Self-publishing in serialised form

[HareBrain]

I've put my self-pubbing plans on hold for a bit, but an idea came to me that I'd like opinions/experiences on.

My WIP1 is, I think, a bit long for a self-published novel, and WIP2 looks likely to be longer still. However, I've worked out that WIP1 splits very neatly into five sections of between 25k and 40k, each with its own distinct focus and each with an ending that (hopefully) breaks the story whilst also leading compellingly onto the next. WIP2 does the same in six sections. (Probably because each has its own focus, I've found it much easier to think up titles for the sections than the novels as a whole.)

It seems to me that this makes these books good candidates for serialisation. I gather this format is growing in popularity -- certainly Johnny Truant and Sean Platt (whose how-to book I've read) have done well out of it, writing and publishing in a style inspired by seasons of long-running TV shows.

Has anyone here tried this, or looked into it and rejected it, or bought anything in the format, or formed any opinions on it?

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Hey, HB! No help here from the publishing end of things, but as a reader I love the sound of this. I remember when Stephen King published The Green Mile as a serial--I really looked forward to receiving each new instalment...it all seemed like an Event. I'll be interested to see the responses here; I had never thought of an author other than someone with King-like stature self-pubbing a serialization of their work, but it sounds intriguing.

I guess one benefit would be that the consumer might be more inclined to give a new author a try if they could pay, say, £2 for one instalment, rather than, say, £10 for an entire book. Okay, I shall stop now. Except to say it would interest me greatly to try your book in instalments*! CC

*edit--or as a self-contained novel!

 

[Ursa major]

When you say that your WiPs are too long for self-published books, HB, do you mean in terms of being printed? Or are you also worried that they'd be too long as eBooks?

 

[Glitch]

It seems to me that this makes these books good candidates for serialisation. I gather this format is growing in popularity -- certainly Johnny Truant and Sean Platt (whose how-to book I've read) have done well out of it, writing and publishing in a style inspired by seasons of long-running TV shows.

Has anyone here tried this, or looked into it and rejected it, or bought anything in the format, or formed any opinions on it?

Shorter than you have in mind, but this was the brief I gave to Mouse for Kraxon's twelve part serial.

 

[The Judge]

I'd wondered about this, too, at one point. It might be worth asking chopper about his experiences -- as far as I recall his self-pub'd series is around 50k per instalment, though each of those is a self-contained unit, I think. Also I think it's only e-published.

Anyhow, don't forget that for each instalment you'd have to recap on what had happened so far. In The Green Mile King used the framing story of the old man writing his memoir to do this. I don't know how effective that was when people read it as a monthly serial, but in one book it was bloody annoying, so if you do go down that route the serialised version and the complete one would need to be separate beasts. In the more old-fashioned women's magazines they regularly have a serial and there they have a few paragraphs of "The Story So Far" (akin to "Previously on Twin Peaks") which to me is a better way to go, since those who recall the previous episode can jump straight into the story without a lot of repetition.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I think this has been done - one young writer was signed last year after typing the wip up in weekly installments. Something about it rings a bell re 50 shades, too. Yep, here you go:


The Fifty Shades trilogy was developed from a Twilight fan fiction series originally titled Master of the Universe and published episodically on fan-fiction websites under the pen name "Snowqueen's Icedragon".

(50 shades of Otter? )

But! You'd need a really good social media platform, I think. And you'd need it in place, at least partly, before you started.

 

[Gareth Lewis]

I tried serialising a story (as eBooks), because that was the way the story wanted to go (a series of shorter stories which grew into a larger one). It wasn't successful, but that was likely due to my lack of a following and marketing skills.

I had them all prepared before I started publishing (bar some formatting), and released them weekly (if it'd been less than 15 parts I might have released them slower), with the first free and successive ones 99c. I then released the collected edition and collected print edition a month or so after the last one.

If you already have a following that can make a dent in the sales rank then you may be able to build momentum as the series goes on, drawing in browsers who see your name and series regularly appear.

