solution in the reader-writer connection they’ve nurtured. In 2013, Wattpad started testing a crowdfunding feature that would allow its users to raise money from their fans to formally publish their work. Just as with other crowdfunding sites, Wattpad took a percentage of the money raised. However, if you visit their “Fan Funding” page today, you’ll see a notice that their “experiment is now over.” Wattpad is also dabbling in partnerships with traditional publishers and other corporations, but these appear mostly experimental and serendipitous.
The Growing Footprint of Fan Fiction
It’s important to bear in mind that the fastest growing category at Wattpad is fan fiction; out of 20 million new story uploads in 2013, 7.5 million were fan-fiction shares. Gardner told me that a lot of the people who start out reading fan fiction become motivated to write fan fiction. She explained it this way: “When someone is learning to play music, they don’t start out writing their own songs. They start by playing covers, then writing their own songs. So you play around with other characters until you learn how to write your own.”
[pullquote]It’s important to bear in mind that the fastest growing category at Wattpad is fan fiction; out of 20 million new story uploads in 2013, 7.5 million were fan-fiction shares.[/pullquote]
But fan fiction is nearly impossible to monetize, since its very existence is predicated on copyright infringement—appropriating other authors’ characters and worlds without permission. For this reason, most fan fiction remains on the fringes of the traditional publishing industry, at sites maintained by volunteers or as nonprofits. (A good example is An Archive of Our Own.) Furthermore, the fan-fiction community is known for rejecting just about every effort to monetize its activity, since it’s seen as counter to the fan-fiction ethos and philosophy. When it comes to paychecks, E.L. James is not exactly a representative example of the fanfic bottom line.
Unsurprisingly, however, Amazon has seen flashing-dollar signs when it looks at the devoted and engaged fanfic community. In 2013, the company launched Kindle Worlds, a formal publishing program built around legitimizing and selling fan fiction by securing permission in advance from copyright holders. Time will tell if the effort succeeds despite the long track record of fan-fiction communities resisting commercialization.
What’s the Future of Writing and Reading Serials?
Ever since Amazon launched Kindle Worlds and Kindle Serials, there has been increased discussion about whether these efforts indicate how writing, reading, and publishing will evolve. While serials and fan fiction are sometimes dismissed by industry insiders as low-quality work that won’t much affect how traditional publishing operates, others have started to speculate that these markets might be in a position to do exactly that.
[pullquote]While serials and fan fiction are sometimes dismissed by industry insiders as low-quality work that won’t much affect how traditional publishing operates, others have started to speculate that these markets might be in a position to do exactly that.[/pullquote]
Eric Hellman, an industry expert who specializes in economic models for e-books, recently wrote on his blog:
It’s worth paying close attention to the fan fiction sites. After all, 2012’s biggest revenue engine for the book industry, 50 Shades, was a repackaged fanfic. On an iPad with a decent internet connection, the fanfic sites work better than ePubs. … They deliver content in smaller, more addictive chunks, and they integrate popular culture MUCH more effectively than books do … The authors are responsive and deeply connected to readers; they often ARE the readers! There’s a fanfic site to appeal to every reader.
But are we really looking at the future? Both serials and fan fiction have been around a long time (since Dickens, remember?). If these forms are being reinvented and rediscovered because mobile- and tablet-based reading is growing, this may mean the strategic author has to start thinking about their readership as divided between two distinct groups: the very large group that expects the content for free, and the smaller group that’s willing to pay. This is more or less what another industry commentator expressed on his blog during the same week as Hellman: “Wattpad might not be the future, but the future will look more like Wattpad than it will the publishing industry … Added benefit: we who are poor and have no money for joy can get stories for free if we want to.”
To get a deeper perspective on the serial—its history and its future—I talked to Kira Lerner at EpiGuide, an online community founded in 1998 and the longest-running active hub for serials. Lerner has been a practitioner of the form since 1997, penning one of the oldest serials still in existence, About Schuyler Falls. She told me that most of the community belongs to the hobbyist category, without any goal to sell their work, and that it’s risky to monetize the in-progress activity, using webcomics as an example of why. “Something as popular as webcomics—massive compared to web fiction—they haven’t successfully found a paywall model to be profitable,” she says. “What works for them is the compilation book or the extra features, such as stickers and magnets. I just don’t see, if it hasn’t worked for webcomics, I can’t imagine it working for less popular web fiction.”
[pullquote]Lerner says writers mostly use serials as a platform builder, a means to launch a career and sell completed works. “It’s a good start for people who are not convinced they’ll be able to go for the traditional publishing route,” she said.[/pullquote]
Still, there is Amazon’s success; they’ve been able to sell at the $1.99 price point, though half of their sales come from compilations. Amazon’s Jeff Belle did say they were hoping to increase sales while the serial was in progress, which might say something about the diminishing returns of a fast, intense editorial process if more copies aren’t sold upfront. Lerner says that many authors are cynical about Amazon’s program because the framework is so limited; they allow a small number of installments and little flexibility. Based on her experience, writers mostly use serials as a platform builder, a means to launch a career and sell completed works. “It’s a good start for people who are not convinced they’ll be able to go for the traditional publishing route,” she said.
