I'm late to the original conversation, but the wisdom is evergreen.
Truly, I think serialization may be the missing link to jump past the limited success I've had over the years. My first book alone was on the front page of Amazon in my category for four years. Always in the top 20, ...but few comments, almost no reviews, but sales. I'd have a week when I'd sell 9000+ books (yes, nine thousand books) in 72 hours...but no knowledge why. It would trickle again for weeks, then get another 2K-3K sales over a week. Again, no feedback.
It was...weird.
Goodreads, I received a tad more feedback... but here on Substack the environment is perfectly suited for what I crave, and that's interaction. I'm obsessed with entertaining readers, and you've explained what iI believe I've been missing.
Thank you, Simon, for posting this.
...I'd like to add something, and that's to encourage people to keep writing, despite what experiences you have. So much happens in secret, and you never completely know why some thing happen the way they do.
I am 'nobody' in the way of writers. Most people do not know me and will never know me, but guess what? The money still comes in. My readership still grows over time.
Hope it proves useful when you start your own project!
Generally speaking I only do one fiction project at a time. This is after years of always having multiple projects on the go at the same time, and never finishing any of them. My natural tendency is to multitask on lots of things (ooh, I'll make a game! ooh, I'll write a book! ooh, I'll draw a comic! etc), but it almost always works out badly for me, and for the projects. :)
Since A Day of Faces back in 2015, I've focused on one thing at a time. If other ideas occur I'll write them down to come back to alter. No Adults Allowed, my 3rd book, was I think something which I thought of during the writing of The Mechanical Crown, but I kept it locked away until I'd finished the other project first.
I do, however, continue to write the occasional non-fiction thing. Previously I've always put these up on Medium. Sometimes they're writing-related, but can also be about tech, or just general bloggy musings. Right now I'm also writing the Monday newsletter, such as this one, so I'm taking quite a new approach with Tales from the Triverse. Monday non-fiction/tips, (occasional) Wednesday bonuses for paid subscribers, and early access fiction chapters for paid subscribers on Fridays. It's a much bigger commitment than I'm used to, but it's working so far. It helps that it's all largely connected, rather than being entirely different things.
Good advice and pragmatic pointers in the approach to serialisation. I have an audio book I've been uploading chapter by chapter twice a week. But while I'm biding time I'm drafting a new book which I hope to serialise. I was just struggling with when to start - I'm up to chapter 20 in draft. But reading your article made me think that I need to at least finish the draft and be clear about the subplots and ending before diving in! Thanks again for the helpful info.
Hi NIcky! A lot of it depends on your writing style and how you prefer to do things. I tend to write and publish as I go, but other people much prefer to write ahead, or even finish the whole manuscript before beginning the serialisation.
Thanks for sharing your work, Simon; this has been super helpful so far, and you have convinced me more about serialisation. I plan to serialise my second book instead of going to a hybrid publisher as I did with my first. I was looking for your thoughts on a twisted two-fold approach. Firstly, I have the Audiobook of the published book of fantasy fiction, which I will be giving away in episodes in a couple of weeks (I don't currently have rights to written serialised publication of my first). Secondly, this will be followed by the serialisation of book two, which is a continuation of book one in a short series of three. This is part of a 17-book collection with a core final story at the centre.
Having different media to serialise is, I know, will be a challenge. I'm wondering if it's wise, given I wish to approach serialisation with a view to earning a following for the next and crucial story I am about to begin. Or would you treat the audiobook as a separate stack and start afresh? I planned to keep each of the six-book series in a stack.
Thanks for this Simon, I'm really appreciating your intel on serial writing - especially for online publishing and as a method of producing novels. Being a task-oriented kind of guy this seems to be a method that has higher than zero chances of success for me!
I'd been toying around with the idea of a kind of micro-serialisation as a way to build my creative muscles before tackling the mountain of a novel. I think I'm still going to do some of that as a way of catching attention in the wild so I can lead readers back here to Substack.
Sounds like a plan. You can always try doing one, see how it goes, and then change the plan if needed. 6-8 chapters is 6-8 weeks (obviously), which feels eminently doable, I'd say? By serialising it means you're getting the work out there, which feel a lot more satisfying (to me, anyway) than having it stuffed in a drawer somewhere.
With Triverse, my current project, I've gone down an anthology series route. Lots of 4-5 chapter mini stories, but all tied together into a larger narrative. I haven't done anything quite like it before and it's been a lot of fun.
That’s kind of what I’m thinking - though I don’t want to commit to it yet - having an underlying cohesion that isn’t necessarily obvious to the reader initially, but all comes together at a later point.
