Does anyone have any interest in web serials?

[Stable]

I was thinking about this after Phyrebrat's serial thread, there's a whole online community of writers making web serials, does anyone here have one? Is anyone thinking about writing one?

For anyone unaware of the genre/style(?) it can be seen as a different form of self publishing, and done well it can have quite a unique form, as well as the obvious benefits/drawbacks around having an audience that gives you feedback as you go. It's mostly just amateur writers, but there are a select few that are making a living as full time authors - Wildbow is probably the most famous. The massive popularity of Worm (a gritty superhero story) is what brought a lot of the audience to the genre in the first place. If you've never read any of Wildbow's work I recommend it, his output is impressive in both quality and volume.

 

[thaddeus6th]

Probably doesn't count as a 'web' serial, but I have just started one (initially three episodes to ascertain if there's sufficient interest, week one downloads of the free first episode were pleasing) called Wandering Phoenix and Roaming Tiger.

Wandering Phoenix and Roaming Tiger episode 1 out now (free)

Are you talking about something free, maybe forum-based?

 

[Vertigo]

Isn't that how The Martian originated?

 

[Stable]

Are you talking about something free, maybe forum-based?

Yes, or blogging sites.

Isn't that how The Martian originated?

Could be, I heard it was a serial of some form, but I never got the chance to check it out.

 

[Danny McG]

Depends what you mean by serial. I've been following the web cartoon strip 'Sluggy Freelance' ever since I first heard of it a couple of years ago.
It was mentioned in one of John Ringo's Posleen books.
I tend to go there every few days and binge read so now I'm only a year or so from being up to date.

 

[Vertigo]

Could be, I heard it was a serial of some form, but I never got the chance to check it out.

Andy Weir was originally publishing the book serially (a chapter at a time I think) on his web site completely free. Then he would edit the chapter based on feedback. Eventually the whole book was published and people started asking if he could provide it in ebook format so he figured out how to do that and put them up on his site for free download. People then asked if he could put it up on Amazon so it would be easier for them to put on their kindles (just how easy do some people need stuff to be). Weir responded that, yes, he could however you'll have to pay on Amazon instead of download free from his site. The response was that's fine as it would be easier for them. So he did and then things started taking off in a big way and he got a traditional publisher and contract for the film rights within a couple of weeks of each other.

I only got the book well after it went viral and got traditionally published. I'd love to get a copy of his original pre-trad publisher version to compare as I think it would be fascinating to see if the publisher's editors changed much.

 

[tinkerdan]

I've mentioned this one before::
In My Daydreams
::In fact the last time I mentioned him, Joe paid a visit.
Advertising in Self-Published Works
Maybe we can get him out here one more time.

Anyway; he publish two books off the serial and I'm sure he is working on the next.
I stopped reading the web page so I hope he keeps publishing the books.

The Legion of Nothing 2: Powers - Kindle edition by Jim Zoetewey. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

 

[Locrian]

I started doing this with my WIP a few years ago, I was struggling with promotion so it didn't really take off. I decided after about 11 chapters I would rather spend the time writing than doing the promotion and admin, so I stopped, and was getting held up in the editing cycle each month. I was pretty happy with my pace though, I kept up a chapter a month for a year. It made me a lot more confident about putting my work out there as well which was good. I feel like I got something out of it, but barring being in a position where I could quit my job and write full time I don't think I would do a serial again. At least, not unless I had already written the whole thing.

 

[Stable]

In My Daydreams

I actually just brought this one up in another thread where someone was asking about superhero stories. Jim's awesome.

 

[Stable]

I was struggling with promotion so it didn't really take off.

I think that's very common, it can take a long time to get an audience. It's definitely something you have to play the long game on. I wrote one for a while, I got up to about 100 entries over 8 months or so and I was definitely doing better by the end, but it was such a slow process!