“You Have to Love Your Reader”
Since starting down the serialization path in 2011, Platt has launched seven distinct series, two of them through Amazon. But after concluding his existing series with them, he’s doing the rest on his own, under his own co-owned publishing company, Collective Inkwell.
Platt said that Amazon’s practices allowed his readers to be disappointed, and even attracted the type of reader he didn’t want. Platt couldn’t make his first episode available for free on Amazon, which he finds critical to building a strong funnel of devoted fans, and they also didn’t release episodes as quickly as he recommended, at the pace of one per week. (Amazon later adjusted their frequency on most serials to weekly or biweekly.)
[pullquote]“You have to love your reader,” Platt said. “Serials have that line to walk. It’s a really fun thing to do, but we really have to position it correctly so that we don’t have an upset reader.”[/pullquote]
“You have to love your reader,” Platt said. “Serials have that line to walk. It’s a really fun thing to do, but we really have to position it correctly so that we don’t have an upset reader.” Platt talked to me at length about how his editorial, marketing, and pricing strategies have evolved, with a level of minute detail that would push the boundaries of most authors’ attention spans and abilities. (For those who are interested, you can hear all about his experiences through a weekly show with his co-authors, The Self-Publishing Podcast.) Even though Platt thinks he’s a better marketer than most publishers, including Amazon, he told me in November 2013, “I’m going to try again with traditional [publishing] in February.”
When I followed up with Platt in early January to ask further about his reasons for pursuing traditional publishing, he wrote me, “Essentially, I love what we’re doing on the indie side, and wouldn’t want to change that for anything.” He said that his stint with Amazon isn’t really the traditional publishing experience he wants; he’s looking for something bigger—including physical bookstore placement and a giant marketing push that gets his name out in ways he can’t do digitally. So he’s strategizing with his agent and trying to identify the right project to pitch, but it hasn’t been easy, even with stories conceived as traditional projects.
“[My agent] says traditional won’t want more than 100K–110K words, and yet there’s no way I can stuff the epic into that space. It needs 150K+. There are too many ideas and layers. I’d rather wait until I can tell the story the way it needs to be told,” Platt wrote.
He’s also expecting a publisher to show him the money to leave his indie serial model. “I won’t sign unless the advance is substantial, not because I care about the money, but because the publisher does. I need to make sure they give me enough [for them] to be thoroughly invested.”
Correction and clarification (2/26/14): An earlier version of this article indicated Plympton had stopped releasing new fiction and was no longer working with Amazon. Even though Plympton discontinued publishing serials through Amazon, they continue to publish original fiction through Kindle Singles and other platforms, and plan to continue working with Amazon outside of the Kindle Serials environment.
Have you ever serialized your work, and if so, what was your experience in gaining readership or in monetizing the serial? After reading about others’ experiences, would you try it yourself?
Jane Friedman has more than 20 years in the publishing industry, with expertise in digital media and the future of authorship. She’s the co-founder and editor of The Hot Sheet, the essential industry newsletter for authors. You can find out more about her consulting services and online classes at her website, JaneFriedman.com.
This is the most interesting post I’ve read in a long time. I’ve never heard of serial fiction–although I am under twenty-five and have an account on a website similar to Wattpad called ‘Figment’. I do think you’ve struck on the appeal that websites like those have to writers, especially ones of my age. The feedback from those sites might not be priceless, but it is encouraging and with every new ‘like’ you get, you are inspired to write.
Also, fan fiction. I love fan fiction and I’ll have to check out that Kindle Worlds you mentioned.
Thanks for the great and informative post!
Fascinating post. I had never considered writing any fiction in serial form but the ideas outlined here sound tempting. At some point I would love to try this out. It sounds like a good option for stories that start small but threaten to expand into a novel as you write them.
This brings me back to my childhood, where I devoured serials on a monthly basis in a Indian children’s magazine. Thanks for this thorough article on the serial. I was curious whether this would also work for unlinked short stories.
Wonderful info, Jane. I was especially fascinated by: “I won’t sign unless the advance is substantial, not because I care about the money, but because the publisher does. I need to make sure they give me enough [for them] to be thoroughly invested.”
Great post for thought.
Denise Willson
Author of A Keeper’s Truth and GOT
This certainly sounds interesting. Thank you for including
so much information.
This is exciting stuff! Many things to think about. Thanks, Jane.
As mentioned on Writer Unboxed, I’d love to get a free subscription to Scratch.
Thanks again!