I’m also a bit flakey, so who knows where I’m actually going to end up with any of these ideas to be honest! 😂
About 12 years ago, I serialized a novel I was writing on my website blog. I had only a few readers, but what a difference it made in me actually completing that novel. For quite some time, I've been thinking of updating my book, and including some illustrations or even comic pages of some of it. What you write here - and what I'm seeing about how you and others post serialized fiction, is helping me pull other ideas together. Of course, I have a bunch of stories I've written that I'd love to put forth. Hm ....
That's what I've always found. Even when I first started and just had a couple of readers, the way it transformed my motivation was really surprising. It's an enormously fun way to write.
When you’re serializing your novels in this week by week way, are you concerned about getting professional edits, are you getting beta readers, or are you just doing the edits yourself?
I find the hardest part for me to be the editing stages. I’m so nitpicky about my own work that it takes waaaay too long to get anything done.
I'm just doing the editing and proofing myself - which I'm well aware is not ideal! I do have a background in copywriting, which helps a little. But inevitably the polish of my chapters is going to be lower overall than a professionally published novel someone buys in a bookshop. I try to be quite up front about that, though - readers of online serial fiction do know what they're signing up for. The trade-off is that they get to be there for the creation of the story, in real time, and be part of that process.
Thanks, this was helpful. I am in the early stages of doing this. My current plan is to have a set of "adventures" the hero's embark on while gradually revealing the back story of the main characters. My goal is to have each story work as a stand alone piece while building up the back story. I like your idea of completing a few chapters before hand. I am part of a critique group and I plan to use their feedback. I am still not sure of the details, we will see what happens.
I've increasingly come to think that short stories and smaller pieces of fiction work best on Substack. My work has always been quite long-form, though my current project is more of an anthology - sounds similar to yours, in that it's several 2-4 part storylines, which string together into a larger narrative. Readers can dip in and out or read it more like a novel.
"Serialisation is an incredible productivity hack for anyone who is prone to procrastination or becoming distracted. For me, the knowledge that there are readers waiting for more is all I need to keep writing." --> ME! Seriously.
I actually published serial fiction around 2005 or so. I wrote a novel in public for 2 years, and when I reached the end, my readers cheered! It was addictive, the community and the rapid feedback. I loved it. I hope to get the same thing again ... somehow ;)
Yes! I wrote a big fantasy novel called The Mechanical Crown, which took about 3 years, and reaching the end felt like an achievement for reader as much as it was for me. :)
Hello Simon, I just discovered and subscribed today! I wanted to know your thoughts on serialising short stories on Substack - would an 8 part, 10 part+ story work as well as a novel? I’ve been writing short stories to practice while working on my full length WIP, but am discovering the short wins with finishing a short story very satisfying! The peak of the novel mountain just seems a bit too out of reach at this point. Thanks! MJ
Hi MJ! While I haven't tried it myself (yet!) I think short serialised stories could work better, if anything. A problem I'm facing with my long-form serials is that it's quite hard to convince people to jump on board when you're at chapter 45 - instead of seeming like lots of free value/exciting stuff to read, it can end up feeling like homework the reader has to do in order to catch up. With shorter stories it's more obviously manageable and marketable.
That’s interesting feedback, and it does make sense. Knowing there are so many chapters to chase, the first chapter would have to be VERY compelling for me to want to keep on reading. That’s very encouraging for me, thank you! Maybe I’ll get to read some of your short pieces soon!
As is typical in my life, I fall in the middle ground of how I am planning to write my serial. The safety net strategy sounds perfect. I can totally relate to having only a few readers as enough motivation. When my writing group is jazzed for the next chapter of my WIP, I am so jazzed to write!
Hello Simon! This is exactly what I needed to read. Thank you. I'm working may way through your tutorial on serialisation. I'm a newbie here and write about Mexico, the Maya, moving to a fishing village in the Mex-Caribbean and opening a bookstore. Readers like my back story and I've written a memoir a while back and am little by little putting out posts on my trajectory, the story of how I got there. I haven't called it a serial at this time, b/c I also want to include in my stack researched articles on things like Maya culture, archeology, women MX artists, historical stuff. Things that interest me. Do you think I should mention that it IS rather like a serial (I've written roughly 4-5 posts beginning my journey. I'm a little flummoxed and actually don't want to include entire chapters from memoir as I think they're perhaps too long. I'm trying to bring things down to 4-5 min. reads. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, and it's awesome that you put together this PDF on serialization. Thank you! jeanine Mexicosoul.substack.com
I'm considering publishing serially and have found your posts very interesting. Question...have you ever tried going back and retconning something that you had previously published? If so how did readers react?
I'm late to the original conversation, but the wisdom is evergreen.
Truly, I think serialization may be the missing link to jump past the limited success I've had over the years. My first book alone was on the front page of Amazon in my category for four years. Always in the top 20, ...but few comments, almost no reviews, but sales. I'd have a week when I'd sell 9000+ books (yes, nine thousand books) in 72 hours...but no knowledge why. It would trickle again for weeks, then get another 2K-3K sales over a week. Again, no feedback.