I'd say decide how you feel the story works best, and then decide how you'll release and market it.

Even if it's not successful, it increases the number of titles you have out there, so can't hurt discoverability. With eBooks a lack of instant success can always have a 'yet' appended (or so I insist on telling myself), and a collected edition can be there for customers who prefer a larger word count.

 

[HareBrain]

Thanks for the replies so far -- they've all been interesting.

I remember when Stephen King published The Green Mile as a serial--I really looked forward to receiving each new instalment...it all seemed like an Event. I'll be interested to see the responses here; I had never thought of an author other than someone with King-like stature self-pubbing a serialization of their work, but it sounds intriguing.

I guess one benefit would be that the consumer might be more inclined to give a new author a try if they could pay, say, £2 for one instalment, rather than, say, £10 for an entire book.

Clearly it's not going to seem an "event" unless you already have an army of readers, and that's not going to happen for a while unless (as springs says) you have a very good social media platform in place. But I'm not sure there are necessarily any downsides to doing it this way compared with single volumes, depending on pricing and so on.

My initial thought would be to make the first one free, then £1.49 for the next four (the lower limit for 70% cut on Amazon), with say a "bundled" option of £4. But I'm just kicking ideas around.

When you say that your WiPs are too long for self-published books, HB, do you mean in terms of being printed? Or are you also worried that they'd be too long as eBooks?

Not necessarily offputtingly long, just that they wouldn't necessarily be seen as more valuable than a book half the size. It seems ebook readers don't mind shorter books (as long as they're not overpriced), and long ones are not necessarily a draw. It also seems to help get yourself noticed and established if you get stuff out frequently -- so fifteen novellas at monthly intervals rather than three novels at six-monthly intervals.

Anyhow, don't forget that for each instalment you'd have to recap on what had happened so far.

Yes, and I think a "previously" section would work better than trying to insert it into the text for each one. Plus it wouldn't muck up the single-volume edition.

(50 shades of Otter? )

For gawd's sake don't give him ideas.

But! You'd need a really good social media platform, I think. And you'd need it in place, at least partly, before you started.

That would be advantageous of course, but I'm not sure its lack would be any more harmful than launching a single-volume book?

I tried serialising a story (as eBooks), because that was the way the story wanted to go (a series of shorter stories which grew into a larger one). It wasn't successful, but that was likely due to my lack of a following and marketing skills.

I'm always interested in hearing what marketing lessons people have learned.

I'd say decide how you feel the story works best, and then decide how you'll release and market it.

Even if it's not successful, it increases the number of titles you have out there, so can't hurt discoverability.

That's my thinking too. In terms of how it works best, I think it does have a somewhat retro feel to it, in that (to me) it reads a bit like an updated version of some of the adventure stories from back in the day. And I think there's enough going on that none of the separate parts would feel too light on incident. For both those reasons I think the serial format might suit it.

Anyway, thanks again -- plenty of food for thought, and more always welcome!

 

[ratsy]

Isn't this kind of what Hugh Howdy did, with the Wool series? It sure worked for him.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Offering the first bit free sounds like a good idea anyway whether you decide to serialize it or not. Giving people a large chunk to draw them in will make them more willing to buy the rest, and since it is a long book they would be willing to pay the price for the remaining book, either in installments or the whole thing, if you've really hooked them with the first 20% or so.

 

[HareBrain]

Offering the first bit free sounds like a good idea anyway whether you decide to serialize it or not. Giving people a large chunk to draw them in will make them more willing to buy the rest, and since it is a long book they would be willing to pay the price for the remaining book, either in installments or the whole thing, if you've really hooked them with the first 20% or so.

Yes, if I published it as one volume I would still offer a substantial portion as a free sample. Quite how much, I'm not sure, but it strikes me that offering the first half, or even the first 80%, wouldn't be ridiculous -- it would show a lot of confidence that the quality is maintained throughout and that the story isn't going to flag towards the end. And who's not going to fork out for the last 20% if they've got that far (and still like it)?