Thanks, as usual, Jane. You are the hub of the new
publishing universe. One of my writing and publishing students is
using another platform you didn’t mention and finding it helpful:
https://www.Jukepop.com. In the interests of adding to your resource
list, I thought I’d mention it here.
Jukepop, yes! I’m so glad you mentioned them. They’re on my radar, but including them didn’t work out for this piece.
Jukepop seems to be developing a very interesting crowdsourcing model that involves paying writers based on reader voting (as well as reader payment in the form of donations). I’m very curious to see how it gains traction or if it’s sustainable.
I’ve been giving away fiction on my site for a while now,
and in January I started a year-long serial series. The readers are
invested more than the stand-alone pieces. I think there’s
something to be said for serialized work, and I’m glad to see that
awareness for the form is on the rise. Love the post.
Jane-
Your post is comprehensive, clearly written, objective and informative. I like, as always, how you assess both the creative and business sides of your subject.
I’m particularly thankful for your explanation of the difference between a serial and serial fiction. That and the advice of actual writers of serial fiction make the form’s creative framework easy to understand.
One thing that strikes me is the reported audience split. Half want to read serials in installments, the other half want the whole thing. It suggests to me an inner struggle in readers between impatience and the desire for a complete story; that is to say, a story that satisfyingly concludes.
Or perhaps it indicates that some readers are able to live with suspense, uncertainty, not knowing the future…whereas others enjoy the certainty that things will come out okay, embracing order and the moral foundation that we feel under us when a story ends.
Or then again, it could be that each episode of a serial is in fact a story unto itself, albeit one that leaves dangling threads and makes promises. Huh. I’m going to have to read some serials now to fully grasp how they work.
And, hey, that’s good with me. Thanks, Jane.
I think the audience split also has to do with investment–of money, time, and emotions. Purchasing a story that isn’t finished yet is a risk. If you have a finished published book, you can see the reviews that say, “Fantastic premise, but it went nowhere. So disappointed.” You can also sample the wares, thumb through to the middle, see if you like where it goes before you spend your money. But if you only have one or two chapters (or “episodes”), you’re not paying for a guaranteed product; you’re paying for the promise of maybe a good product that will be released in the future.
I’m one of those people who would be reluctant to pay for the sort of serial Platt describes. I’m also one of those people who don’t watch the big hyped-up pilot on TV, or read the first book of a new fiction series, until the series is well underway and people are raving about it. And even though I’m cautious, I’ve still gotten burned by great series that careened downhill (RIP Heroes). A lot of people don’t get into serials until they’re well established, partly because they don’t hear about it until it’s big, and partly because they don’t want to waste their time unless they know they’ll be satisfied.
Much appreciated, Don. Thank you!
This is a great post. In addition to being publisher of
Blank Slate Press, a traditional small press, my daughters and I
co-wrote and self-pubbed THE SOWING, the first book in a sci-fi YA
trilogy. Our original idea was to finish the book and serialize it
two chapters at a time, releasing each installment weekly on Amazon
KDP. After all installments were released in serialized form, we’d
release the full book. We had even worked with a designer to come
up with cover art that “unfolded” as the series went on, until the
last installment’s cover would be the cover we’d use for the
complete book. Ultimately, however, we abandoned the idea, pulled
the weekly installments and issued the full book. There were many
reasons we abandoned the project, (they’re outlined here
https://theseedstrilogy.com/why-were-not-serializing/), but suffice
it to say that in our case, it was too much work for too little
reward. Since that time, one of my co-authors/daughters, has begun
a new serialized work, POROUS, which is a reader-driven blog novel.
https://artz3.wordpress.com/porous/ She’s on chapter 8 and is having
a blast with it, and with interacting with other writers and
readers of her blog. She’s also posting chapters to Wattpad. I love
the concept of serialization, and hope to see many others
experiment with the form.
Thnx. Opens up some new doors for me!
I’m gonna offer the thought that kept popping into my mind as I read this super interesting, very important article : the developing subscription services such as Scribd, Oyster, and (and as mentioned by Porter Anderson, 24Symbols).
Here’s a few examples :
“’Pure’ serials are tough to make money on right away. Today’s authors don’t exactly have a burgeoning market of periodicals willing to pay a meaningful wage for such work.” –
Beyond the idea that pure serials have no beginning or end, I would say, from what I see (via the free trial offers) offered on both Oyster and Scribd in terms of short work, here’s both a burgeoning market and a willingness to pay in line with other digital outlets
*
“Platt told me, ‘I always felt from the start that we were delivering a broken experience. [The serial] really shouldn’t be in e-book form, they should be an app. You pay for it once on the front end and you get automatic updates.'”
Again, pay once a month, read all you want. Not exactly the same, but close, and, in some ways, better (not paying each time for each app). If one’s not gonna read many, then maybe not so much.
*
“…by releasing the entire series as one product at a higher price point, Platt and his partners stand to earn more money. Amazon KDP pays 70 percent on e-books priced between $2.99 and $9.99, and 35 percent on everything outside that range—making low-priced shorter works less profitable.”
