Web Serial Fiction discussion
Converting Webserial to Traditional Novel?
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It depends on how much you revise. I'll revise the serial version of Mikolo and Kate, just to smooth it out, since it changed a bit as the chapters were written. But the next version will be quite different. Some people make a limited amount of chapters available, then link to the site to buy the physical version. From what I've seen on your Kickstarter page, the paperback will have illustrations and I assume it may be a bit longer. If there's enough extra stuff, like bonus chapters & illustrations, it shouldn't affect your sales. But if it's too similar...why bother? Most would read the free version in that case.
Agreed! If it didn't change much, I wouldn't see the point. The truth is the final revision will be a major rewrite. Whole sections of the book are going to disappear, certain characters will also disappear, and that's just what I know so far, as October comes and I take a more complete look at it, I may discover yet more changes that need to be made. So, the physical book will be a very different product than the webserial even just in terms of the story. I think I'm going to add a bit of video talking about this issue specifically (you're not the first person to bring it up) in an update to the kickstarter page.
Well, City of Roses was always planned as a set of paper zines as well as a webserial, so it wasn't that hard to make a book or two as well, once I'd written enough. I've revised very little as I've gone along, so the book text is identical to the serial text; the most I've done to "add value" per se, to the book, is write a brief introduction.At first I wasn't going to bother, because there already was the serial and the zines, but people kept asking for books as well. —People like books. Even if it's available for free elsewhere, they'll buy the book, or the ebook, because they like them and are used to them. And book releases give you an event to focus people's attention, which helps with marketing.
The serial's available here: http://thecityofroses.com/contents and you can see the book listing here http://thecityofroses.com/book (it's also available on Amazon and Smashwords and etc.). And here you can see a picture ( http://thecityofroses.com/images/149.jpg ) of the 22 zines and the two paperback collections (thus far).
Kip, you make an excellent point. People really do like books. In fact a number of my family and friends who aren't reading my serial online had asked me if I would make it a book and had assured me that they would buy it when I do. (And many of them are putting their money where their mouth is right now with my kickstarter campaign.) :-) It's also true that a number of my friends and family who had never really read any of my stuff online made a point of buying my collection of short stories once I had the physical book available for purchase. So I see what you mean. Also, I just read the first segment of the first part of your serial. I enjoyed it! I've known Jo for about 30 seconds and I think I'll like her. I have a ton of work to do this morning, but hopefully I will get a chance to read more later this afternoon. Thanks for your feedback!
Hey all, for anyone who's wondering the kickstarter is going pretty well: 38% funded so far. It appears Kip is right. People do like books! Let's hope they keep liking books all the way to the 100% mark! :-) Here's the link again if you're curious: Blade's Edge
Serials seem to force me to write a strong, fast plot. The surprises that develop when I'm writing a new serial often thrill me. A year or two after I finish one, I may rewrite it--again as a serial. It's such good discipline, especially if you're a perfectionist like me. The second attempt is chronologically coherent, allows for an occasional reflective moment, and provides the characters with indirect motives rather than impulses. It's not as fast but not as superficial either. Surprises still occur to me, just not as often.
For the past two years, I rewrote a serial as a structured novel, which I hadn't done before. I wrote it entirely offline and missed posting something once a week. One factor, which I hadn't imagined would make so much difference--did! The structure called for a first person narrator. I did that once in a serial that ran the length of a longish short story. It went well but as a whole seemed thin.
With this one, I needed to re-imagine everything, rearrange, and of course rewrite everything many times.
Two other serials, described as "quirky" (aka, oddball genre), I have up as e-books. (Great reviews, minuscule sales.)
The bigger one, which I gave all I had for 15 years, might become available in paperback. But I've been saying that--and hoping for it--for nearly a year.
So, I'm working to turn my Jukepop serial Blade's Edge into a paperback novel. The serial will finish up by the end of September, and then I plan to do a full scale revision, hire a copyeditor, commission a cover artist, etc. to turn it into a hold in your hands paperback (and ebook as well). I'm running a Kickstarter right now to raise funds for the whole thing.
I'm wondering: Has anyone else here has done this with their serial? How it has turned out?
I'm leaving the serial on jukepop forever anyway, so it will continue to exist in a free format. Does that seem weird? I'm thinking of it like music, just because a track exists for free streaming on the web doesn't mean people won't buy the album. Thoughts?