Novel Serialization?

kaitie

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Hi guys. I used to be a regular on here about 6 years ago, and then life got in the way of my writing (aka, having kids). I have a few things I had been working on back then, including a novel that was agented and shopped around to basically everywhere, but ultimately never found a home. I've toyed with self-publishing it, though I always felt like that wasn't a great fit unless I could afford to spend several thousand to make sure it was done well, which I didn't, and still don't, have.

My husband has been reading a book that was originally a serialized novel. He said it's on a site that he has frequented for a couple of years and he's always enjoyed reading them in that format. He added that he had just seen an article about how it was a promising way for people to actually monetize their work, and that I should really consider doing so with this particular book (and it's sequel that I obviously can't do anything with). I had originally hoped it would be a trilogy.

I'm...considering it, but skeptical. On the one hand, I have what I think is a damned good book that didn't make it because of marketing concerns and right now it's just a brick accomplishing nothing and getting read by no one. On the other, obviously the most ideal scenario would be for it to be published by some big name publisher. Preferably with a million dollar advance, but beggars can't be choosers, I suppose. ;)

I don't want to condemn it to being read by three people and disappearing into obscurity and becoming impossible to ever have published. It's been a long time since it was shopped, so I suppose I could probably find some small publishers to try to submit it to that haven't seen it before and see if it does better now than it did back then, but I don't really have much hope. There isn't really hope for it going to big houses again.

Is this something I should really think about? Is it a scam? A fad? A good way to get nowhere fast?
 

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Awfully good to see you.

* You should think about it.

* But shop it again first. Did you get any requests for fulls or partials? That means a lot. If you didn't get any, your query may be the issue.

If you got partials but no fulls, it may reflect a problem with your opening chapters.

Serializing and self-publishing are really viable options, but not if you don't have the time/bandwidth to be your own publisher/designer/marketing person, or the cash to hire it out.
 

kaitie

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Good to be here.

The book originally had a really good agent and was shopped to all the big publishing houses (and I shopped a lot of small ones after that on my own). It didn't get a single negative comment that I ever heard. I was always told that they loved the book, but didn't know how it would be marketed and that other books that were similar in genre weren't selling. It's possible there were some negative issues, but the comments I saw from editors were positive and aside from one edit we did before shopping it, we never made revisions.

Time is an issue for me, but from what my husband was saying, that's partly why serialization would work better. He said there is a smaller crowd, so to speak, and I guess that the way they get exposure is by readers commenting on them and bumping them up. To be honest I don't fully understand as he was explaining this at two in the morning last night. I don't really have much desire to be a self-marketer and don't have much social media presence.
 

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Hi guys. I used to be a regular on here about 6 years ago, and then life got in the way of my writing (aka, having kids). I have a few things I had been working on back then, including a novel that was agented and shopped around to basically everywhere, but ultimately never found a home. I've toyed with self-publishing it, though I always felt like that wasn't a great fit unless I could afford to spend several thousand to make sure it was done well, which I didn't, and still don't, have.

My husband has been reading a book that was originally a serialized novel. He said it's on a site that he has frequented for a couple of years and he's always enjoyed reading them in that format. He added that he had just seen an article about how it was a promising way for people to actually monetize their work, and that I should really consider doing so with this particular book (and it's sequel that I obviously can't do anything with). I had originally hoped it would be a trilogy.

I'm...considering it, but skeptical. On the one hand, I have what I think is a damned good book that didn't make it because of marketing concerns and right now it's just a brick accomplishing nothing and getting read by no one. On the other, obviously the most ideal scenario would be for it to be published by some big name publisher. Preferably with a million dollar advance, but beggars can't be choosers, I suppose. ;)

I don't want to condemn it to being read by three people and disappearing into obscurity and becoming impossible to ever have published. It's been a long time since it was shopped, so I suppose I could probably find some small publishers to try to submit it to that haven't seen it before and see if it does better now than it did back then, but I don't really have much hope. There isn't really hope for it going to big houses again.

Is this something I should really think about? Is it a scam? A fad? A good way to get nowhere fast?

For whatever it's worth someone on FB today was saying that serialization was a complete bust for them and the complete work does better, gets more reads, than the free chapters (serialized). It's only one data point, and I didn't note who said it, but I was surprised since things like Wattpad seem to work for some folks.
 

kaitie

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Interesting. Do you happen to know how they did the full text?

I honestly don't fully understand how it works. My husband said you can get patreon supporters, and one thing I looked at allows "tipping," but it looks like the tipping is kind of like musicians getting paid for streaming--fractions of a cent per time. I don't really expect to make a ton of money from something like this, but I also don't want to simply offer the whole thing for free, either.
 

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Bust as in the serialization didn't work out.

He recommended against serials, and I assume he self published through normal channels after. I wish I could remember the post or at least the group.
 

kaitie

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Sorry, I wasn't super clear. I had read it didn't do as well as posting full texts, so I was curious what format he did the full texts in that were more successful.
 

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In that case, I'd think about giving a fresh read in hard copy or on an e-reader, and think about whether or not you see anything you want to change, and either change and submit or re-sub now.

That gives you a chance to research serializing, and if there are magazines that serialize novels like yours, or other publishers, and if you want to try that route or do it on your own.

Alternatively, you may decide to shelve that book, and write another one.
 