All work (under current terms) shipped via Smashwords to Scribd and / or Oyster earn the same higher rate. (details on SW’s FAQ).
*
I’m not saying ebook / digital subscriptions are “the” answer, or that either of the three start-ups I mentioned in the beginning are the “one” to follow or subscribe to –
I am saying this very important, very happening (I believe another couple hundred thousand titles are to be added to both Oyster & Scribe very soon) digital expansion of opportunity is generally being ignored in discussions involving serials, discoverability, pricing strategies, and royalties.
In fairness, as Porter also says (in his article here on Writers Unboxed, Sir Hugh and the Snail) subscriptons are in the infancy.
But they are born, and growing.
I’m hopeful they will extend the possibilities of what we as writers and readers, can do.
I write somewhat episodic novella fiction and shorts; and serials (pure or unpure ;-) ) – something I had pretty much forgotten about until this article, are now back in my thoughts. Thank you so much for that Jane :-)
You make some very interesting points! I don’t have strong intuition or beliefs about subscription services (and personally, they’re not for me), but they seem to face some industry hurdles, much of them expressed here by Mike Shatzkin: https://www.idealog.com/blog/explaining-my-skepticism-about-the-likelihood-of-success-for-a-general-subscription-model-for-ebooks/
Jane, thank you for the link, it’s a really interesting article (dated July 22, 2012), with lots of really good points to think about.
A lot of the points seem to evolve from the then point that the most sought after authors were with the (then) big 6.
Current info seems to be saying more and more sought after (books bought from) authors are indies. So that may have changed.
Also, the main comparison was to music subscriptions. An article on September 6, 2013 at DBW seemed to feel a comparison to Netflix was more appropriate, than to the music models (where I’ve read there’s recent challenges to improve royalties to the artists at American Idol.) https://www.digitalbookworld.com/2013/netflix-for-ebooks-or-spotify-for-ebooks-spot-the-difference/
Another more recent article (October 29, 2013) at Forbes, also seems to take a different, more postitive, view at the potential for subscription models : https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeremygreenfield/2013/10/29/why-netflix-or-spotify-for-ebooks-will-work/
Yes, I myself, have a preference, as a reader anyway, for a Netflix of books, but that doesn’t mean it will work. ;-) I’ll have to wait and see what happens.
The older article did say this, that I thought was interesting, “…Amazon is, in effect, conducting an experiment testing my theory that a general subscription offering won’t be a powerful magnet. For now, the test is to see how many of the Prime customers find it possible to live largely or entirely within the selection of titles that KOLL offers them, and particularly whether they are weaning those customers away from the higher-profile offerings of the Big Six. Perhaps we’ll see Amazon extend the reach of KOLL sometime by offering a Kindle feature package that is cheaper than what Prime has to be to offer free shipping. I’d sort of expect that. Wouldn’t you?”
And this was before an apparent shift of available sought-after authors were self-published, and on Amazon.
But either way, my point is this discussion is good, and necessary, for me, as a reader, and as an author.
Thanks Jane, I appreciate it.
The link to the music suit re royalties was via Passive Voice https://www.thepassivevoice.com/02/2014/bombshell-american-idol-lawsuit-claims-sony-stiffs-carrie-underwood-kelly-clarkson/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ThePassiveVoice+%28The+Passive+Voice%29 and not any of the other articles I mentioned. My apologies for any confusion.
This is an intriguing article. I look forward to tryng this path if going traditional does not work for me. Thanks.
As always, Jane, you’ve delivered a careful, in-depth overview of serialized fiction, its pitfalls and opportunities, thank you for posting it here. It was illuminating.
To answer your question. I have written series (like most writers, trilogies and the like) then I decided to go all the way and attempt true serialized fiction. In my experience, timing is of the essence: it’s the only way to make the two types of audiences agree (as Donald Maass has so well identified in his comment above). You have to publish regularly at short intervals, and yes, I should imagine 2 weeks would be enough between 2 episodes, though perhaps it should even be one week in order not to lose some of your readers.
I imagine both Platt and Amazon Kindle Serials must have by now a good grasp of what timing works best. I don’t, not really. All I did was try Part One and a month later Part Two of a serialized science fiction novel (that was last summer) and then I stopped, for two reasons. One, I had probably allowed too much time to pass between the two episodes. Two, I tried to interest some small presses I happened to be in touch with but alas, I hit a wall when I contacted them. They all liked the premise a lot and thought Part One and Two read well (nice!), but none wanted to go along into serializing the novel (not so good!) unless I presented them with a full and complete manuscript covering all episodes down to the last one – thereby losing that tension and that possibility of establishing an on-going contact with readers.
So my impression is that the traditional publishing industry is not ready for this sort of thing. Admittedly, it is difficult for a publisher or editor to understand if you haven’t read any .
