Hi Kim, I bought the paperback version of your excellent book. Loving it so far, but is there a place where I can get the links? The paperback doesn’t provide any, especially for the spreadsheet…
Absolutely! I thought I had this link in the back matter but I'll double check. This page has all the links including the one to the spreadsheet. Please let me know if you have any questions!
I mentioned hearing your interview on the Subscriptions for Authors podcast. It was excellent. So informative. Here’s what’s buzzing around in my head as a result.
I joined Substack having heard of serialization and thinking that might work well for my WIP (long historical fiction). I got here and started learning about it. What I heard was: don’t make it too long (but I hear differently from your interview), and structure it with tidy interior “episodes”, clear internal beats. I imagine that almost like a short story series/anthology with an over-arching plot, like a long fantasy book series, but in shorter increments – if I’m making sense.
Anyway, I’ve decided it would not work for my WIP. My WIP is complex and tightly woven. I’ve long wished I could turn it into a trilogy/series, but there are no big wrap up points until the very end. There are set pieces and big shifts, but too many of the story questions remain and keep pulling the story forward.
I also can’t see readers dipping in and out of it. They would be lost. It’s set in a context unfamiliar to most readers, so nothing can be taken for granted. So, I don’t think a drip, drip of release will work for that book.
However, I am currently reading a long Hist Fic here on Substack and it is excellent. But I am reading it like a continuous ebook. The book is finished and all posted. I can read for as long as I want at any stretch.
I think my book would work fine that way. Essentially as an ebook posted here.
On the other hand, I had one of those in-the-shower ah-hah moments. My mother left me with several manuscripts in various degrees of completion. One of them is 95% done (could use a copy edit), and, she recorded it. The structure of that book is a series of 1st person retellings of what is happening through the story. I think THAT book might just work. It could not go on forever, but it’s about 120K – so, plenty of material.
Anyway, I’m just brainstorming and can’t give that book the time it needs right now, but I’m going to grab your new book and see what I think about turning Mom’s manuscript into a serial before turning it into a book. I think it may be well suited.
Whew. Thanks for what you are doing. You’re bushwhacking ahead of the rest of us!
Gina and I talk a lot about these issues b/c she writes HF too. It's definitely a different genre with different reader expectations, but I think that it could work as a serial. I think for genres like HF and literary fiction, a serial is more about the experience of the journey, more like a leisurely cruise than a jet plane, so to speak. I think you could post it serially if you craft in asides about the research you've done, and engage your readers with what they love most about the genre: the history.
Your mother's books sound like they would be great to serialize! Definitely keep me posted as you explore that idea! I hope my book gives you some good ideas for it. :)
Thanks for your input, KimBoo. I love that we have so many new possibilities today. So much to think through and to try. Cool thing is, it's not a one and done anymore. We can repurpose, repackage our own work however we wish. I just downloaded your book! So excited. It may be awhile before I implement, but this will help me know the options going forward. Thanks for your hard work!
As an outliner & planner, I've often thought serials ideally ought to be planned in advance, though I've never written them myself. What a great resource you've provided!
Thank you! The irony is that I'm very much a pantser, but I do like having beats to structure around, however haphazardly. I hope this book helps all of us!
Hi Kim, I bought the paperback version of your excellent book. Loving it so far, but is there a place where I can get the links? The paperback doesn’t provide any, especially for the spreadsheet…
Absolutely! I thought I had this link in the back matter but I'll double check. This page has all the links including the one to the spreadsheet. Please let me know if you have any questions!
https://houseofyork.info/serials-links/
It might very well be, but I haven’t gotten to that point yet 😊 Thanks so much for the quick reply!
Hi KimBoo!
I mentioned hearing your interview on the Subscriptions for Authors podcast. It was excellent. So informative. Here’s what’s buzzing around in my head as a result.
I joined Substack having heard of serialization and thinking that might work well for my WIP (long historical fiction). I got here and started learning about it. What I heard was: don’t make it too long (but I hear differently from your interview), and structure it with tidy interior “episodes”, clear internal beats. I imagine that almost like a short story series/anthology with an over-arching plot, like a long fantasy book series, but in shorter increments – if I’m making sense.
Anyway, I’ve decided it would not work for my WIP. My WIP is complex and tightly woven. I’ve long wished I could turn it into a trilogy/series, but there are no big wrap up points until the very end. There are set pieces and big shifts, but too many of the story questions remain and keep pulling the story forward.
I also can’t see readers dipping in and out of it. They would be lost. It’s set in a context unfamiliar to most readers, so nothing can be taken for granted. So, I don’t think a drip, drip of release will work for that book.
However, I am currently reading a long Hist Fic here on Substack and it is excellent. But I am reading it like a continuous ebook. The book is finished and all posted. I can read for as long as I want at any stretch.
I think my book would work fine that way. Essentially as an ebook posted here.
On the other hand, I had one of those in-the-shower ah-hah moments. My mother left me with several manuscripts in various degrees of completion. One of them is 95% done (could use a copy edit), and, she recorded it. The structure of that book is a series of 1st person retellings of what is happening through the story. I think THAT book might just work. It could not go on forever, but it’s about 120K – so, plenty of material.
Anyway, I’m just brainstorming and can’t give that book the time it needs right now, but I’m going to grab your new book and see what I think about turning Mom’s manuscript into a serial before turning it into a book. I think it may be well suited.
Whew. Thanks for what you are doing. You’re bushwhacking ahead of the rest of us!
Back to work!
Gina and I talk a lot about these issues b/c she writes HF too. It's definitely a different genre with different reader expectations, but I think that it could work as a serial. I think for genres like HF and literary fiction, a serial is more about the experience of the journey, more like a leisurely cruise than a jet plane, so to speak. I think you could post it serially if you craft in asides about the research you've done, and engage your readers with what they love most about the genre: the history.
Your mother's books sound like they would be great to serialize! Definitely keep me posted as you explore that idea! I hope my book gives you some good ideas for it. :)
Thanks for your input, KimBoo. I love that we have so many new possibilities today. So much to think through and to try. Cool thing is, it's not a one and done anymore. We can repurpose, repackage our own work however we wish. I just downloaded your book! So excited. It may be awhile before I implement, but this will help me know the options going forward. Thanks for your hard work!
As an outliner & planner, I've often thought serials ideally ought to be planned in advance, though I've never written them myself. What a great resource you've provided!
Thank you! The irony is that I'm very much a pantser, but I do like having beats to structure around, however haphazardly. I hope this book helps all of us!