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

The question is how much they would be willing to fork out for 20% of a book, even if it's the last part and they are dying to know how it ends. I think you have to strike the right balance between how much it will take to make them desperate to read the rest, and how much they are willing to pay for once you've got them. Half the book sounds like it might be about right.

 

[HareBrain]

The question is how much they would be willing to fork out for 20% of a book, even if it's the last part and they are dying to know how it ends.

The same thing occurred to me as I was typing it. I'd be interested to know what people think of that.

(I suspect you're right that half would be the best balance.)

 

[tinkerdan]

From a readers POV I will tell you what I think of serials.

Yes a lot of self publishers have done this.

Most of those are simply annoying because they were meant to be one full story.

If you have a novel then you have a novel and please publish it as a novel.

If on paper it seems large then find a mid point to cut it unless you have over a thousand pages in print then you might try three or four.

I've read some of these 20k pieces and they are sad in the sense that some take 12 parts which at 99c US is almost 12.00 for a single novel by someone relatively unknown and that alone is not very smart. thats about a 240k book or two 120 k books or 4 60k books and I think at 4-60K at 1.50 would be about right because that would be 6.00 US not bad for the equivalent of two fat novels at 120k.

Anything smaller and anymore sections tends to make me hyper critical of the whole piece because I sense that they are not complete stories. I could even live with the cliff hanger or no such thing as an end, ending, if I was certain that there would be an end in four parts. Waiting 12 parts for any of it to make sense is too much.

My advice publish it as one novel.

Or if it is too long then split it into two novels.

If it's too long to split into two novels then maybe it needs to be tightened.

The serials I see out there and read; I give bad reviews to and those reviews have the most 'likes' of all my reviews.

 

[Chel]

For me this is just a big no.
I've taken a bit of a hiatus from Fantasy and read a lot of self-pubbed romance lately. This trend of serialising novels is annoying, not only to me but to a lot of people who actually writes reviews on Amazon.

If I want to read your book, I want it all and I want it now. I don't want to read only a teaser (even if was free) knowing that it might take a long time before I got to know what happened. I want to be able to stay up until 4 am because I can't put the book down, not have to find something else after you leave me hanging. Chances are by the time the next installment comes out, I'll have forgotten all about it.

Still, if you want to try this, I'd suggest you write it all from start to finish and make sure to publish the different parts in quick succession. Also offer the whole thing at a package price for the binge readers - does it have to be an either/or solution? Can't you do both?

Edit: And definitely, if you serialise it, make the first part free to hook the reader. Just because I personally want it all and now doesn't mean everyone does.

 

[HareBrain]

Still, if you want to try this, I'd suggest you write it all from start to finish and make sure to publish the different parts in quick succession. Also offer the whole thing at a package price for the binge readers - does it have to be an either/or solution? Can't you do both?

Edit: And definitely, if you serialise it, make the first part free to hook the reader. Just because I personally want it all and now doesn't mean everyone does.

Yes, all those were what I would have done, but further reflection has led me to think it's not really workable, especially not for a first novel. Maybe it would work for someone who already has a large following.

Even the TV season analogy isn't in its favour -- how many people would rather have the box set straight away?

Thanks everyone for the opinions, though.


ETA: one idea that has come out of this is that the first six chapters do work well as an introduction. If I could get it done cheaply enough, I'd think of having this printed as a promotional handout, with its own cover. (The ebook free sample would probably be even longer.)

 

[Ray McCarthy]

See
http://www.elconic.com/

No forward planning, written once or twice a week and published virtually without edit and no other reader.
(Not me, but I know the Author and I maintain the Website / hosting and provided the domain)

See also Corduroy Mansions (written in ongoing method for Newspaper originally)

 

[AnyaKimlin]

There's a couple of publishers doing serialised books. One wanted Mayhem and were going to cut it into 8,000 chunks to send out once a month. I've gone and forgotten their name but they are still going as I saw an advert last month.