Indeed, whether you’re a publisher or a writer, I don’t think anyone should adventure into serializing fiction without having first read Hugh Howey; in fact he’s become a model for the genre.
When it’s well done, serialized fiction should do two things at once: provide the reader with a self-standing story, i.e. each episode should end in a satisfactory manner YET the door should be left open for another episode.
How is this achieved? Exactly the way it’s done on TV, like in those series everyone loves (I’m thinking of Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones etc). You as an author should aim to get your reader to fall in love with the world you’ve created – so that he/she wants to know more about it and is yearning to read the next episode. Of course, it also helps if you devise attractive characters that people identify with, so that they become emotionally attached and want to know more about what happens to them next.
Now, I’ve finished my piece of serialized fiction; it’s 4 episodes for the time being, 100k+ words in total, not that long – but it will be another 4 episodes and another 100k words coming next year (or sooner, I’m a fast writer) if this one sells. If it doesn’t, well then, I give up and will go back to the traditional self-standing novel, grin! My question: as an indie, can I approach the Kindle Serials or should I just use KDP and publish one epidose every week? What’s the best strategy in your opinion?
Based on my conversations with Amazon, Kindle Serials is mostly interested in signing authors who don’t yet have the work completed; they want you to be working on the manuscript as readers consume it, so you can then possibly incorporate feedback. It seems unlikely they’d be interested in signing this particular project you’ve described.
So, in that case, you might model yourself after Sean Platt & Co. Publish each entire “season” (80-100K words) as one e-book (but have the season split into episodes within that e-book), then make the first “episode” free, to hook people and get them to purchase the entire season.
I’ve been on Sean Platt’s webinars before and that man is a TSUNAMI OF ENERGY! You showed up one more time that writing is art + business. Excellent post, Jane. Thanks!
Hi Marcy,
You’re one of the lucky winners of the free Scratch subscription! Would you give me a shoutout somewhere (here, on Twitter, anywhere) of how I might reach you with the details via e-mail? Or you can contact me through my website (go to the contact page).
Many thanks,
Jane
This one jumped out and grabbed me. My partner and I were recently discussing a joint venture to write a serial just for the purpose of building a fan base. I’d take it a step farther and suggest it is a good way to find out just who my fan base is. I see it, as I stated, as more of a platform building exercise. It’s also a good place to experiment, see what works and what doesn’t before plopping it front of a publisher. Since about 90% of everything we write never sees publication, why not try some of that out in serialized fashion. Great post. One that really has my wheels turning. Thanks!
[…] Writer Unboxed has a super interesting post from Jane Friedman entitled “Beyond Dickens: Trends and Tech in Serial Fiction.” […]
Probably the best-known modern writer of this type of fiction is Alexander McCall Smith, who was asked by The Scotsman to write a story to appear daily (one chapter per day) in that paper. (I don’t know for sure, but I highly doubt he did this for free.) The story was recorded so that it could be listened to every day as an audio-chapter. The entire work was called The Dog Who Game in From the Cold and was published as a full book at the end of the series.
These types of stories are often called episodic fiction to distinguish it from true series, of which McCall Smith has written quite a few, The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency being the first.
Episodic fiction has a place in writing, though I suspect writers with an established following (like McCall Smith) have a better chance at being successful at it.
Yes, I’m sure he didn’t do it for free—or I hope not! :)
He feels like something of an outlier, as does The Scotsman. Or that is to say: I can’t name very many traditional publications that run episodic fiction. Maybe that is changing? I don’t yet see evidence that print publications are much interested in serials; if they are, it makes total sense they would tap a well-known storyteller like Smith—since then the cachet of his name helps with marketing and promotion of their product.
I have two novels under my belt so far, the second a sequel to the first. I have no intention of taking that particular story any further, but I have had enough people asking “what’s next?” to consider writing a serial. It boggles my mind thinking about having a chapter at a time completely finished though, as I wrote and rewrote my first two books to get them right. A serial would be a challenge.
Informative post!
Have you ever serialized your work, and if so, what was your experience in gaining readership or in monetizing the serial? The closest I’ve come to serializing my writing are chapters I post on my website. I have 17 chapters currently posted, and the only editing is what I do myself. Unfortunately, my site is lost among the millions of other sites out there, so I have no real readership.
After reading about others’ experiences, would you try it yourself? Yes, I would! However, I could not find information on Amazon about publishing a serial novel, only serial novels for readers. Do you know what that link is?
As far as editing. Would the serials be able to access an editing service through Amazon?
Thanks!
It appears that since I wrote this article, Kindle Serials has closed to submissions. Not sure why.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000828741
I should point out that Kindle Serials is only open to people they recruit or accept—just as in a traditional publishing model; indie authors do not have access to their serial publishing functionality.
