Serialization

If I had to wait a week for the next chapter, I would lose interest, personally. I read in bed and in the bathroom, neither place is suitable for reading something online. Even if I was interested, I would want to see whether the material was of an acceptable standard (IMO) and to my taste before I parted with any cash.
A few dollars a chapter? That sounds like an expensive book, too.
Just my humble opinion.

I'm with Deccydiva.

I hate waiting. Heck, I hate waiting for book sequels - waiting for chapters would drive me nuts.

Virtual Tales has been steadily growing their fanbase over the last several years. Seems the serial market isn't quite dead.

Stunted said:

I can't help but feel that serialization's due for a come back. I mean, think about it. At least in the YA market, the things that arouse the most attention are series (even though sequels tend to suck), and with the rise of the internet, it would be easy and cost effective to just publish chapters online.

So, imagine. You pay a few dollars to subscribe to a novel, and ever weekish, a new chapter comes out. In the interim, everyone's talking about it, wondering what will happen. You get to experience the novel real-time with your friends.

I'm not being real coherent, but I can't help but think it would get people excited about novels again. What do you think?

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The book has to have a big hook to be serialized. I don't see the average novel pulling this off. One reason people get excited between series releases for books like Harry Potter and Twilight is because they have major public relations and marketing teams behind them to constantly push new developments in the media. Most publishing houses don't give big breaks like that their everyday novels and I'm afraid it would sink a book. Plus, any small delay in production could upset the whole project for months.

However, it may very well work with kids and other ages, since a lot of consumers don't mind waiting for weekly or monthly comic book issues, for example. It would be an interesting experiment, but I think the marketing alone would be major obstacle.

Didn't Steven King try to revive serialisation with The Green Mile? I think he got a lot of web subscribers and made a bunch of money. But I don't think anyone outside of the elite bestseller list could sell an online novel in installments to the public.

I write online serials myself. My first one was released on a weekly basis.

I have to confess though, I would be unlikely to commit to reading a serial until it's finished, if only because 1. my memory is lousy and I'm likely to forget what I read before and 2. many, many, many online writers never finish what they start. It's different with published writers (most of the time), but I'd rather not take the chance of investing time in something that goes nowhere.

And I've had a few readers write to me to tell me the same. (Always have to tell them that yes, my story DOES have an ending, eventually.)

I didn't read "The Green Mile" until all its parts were out and done with. I'm the same with other series...haven't even read "Harry Potter" yet because the last part isn't yet out in paperback.

I think there is some use or small market for serializations, but it's mostly not going to seem worth it.

Online, you'll find it a lot where people post stuff for free (I seem to remember The Sims, and The Sims 2 even had some story-writers that would post chapters one at a time). You'll find it a lot on fictionpress and other such sites.

But that is also a complete other circumstance; you don't pay for it, and as tehuti said, you don't know that they'll be finished. You might end up waiting several months for a new chapter, which isn't going to appeal to everyone.

However, since people do pay attention to some of those things on sites like fictionpress, there are a small market of people who would be willing to try it out. If it worked out so it was like TV episode programing, then it might have some potential. Essentially, there would need to be that reassurance that what you started would be finished or complete in itself, and/or just market to the instant gratification factor. It would need marketing, and I don't see it becoming widely popular, but it is possible.

The main points against serials have been noted here:

1) Many people don't have the time to read, and may not think to remind themselves to finish a serial.

2) There are tons of distractions (vid games, TV, work, looking for work) in place that steal one's reading time.

3) It seems to work only with known writers who have a reliable track record of delivering copy on time.

4) While there is a YA following, it is small.

5) Economic meltdown has everyone tightening their belts, including publishers. They are interested in tested money-makers; experimentation is costly.

I've likely missed others, but those are the ones the publishing suits will stare at, then decide "We can't make money with this at this time. Next!"

That might change, and for individual authors, there can be exceptions. I know of a guy who posted chapter one on his website and set up a Paypal link. Fans put in a couple bucks, and when it hit 100.00 he'd post chapter two.

He made a lot of money that way, but he had a large fan following from his published books and the ability to deliver the finished goods.

Not a lot of unpublished newbies are up to that. When I was learning the craft my files were thick with story starts that died in mid-page.

I personally think serials are a VERY cool idea!! I followed a few in magazines back in the day, but those tended to be short two-to-four parters.

That said, I don't have the patience to wait for the next installment. I've a bad habit of putting down whole books halfway through, then forgetting to pick them up again until years later!

I'm sure someone like Stephanie Meyer or J. K. Rowling could break all the rules and succeed with a serial, but they and their publishers know they'll get more cash with a finished book!

I'm not so sure? There are authors on Myspace giving away novels. Some were never going to be published, but others show potential.

The idea works if someone is a half decent writer with a good idea, they can lure a growing readership. The trick is to compete with freebies out there. In fact, I think you'd almost need to lure a readership that believed you could finish the deal by giving something away first, which defeats what you're trying to accomplish???

I write a serial, and have been doing so since the beginning of the year - it's a great format. My goal is three chapters a week (at least 1500 a pop), which has been slightly hampered lately due to job loss. >_>

There are a ton of serials around, just check out Web Fiction Guide.

And...as to the point of people forgetting to read, well - that's what RSS and/or archive binges are for.

As to the quality - there are absolutely brilliant ones, and there is trash. For the latter, you just ignore it, you didn't pay for it, and you have no obligation to keep reading.

The way things are, I don't think you could make a lot of money from something like this, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't work. In fact, it already works for me. I follow some online webcomics, and I'm happy to wait in most cases, that is IF each page has something significant to add to the story and it is updated consistently. IMO, the webcomics "Girl Genius" and "The Phoenix Requiem" do this very well.

I've seen people sometimes just self-pub volumes of the online serial and they do sell some. I doubt they make much, but it must be very satisfying just to share the story. So if that's your goal, go for it! I think there's an audience for that, definitely.