It was...weird.
Goodreads, I received a tad more feedback... but here on Substack the environment is perfectly suited for what I crave, and that's interaction. I'm obsessed with entertaining readers, and you've explained what iI believe I've been missing.
Thank you, Simon, for posting this.
...I'd like to add something, and that's to encourage people to keep writing, despite what experiences you have. So much happens in secret, and you never completely know why some thing happen the way they do.
I am 'nobody' in the way of writers. Most people do not know me and will never know me, but guess what? The money still comes in. My readership still grows over time.
So please don't give up/.
Hi Simon, thank you for this post. I am planning to serialize my novel, in a couple of months time. Have earmarked this post for rereading.
A quick question - Did you post anything other than the novel during that period?
Hope it proves useful when you start your own project!
Generally speaking I only do one fiction project at a time. This is after years of always having multiple projects on the go at the same time, and never finishing any of them. My natural tendency is to multitask on lots of things (ooh, I'll make a game! ooh, I'll write a book! ooh, I'll draw a comic! etc), but it almost always works out badly for me, and for the projects. :)
Since A Day of Faces back in 2015, I've focused on one thing at a time. If other ideas occur I'll write them down to come back to alter. No Adults Allowed, my 3rd book, was I think something which I thought of during the writing of The Mechanical Crown, but I kept it locked away until I'd finished the other project first.
I do, however, continue to write the occasional non-fiction thing. Previously I've always put these up on Medium. Sometimes they're writing-related, but can also be about tech, or just general bloggy musings. Right now I'm also writing the Monday newsletter, such as this one, so I'm taking quite a new approach with Tales from the Triverse. Monday non-fiction/tips, (occasional) Wednesday bonuses for paid subscribers, and early access fiction chapters for paid subscribers on Fridays. It's a much bigger commitment than I'm used to, but it's working so far. It helps that it's all largely connected, rather than being entirely different things.
That is a lot of writing but all of it sounds like a lot of fun. Thanks for the detailed reply 🙂
Hi Simon
Good advice and pragmatic pointers in the approach to serialisation. I have an audio book I've been uploading chapter by chapter twice a week. But while I'm biding time I'm drafting a new book which I hope to serialise. I was just struggling with when to start - I'm up to chapter 20 in draft. But reading your article made me think that I need to at least finish the draft and be clear about the subplots and ending before diving in! Thanks again for the helpful info.
Hi NIcky! A lot of it depends on your writing style and how you prefer to do things. I tend to write and publish as I go, but other people much prefer to write ahead, or even finish the whole manuscript before beginning the serialisation.
It’s lots of fun either way. :)
Thanks - I'm too nervous to do it too early in the story...but may get braver as the story progresses!
Best to start carefully, rather than jump in head first and discover there’s no water in the pool.
You can always change it up with each new project, try a different approach each time.
Thanks for sharing your work, Simon; this has been super helpful so far, and you have convinced me more about serialisation. I plan to serialise my second book instead of going to a hybrid publisher as I did with my first. I was looking for your thoughts on a twisted two-fold approach. Firstly, I have the Audiobook of the published book of fantasy fiction, which I will be giving away in episodes in a couple of weeks (I don't currently have rights to written serialised publication of my first). Secondly, this will be followed by the serialisation of book two, which is a continuation of book one in a short series of three. This is part of a 17-book collection with a core final story at the centre.
Having different media to serialise is, I know, will be a challenge. I'm wondering if it's wise, given I wish to approach serialisation with a view to earning a following for the next and crucial story I am about to begin. Or would you treat the audiobook as a separate stack and start afresh? I planned to keep each of the six-book series in a stack.
Thanks for this Simon, I'm really appreciating your intel on serial writing - especially for online publishing and as a method of producing novels. Being a task-oriented kind of guy this seems to be a method that has higher than zero chances of success for me!
I'd been toying around with the idea of a kind of micro-serialisation as a way to build my creative muscles before tackling the mountain of a novel. I think I'm still going to do some of that as a way of catching attention in the wild so I can lead readers back here to Substack.
Thinking now that what might work best for me is going serialised novellas. Maybe 6-8 chapters, then change to a different focus.
Sounds like a plan. You can always try doing one, see how it goes, and then change the plan if needed. 6-8 chapters is 6-8 weeks (obviously), which feels eminently doable, I'd say? By serialising it means you're getting the work out there, which feel a lot more satisfying (to me, anyway) than having it stuffed in a drawer somewhere.
With Triverse, my current project, I've gone down an anthology series route. Lots of 4-5 chapter mini stories, but all tied together into a larger narrative. I haven't done anything quite like it before and it's been a lot of fun.
That’s kind of what I’m thinking - though I don’t want to commit to it yet - having an underlying cohesion that isn’t necessarily obvious to the reader initially, but all comes together at a later point.