Jane,
That was awesome. I follow everything I can on the self-pub world right now and this article is by far the most timely and insightful. Incredible.
I write a serial. It’s attached to my blog and is updated every Tuesday with the exception of the week my father passed (I posted a notice announcing a one-week delay). To be honest, I don’t get a lot of feedback, but what I do get is a steady influx of new followers.
I’m a fantasy writer and my online serial takes place in the same world my novel takes place in. Thus, those reading the serial are becoming familiar with that world (Ontyre, minor wizards, Hartise, gargoyles, hydra spiders, etc.). The serial is free, of course, but it also demonstrates my willingness to share and put my work out there for scrutiny.
Sure, doing this will hopefully help me sell e-books down the road, but it also has a personal benefit: it’s making me a better writer. Every week I have to deliver. A few weeks ago I moved 620 miles in a snowstorm, yet delivered my scheduled installment (something my readers knew because the experience was shared in my blog). The serial also forces me to produce compelling scenes. Time and again I’ve realized that what I’d planned would slow the story too much and so revised my outline to accommodate more action and better pacing.
The story isn’t perfect and I tell readers that it’s a “first draft serial.” Is there risk there? Sure, but it’s forcing me to produce better writing more quickly. In truth, what they’re getting is my first draft after a quick content/line edit. I also stress each week that “this story WILL conclude online.”
I’ve found that I’ve come to love trying to top myself each week in quality and enjoy writing each installment (I’m about 60% of the way through the story, which should coincide with completing my novel). I haven’t yet decided what I’ll do with the serial when it’s concluded. For now I lean towards enhancing the story a bit and releasing it on Amazon at a discount so that it can take its place with the other Ontyre books.
Thanks. You’ve encouraged me to look at Wattpad again.
I’m already serializing Pride’s Children as I polish it; it just occurred to me after reading your post that the AUDIENCE is very different on Wattpad – and that may be very useful to expand the pool of potential readers.
Wattpad doesn’t have a ‘mainstream’ category, but one of its other categories is close enough.
The only problem is speed – I’ll have to think carefully about the pace of serializing, as speed is something I don’t have, and can’t manufacture.
Thanks for a truly comprehensive post.
Alicia
I have been researching and analyzing this all for some time– starting with digital publishing and platform building then on to fan fic and serials. So I am very pleased to see this informative and comprehensive discussion all in one place. Thank you! One thing I would like to add: there also exists the opportunity for publication of short stories in e-form for sale, either originals or ones involving characters from novels or serials. Remember when Steven King crashed servers with his ahead of its time decision to release one of his short stories in e-form? It was download madness — the money made was astounding. He later released it in a short story compilation printed by his traditional publisher, who was also involved in the groundbreaking e-release of his single story. When King began his commercial writing career, magazines published short stories, but that avenue had all but dried up when he e-published. Thankfully, other opportunities continue to spring up for enterprising writers willing to think outside the box.
Great point.
This is a good opportunity for me to add that Amazon has two other publishing programs (gated) that focus on digital short stories: Kindle Singles and Day One, their literary journal that features one short story per week (and one poem and one illustrator).
Picked up Jane’s post from FB and it couldn’t be more relevant than what I’ve done regarding publishing a journal from an unknown prison inmate. Contacted through an intermediary (who probably uses an alias as well), they wanted to know if my little pub company could edit and post his journal on Amazon. Editing and publishing other peoples work is not my thing (got plenty of my stuff to work on) but I relented accepting his manuscript. It came on notebook paper, handwritten (mostly printed) without any paragraphs (he said paper was expensive and not readily available so he had to make good use of space). The wordcount measured 60K+. ‘My Prison Journal’ by John Smith (an alias), is exclusively on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007SH8870
Not knowing where or how to do this project and wanting to slowly wade through this whole thing I posted separate ebooks (Volumes) consisting of between 10-15K words. It was a journal so I thought it natural to be broken down by the dates and times of his journal entry. As time wore on for the inmate his entries went from daily to weekly to monthly. Volume 1 contained 22 separate entries and the latest volume, Volume 12, has 11 entries (most all volumes had approximately 10-12 thousand words). And yes, much of the narrative was boring and repetitive, not the scary scenarios one might envision coming from the setting. Each volume was priced at $.99 (making the 35% royalty). I also compiled volumes together (1-3, 4-6, 1-4, 5-8, 1-10, 1-12, 1-6 and 7-12) hoping to make Amazon’s higher royalty. Most sales come from the $0.99 individual volumes, probably because the demographic/genre (penology, drugs, recovery) is small and the author is unknown.
The serial process or publishing the volumes separately…I just fell into. Didn’t know how else to do it relative to the time I wanted to commit to the project. I agreed to split the royalties between myself and the author John Smith (don’t know his real name). Sales haven’t done too badly but then again each of us never went into this publishing thing hoping to make loads of money. If it happens, it happens. Recent ‘free’ activity resulted in the compilation (volumes 1-4) being downloaded over 1000 times between Amazon US and the UK.