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kaitie

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I didn't think of looking for magazines that serialize, but that's a really good idea. I don't really want to shelve this one and never really have. I know I'm biased, but I think it's a very good book that holds its own and I want to share that with people. And to be honest I've always thought being turned down because of marketing was a frustrating reason. I think it could find an audience. I just don't want to shoot myself in the metaphorical foot by doing something stupid with it. I also want to write the third book and decided a couple of months ago that I'm going to do that no matter what even if no one else ever sees it just because I want to. I'm really happy with this one and where it is, so I'll look into seeing if there's anywhere I can submit it to that I missed or serial markets that might seem like a good fit. My biggest concern is that I'd mention this and everyone would say, "No, that's the new Publish America, don't do it!"
 

Cephus

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Good to be here.

The book originally had a really good agent and was shopped to all the big publishing houses (and I shopped a lot of small ones after that on my own). It didn't get a single negative comment that I ever heard. I was always told that they loved the book, but didn't know how it would be marketed and that other books that were similar in genre weren't selling. It's possible there were some negative issues, but the comments I saw from editors were positive and aside from one edit we did before shopping it, we never made revisions.

Time is an issue for me, but from what my husband was saying, that's partly why serialization would work better. He said there is a smaller crowd, so to speak, and I guess that the way they get exposure is by readers commenting on them and bumping them up. To be honest I don't fully understand as he was explaining this at two in the morning last night. I don't really have much desire to be a self-marketer and don't have much social media presence.

When you're writing with an eye on publication, you need to be aware of what is selling and what your potential audience wants to see. A lot of people just write a book they want to read and find that they're the only one interested in reading it. That's not a good sign for sales. Of course, that goes for both trade and self publishing because you still have to find an audience that wants your work, but it is something that needs to be considered from the outset.

As far as serialization, I've seen people try it, thinking they could just put it back into a book at the end and the money would come rolling in and that never works. I suppose if you have a book with no sales potential (and that is constantly changing, it might be something that might sell today), it's really up to you what you do with it. After all, it's not doing anything for you now, it can't do any worse no matter what you do, right? The problem still remains with finding an audience and no matter what you do, if nobody wants to read your work, it's not going anywhere.
 

litdawg

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John Scalzi published two books serially through Tor. Of course, that was after having multiple bestsellers done the traditional way, so it's probably not a helpful data point.
 

LJD

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Out of curiosity, which genre is the book?
 

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Since you were agented and got excellent feedback, it might be worth it to go ahead and write another book or two, shop those around, and try to get your foot in the door that way. Once you're published and have begun to build a readership/platform, you become a safer investment so they may be willing to take a risk with a book that is not quite a perfect match for the current market. Additionally, market trends and needs change over time, and it's quite possible that the book that didn't fit six years ago might fit some time in the future. Web serialization is very hit or miss. A few people get wildly popular, a fair number of people end up with a handful of dedicated readers, and many end up with little to no readership. It might be worth it if you have the time and money to put into promoting the book, and just really want to see it out there, but if your true goal is to get published traditionally, I wouldn't quite give up on it yet.
 

Paul Lamb

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Look into serializing on Substack. Listen to The Writing Life podcast (30JUL21) with guess Elle Griffin. A VERY persuasive case is made for serializing and doing it through Substack (or other media like it). If you have a mailing list or can hustle to create one, you have the potential to make much more money this way that a conventionally published novel would likely get. I'm considering it for my novel that's been around the block too.
 

Fuchsia Groan

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I’d be curious to know which platform your husband recommended. I’ve heard of people serializing their fiction on Wattpad and getting millions of views and then getting a trade publishing contract, but Wattpad itself is free, and writers seem to have difficulty monetizing their popularity there. Kindle Vella is Amazon’s new serializing platform. It sounds like the jury’s still out on that. I really don’t know about Substack. The issue is always making your work discoverable by the right readers. You need to know where those readers hang out looking for stuff to read, and how much they’re willing to pay for their reading material.

My impulse is to say that since you have a series, you have nothing to lose by self-publishing. You don’t necessarily need to spend a ton on it, though reading up on marketing and such could help a lot. Your genre is also a factor; some do much better in that arena than others.

That’s not what I did when I was more or less in your position, though. (Book was agented and subbed; book didn’t sell.) It took me a long, long time to let go of that book. I got a new, potentially more marketable idea and revised the book into something totally different. But the agent no longer believed in it, and no other agent wanted a book that had been rejected by ten imprints.

So … I wrote a new book. That one lost me the agent. And then I wrote yet another new book, which got me a new agent, and that book ended up on bookstore shelves, and that led to two more contracts. This all took years, of course. My first subbed book sits in a drawer; it may get self-published someday, or it may not. (I started the first draft so long ago that it took place in the distant-ish future of 2021, when everyone had these amazing handheld devices that connected to the internet. :D It needs some updating.)

The best path depends on your goals. If you mainly just want to do something with this book or series, I don’t think serializing or otherwise self-publishing it will hurt your future publishing chances. It might bring you money or just a feeling of closure. It might feel freeing. It might bring you enthusiastic readers. All of those things are good. It might not bring any of those things, but at least you’ll know you tried and got it out there.

If your ultimate goal is trade publishing, though, I would write another book. Whichever mode or platform you choose, you’re going to be expected to produce more anyway.

My experience with (free) serial fiction is that the experience of having a handful of readers was so intoxicating that I found myself writing hundreds of thousands of words a year, something I never thought I was capable of. Yep, not for money. I doubt anyone would pay me for this stuff, since I’m not writing to market. It’s a ridiculous hobby that I don’t regret one bit.
 
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