Killer serials



Courtesy of Wikipedia.

 

Dickens did it. So did Wilkie Collins. Robert Lewis Stevenson? Yep, him too. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did it as well. Oh, did I mention Stephen King has done it before?

I'm talking about serialized novels, people. Literary magazines were all the rage in the second half of the Nineteenth Century and the first half of the Twentieth Century. This encompasses the likes of Dickens' own periodical, All the Year Round, as well as the piles and piles of pulp fiction magazines, which mostly specialized in short stories. Most of Dickens' novels were published serially, hence their imposing length. The more issues sold, the more money made by a single story.

The tradition of publishing novels in short segments has persisted to this day. A quick jump on Wikipedia tells me that Stephen King began releasing The Plant as a serial in 2000, though it is still (an presumable will remain) unfinished. Arguably, he jumped the gun on this one here. 2000 was still a little early to ask readers to jump on board with e-reading. 

Writers Tracy and Laura Hickman have had more success with their serialized effort, Dragon's Bard, which began in 2010. The story was accessible to subscribers, for a fee, in weekly chapter installments. At the end of the book's digital run, print editions were given to the subscribers. They plan to release the second book in the series in the same fashion, even allowing readers to read the chapters on their Kindles or Nooks.

  

Perhaps it should be mentioned that comic books have been doing this for years. Most comics are released one magazine-like issue at a time, until they're collected into bound book-like volumes called graphic novels. And I'm not just talking about superheroes. Fantasy writer, Neil Gaiman might be more widely known because of the movie adaptations of his work, but he truly rose to prominence because of The Sandman, a serialized story told over 75 issues.

As I've said before, the new world of e-publishing opens us up to endless possibilities when it comes to storytelling, not just publishing. A serialized story allows for smaller chunks of focused storytelling, as well longer, more thought out story arcs. It could also allow writers to keep in those beloved scenes that would otherwise be edited out in order to keep a novel at a more manageable length. At a time when scripted, serialized televisions shows are routinely replaced by 'reality TV', serial novels could be an acceptable alternative to these kinds of stories.

The possibilities are dizzying. And I can’t wait to try them all.