What I did do regarding the time ranges and publishing the separate volumes. Initially, it did work out to be one volume being released each month, and then as the manuscript lessened (the prisoner wrote less and submitted less to me) volumes published became further apart. The one thing I did do was put some information, at the back of the book, that gave the reader some approximate date/month when they could expect the next volume. Also, (in the back of the book) I plugged each volume separately with a link to the Amazon page, so people who might stumble on volume 7 knew where exactly to find volume 1. The print version’s (Volumes 1-10 and 1-12) have sold very little (only a reflection of print sales IMO).
In my own writing (mystery/investigative thriller) I stick to novella length as the project is promoted as a series. Problem is…I’m terribly distracted and an incredibly slow writer. So there you have it. Hope you find some value here, enough so, that you mark me down for that ‘free annual subscription to Scratch magazine.’ Thanks.
This is interesting news.
I hope I am randomly chosen to receive a free subscription to Scratch.
This is a really thorough article, thank you. I’d love to write serials. I remember as a kid how I loved to read them. But I’m a slow writer and writing serials requires someone who can churn out words effortlessly and fast. Still, with enough practice it is doable. In order to properly do this you’ll need to have an editor and covers lined-up and ready, but I suppose this can be arranged beforehand. And you’ll need plenty of time (Oh, sweet Time, you never have time for me). Writing serials is something I will attempt at some stage in the game. I think it’s exciting that the publishing landscape has evolved so much to allow for possibilities like this. Thanks again for this wonderful article. There is much to chew on.
Several years ago, I serialized a children’s fantasy book through Constant Contact for free. I got a handful of really committed, complimentary readers, at least one of which was reading the story to her grandchildren. Ultimately, though, I found it to be unsuccessful because of the problem with email overload. A couple of friends who subscribed made comments about saving the installments without getting a chance to read them, and those who gave a reason for dropping it several installments in gave the same reason. Slightly more than half of the original readers who signed up stuck with it, though.
This post is fantastic.
I am a literature teacher in a private New England boarding school and have been toying with a “Serial Fiction: From Charles Dickens to Stephen King” elective for some time. I think it is such a valuable method of storytelling that both authors use beautifully. King finds the humanity in all characters, even those who are evil, much like Dickens, making him one of our best novelists. He is the modern day Charles Dickens and I believe showcasing both through their serial novels will reveal this.
Thanks so much for the article! A great read.
Another interesting and informative post! It never ceases to amaze me how quickly the self-publishing world changes … almost daily. I suppose I’d better quickly finish my book if I want to self-pub and understand the system when I do. :) Thanks for the effort and time that must have gone into preparing this particular post.
What and intriguing idea, and what fun it could be. I’ll have to ponder this some more. Thanks so much for the informative article.
Great post. I actually did experiment with serialization, unfortunately before Kindle Serials was a thing. I had been writing weekly episodes of “New Adult” fiction (again, before New Adult was a thing) and heard about Kindle’s new epublishing platform. I decided I should check it out, just to stay informed, so I compiled my episodes into chunks of 4 and released them for 99 cents as I was going. There actually were quite a few people who bought them that way (episodes 1-4, then 5-8, then 9-12, and so on, until I reached The End) but there were MORE people who wanted the whole story at once. So after all 40 episodes had been out for a while, I compiled them into one ebook, and that sold significantly better. What I learned was basically what Kindle Serials knows now. :) Very cool to have been a part of that lesson and wave of publishing.
I’m actually find that myself. My audience is about half and half. Some want to read each segment as it comes out. Many others want it all in one bite and will wait for the compilation. It’s exciting to be able to offer both options.
[…] My latest column at Writer Unboxed tackles
serial fiction—and how it’s changing writing, reading,
and publishing. Here’s a little snippet:
[…]
Great, very informative article about serialization, Jane. I’ve been writing a successful serial over at https://www.jukepop.com/home/read/554 for about a year. It’s set to wrap up next month and has allowed this unknown author to build a growing, loyal following and make some cash at the same time.
The interaction between readers and author has been an energizing, informative element of the process. If the readers love where the story is going, I know in an hour or two after hitting the publish button. If they hate a certain development, they don’t hesitate to let me know. While I can’t always take their advice, it’s been exciting to be able to take the audience’s pulse as the chapters come out.
From a business perspective, I’ve been able to gather up enough donations and other funds to pay for most of the production costs for the ebook version (editing, cover, etc.). For me, it’s been a fun and cost-effective way to test run a story and serves as a funnel to guide readers to my other work.
There are a couple of downsides – given the ‘live’ nature of the serial the writing can be a little raw. Jukepop allowed no editing of published chapters until recently, I’ve been cleaning up the issues uncovered by my readers but there was some frustration that I couldn’t fix them immediately.