I’m also a bit flakey, so who knows where I’m actually going to end up with any of these ideas to be honest! 😂
About 12 years ago, I serialized a novel I was writing on my website blog. I had only a few readers, but what a difference it made in me actually completing that novel. For quite some time, I've been thinking of updating my book, and including some illustrations or even comic pages of some of it. What you write here - and what I'm seeing about how you and others post serialized fiction, is helping me pull other ideas together. Of course, I have a bunch of stories I've written that I'd love to put forth. Hm ....
That's what I've always found. Even when I first started and just had a couple of readers, the way it transformed my motivation was really surprising. It's an enormously fun way to write.
Hope all your projects come together as planned!
Thank you, Simon!
When you’re serializing your novels in this week by week way, are you concerned about getting professional edits, are you getting beta readers, or are you just doing the edits yourself?
I find the hardest part for me to be the editing stages. I’m so nitpicky about my own work that it takes waaaay too long to get anything done.
I'm just doing the editing and proofing myself - which I'm well aware is not ideal! I do have a background in copywriting, which helps a little. But inevitably the polish of my chapters is going to be lower overall than a professionally published novel someone buys in a bookshop. I try to be quite up front about that, though - readers of online serial fiction do know what they're signing up for. The trade-off is that they get to be there for the creation of the story, in real time, and be part of that process.
Thanks, this was helpful. I am in the early stages of doing this. My current plan is to have a set of "adventures" the hero's embark on while gradually revealing the back story of the main characters. My goal is to have each story work as a stand alone piece while building up the back story. I like your idea of completing a few chapters before hand. I am part of a critique group and I plan to use their feedback. I am still not sure of the details, we will see what happens.
I've increasingly come to think that short stories and smaller pieces of fiction work best on Substack. My work has always been quite long-form, though my current project is more of an anthology - sounds similar to yours, in that it's several 2-4 part storylines, which string together into a larger narrative. Readers can dip in and out or read it more like a novel.
Good luck with your project!
"Serialisation is an incredible productivity hack for anyone who is prone to procrastination or becoming distracted. For me, the knowledge that there are readers waiting for more is all I need to keep writing." --> ME! Seriously.
I actually published serial fiction around 2005 or so. I wrote a novel in public for 2 years, and when I reached the end, my readers cheered! It was addictive, the community and the rapid feedback. I loved it. I hope to get the same thing again ... somehow ;)
Yes! I wrote a big fantasy novel called The Mechanical Crown, which took about 3 years, and reaching the end felt like an achievement for reader as much as it was for me. :)
Hello Simon, I just discovered and subscribed today! I wanted to know your thoughts on serialising short stories on Substack - would an 8 part, 10 part+ story work as well as a novel? I’ve been writing short stories to practice while working on my full length WIP, but am discovering the short wins with finishing a short story very satisfying! The peak of the novel mountain just seems a bit too out of reach at this point. Thanks! MJ
Hi MJ! While I haven't tried it myself (yet!) I think short serialised stories could work better, if anything. A problem I'm facing with my long-form serials is that it's quite hard to convince people to jump on board when you're at chapter 45 - instead of seeming like lots of free value/exciting stuff to read, it can end up feeling like homework the reader has to do in order to catch up. With shorter stories it's more obviously manageable and marketable.
Do let me know how it goes if you give it a try!
That’s interesting feedback, and it does make sense. Knowing there are so many chapters to chase, the first chapter would have to be VERY compelling for me to want to keep on reading. That’s very encouraging for me, thank you! Maybe I’ll get to read some of your short pieces soon!
As is typical in my life, I fall in the middle ground of how I am planning to write my serial. The safety net strategy sounds perfect. I can totally relate to having only a few readers as enough motivation. When my writing group is jazzed for the next chapter of my WIP, I am so jazzed to write!
Hello Simon! This is exactly what I needed to read. Thank you. I'm working may way through your tutorial on serialisation. I'm a newbie here and write about Mexico, the Maya, moving to a fishing village in the Mex-Caribbean and opening a bookstore. Readers like my back story and I've written a memoir a while back and am little by little putting out posts on my trajectory, the story of how I got there. I haven't called it a serial at this time, b/c I also want to include in my stack researched articles on things like Maya culture, archeology, women MX artists, historical stuff. Things that interest me. Do you think I should mention that it IS rather like a serial (I've written roughly 4-5 posts beginning my journey. I'm a little flummoxed and actually don't want to include entire chapters from memoir as I think they're perhaps too long. I'm trying to bring things down to 4-5 min. reads. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, and it's awesome that you put together this PDF on serialization. Thank you! jeanine Mexicosoul.substack.com
I'm considering publishing serially and have found your posts very interesting. Question...have you ever tried going back and retconning something that you had previously published? If so how did readers react?