Most of the serialization sites offer no editorial support, so even if you put work into editing your work, there’s no guarantee those surrounding you have done the same. This can hurt good stories and help bad ones, so it’s definitely something to consider.
Overall, serialization has been an effective tool for me and I’d like to thank you for providing such an in-depth look at the market.
Sam
Terrific to hear from a JukePop writer—thanks for commenting!
I have often thought about doing serial writing, as it appeals to me greatly. I have done very short pieces, usually a week or two worth on my blog. This article has inspired me to do further research on it now. Very interesting article and well put together! Now my interest is further fueled! Thank you!
A most interesting article with some answers, advice, and other information. As a long-time scribbler of children’s nonsense verse, I feel encouraged to join the 600 and “Charge for the guns!”
And I was not aware of Scratch. I’m intrigued by your article, “Jane Friedman Interviews (The Other) Jane Friedman”
I have a similar circumstance, having searched the internet on day, out of sheer bordam, and finding someone with my first, middle and last name, living not more than 20 miles, from a place I had lived in, back in 1962!
Thank you for the emails from “The latest blog post from JaneFriedman.com”; I look forward to them and their articles! :o)
Rym (rhyme) Rytr (writer)
[…] My latest column at Writer Unboxed tackles
serial fiction—and how it’s changing writing, reading,
and publishing. Here’s a little snippet:
[…]
[…] UPDATE: Jane Friedman wrote an excellent
piece on Writer Unboxed about serials that explains the challenges
and trends, called “Beyond Dickens: Trends and Tech in
Serial Fiction.” […]
[…] My latest column at Writer Unboxed tackles
serial fiction—and how it’s changing writing, reading,
and publishing. Here’s a little snippet:
[…]
I thought I wrote serialized fiction until I read this piece. I’m so glad you posted this, Jane! I have a great idea, and now I know how to put it into play. Thank you again!
I find this fascinating. Even though I publish through Amazon, I was not aware they had a serial branch. My series is serialized. Right now we’re in the “get readers” stage and are offering the content for low/no cost. As things get bigger, we’ll be moving in different directions. Right now, even though we publish in segments, we work towards the goal of compiling anthologies. Our readership is about half and half. Half follow each installment (which admittedly the publication schedule is a bit erratic at the moment). The other half doesn’t want to wait and read it piecemeal; they wait until a collection is finished and read a group of them in novel/anthology format.
My serial has a definitive ending planned, but that’s not for years down the line. When I started this endeavor 2 years ago, I got a lot of flack from people telling me it’s not something that is marketable and that I’ll never see a penny from it. Well, I have seen a few pennies and I’m optimistic. The main thing is my readership is growing. Granted, I’m doing some different things with it, tying in other media to help make a richer experience for my fans. But in the end, it’s selling a story in pieces. Exciting to see that it’s not as frowned upon as people would lead me to believe.
We’ve been publishing installments of our novella Jack and The Fountain of Youth for some time, while having the entire novella available for purchase on Amazon.
As always, it comes down to whether or not you can attract attention in a crowded, noisy world.
[…] Publishing expert Jane Friedman has a terrific in-depth post on trends and tech in serial fiction. […]
[…] Beyond Dickens: Trends and Tech in Serial Fiction […]
[…] Beyond Dickens: Trends and Tech in Serial Fiction […]
[…] Beyond Dickens: Trends and Tech in Serial Fiction […]
Lots of information there. Thanks
Another interesting post! Thanks, Jane.
[…] I’m not sure what has become of Kindle Serials which I’ve discussed in previous posts. I haven’t seem much sign that it is currently growing nor many post-mortems on the program. Its current submissions page remains closed — so long so you wonder if it’s considered retired . As I don’t see much publicly stated from the participants or Amazon themselves online, I point you instead to Jane Friedman’s post from earlier in the year trying to dissect the se… […]
Hi Jane and all,
I always thought serials were a good idea, but somehow there’s no serial based platform where you can follow an author or story in a subscription model.
I’m just checking if this would be a cool idea. Appreciate if anyone reading this could give some feedback to help me improve :)
goo.gl/c98DVp
Thanks,
Sheran
Sheran, I haven’t written any fiction serial work yet, but have a non-fiction Paris photo-memoir serial-like series going. I think the same idea might be applied to a fiction serial.
When you upload a work or update an older one with Amazon, you have the choice of saying if the work is part of a series or not. You name it, and (optionally I think) number it.
On each book’s description page, Amazon puts the series name as a link. A reader can click on that and get the whole series (serial) on one listing, with cover image and links.
My Paris series link is : https://glurl.co/fSt
Admin, please delete my link if inappropriate.
I’ve also seen authors put “Serial” into the title of each book, with a serial #, and in a search, most if not all of those then come up.
I’m still determined to “try” my hand at serializing a work, but just hasn’t happened yet :-)
Best wishes for you (smiles).