The Shape of Books
Free your mind from the tyranny of format!
Hey y’all, it’s KimBoo! I’m an author and a podcaster who is also a librarian, text technology historian, and former I.T. project manager. I write about a lot of interesting things, I hope you agree! Please consider supporting me (and my dog!) so I can keep throwing errata & etcetera into the Scriptorium!
The history of the publishing industry has been shaped by the book, and I mean that literally.
When I first started writing Become an Unstoppable Storyteller: How to Craft Compelling Serials, I was at a loss to describe what a “serial” is, and how it is different from a novel or novel series. Most of the time, serial becomes shorthand for “anything that has been serialized.”
I knew that a serial is a recognizable but unacknowledged format for stories, but it took me a while to dig down into why it is a different, and how that difference functions in regards to distribution (always a huge issue with authors trying to get their work in readers’ hands!).
I did eventually figure out what that difference is, but along the way I realized just how much modern writers have been hamstrung by the technology of publication.
When we think of what a “novel” is, we think of a codex style document, roughly about 100+ individual pages bound together, with a cover and a spine. Usually, we think of a hardcover or trade paperback. We don’t think of a scroll, or a clay tablet, or a concertina fold, even though all of those forms have been used as “books” at various times throughout history.
We muddy the waters further because we use the terms “novel” and “book” interchangeably, but they are not synonymous. The term “novel” is actually describing a specific type of content in a book; and while all novels are books, not all books are novels.
We all know this to be true, even when we are slinging the terms around cavalierly, because these terms and concepts have been ground into our perceptions over the years. We know the difference between “book” and “novel” but most of time, we all just talk about “books I’ve read.”
Have you ever really thought about what the word “book” means? It’s pretty vague. Wikipedia sticks to the “text on paper” definition, but in reality, a book is just a medium of information delivery.
Why does it matter, though? Why should authors care?
A Novel History, sort of…
Authors tend to talk about novels as if they are a story format that is naturally occurring in nature, something that has always existed and will always exist. To be fair, that was the implicit bias most of us were taught at all levels of school. We studied short stories, novels, plays, and poems, but only poems and plays were presented as if the form itself had history. (Sure, most of that history narrowed down to “the Greeks did it and then there was Shakespeare” but better than nothing, I suppose.)
Rarely was the information related that the first modern novel was Japanese, The Tale of Genji, which was written approximately in the 11th century b.c.e., and penned by a high ranking but anonymous court lady.
We were not taught that “a long, prose fictional story written down in some form of text” appeared as a literary form in the Western world as early as the 1st century b.c.e., but that such works might more properly be termed proto-novels and usually only survive in pieces. Even when complete versions survive, they are more accurately identified as novellas by modern standards.
Or that short stories as we know them did not appear on the literary scene as an acknowledged literary form until the 18th century b.c.e.! Much less that the history of the short story is steeped in ancient oral storytelling traditions, but was not codified in Western “literary canon” as a separate story form until the medieval ages.
If you got a degree in literature, you probably were taught some of that, but not the relevance to the book publishing history (unless you took a course in bibliography, as in the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects, you wild thing you!). But bibliographic studies are usually narrowly focused on a single book, or a group of books produced by a single publisher. The wider history of books as studied in academia is a fairly modern field and is sometimes called “the history of the book,” but that encompasses sub-fields such as the history of text technology (which was my concentration), textual scholarship, codicology (the study of codices), and of course ye olde bibliography.
Book, Y/N?
I’m going to complicate the matter here by pointing out that the physical aspect of a book is variable: scroll, codex, digital, audio, folded paper (orihon, jingzhe zhuang, concertina binding) are all forms of books. Can a serial be a book? Yes! Many serials are published in hard copy, where individual arcs/volumes are presented as separate books. (This makes the dividing line between “novel series” and “serial” a little wonky, but if you want a deep dive on that topic, check out Become an Unstoppable Storyteller.)
What I want to focus on instead of all this jargon is the question of what you are writing.
We often talk about “our book,” but is it? Is it really? Does it need to be?
In our hurry to get published, we chose our format based on our career arc, but that is soooooo twentieth century!
The way it has gone in the past was determined by the profitability of the format. It has always been true that what makes money is what gets published, and that applies to format as well as content.
Literary authors tend to focus on short stories they submit to literary journals and magazines, up to the point they start getting recognition and can attract an agent. At that point, they can focus on writing a full novel (many start writing novels long before then, but that just means they are ready to roll when their agent secures a publisher). Why? Because literary journals are cheaper to publish than books, so there are more of them, and that allows the literary landscape to be broad and deep enough for new writers to shoulder their way in. Once they have street cred, a publisher becomes willing to drop $$ on publishing their novel.
In the 1900s (oh no, I’m old), many an SFF author started out publishing short stories before leaping into novels for the same reason. But these days, many genre novelists skip that step entirely to put all their energy into writing novels to attract publishers or to self-publish.
When I talk to newbie authors who are looking to launch their career, I spend a lot of time figuring out what they like to write. In a world where “write to market” is the gospel, that strikes them as a waste of time. It’s not.
Sure, if their goal is to write to market, to clear that “20 books to $50k” bar, then they need to write novels with the right tropes for their audience. But I want them to be clear going in so that they aren’t just mesmerized by the format to the extent that they don’t take into account their creative inclinations.
The Flexible Future
Understanding the history of books and publishing is worthwhile because it reveals that the concept of a “book” is far more flexible than we assume. This flexibility opens up exciting possibilities for modern writers of all stripes!
When you are thinking about what you want to write, or what you “should” write, or what everyone else is writing, I encourage you to take the following five steps along the way. It might reveal aspects you have never considered exploring in your author career.
Embrace New Formats: Knowing that books have taken many forms throughout history can inspire you to experiment with unconventional formats. Digital technologies allow for serialization, serials, interactive novels, and multimedia storytelling. Don’t limit yourself to traditional structures if your story demands something different.
Rethink Distribution: The rise of e-books, audiobooks, and web serials shows that readers are open to consuming stories in various ways. Consider how your story might best reach your audience. Could it work as a podcast series? A collection of linked short stories? An episodic web novel?
Challenge Genre Conventions: Just as the definition of a “book” has evolved, so too can genre boundaries. Feel free to blend elements from different genres or create entirely new hybrid forms. Ten years ago, people laughed at ideas like “fantasy cozy mystery romance” but it is a popular sub-genre these days. When LitRPG migrated out of RoyalRoad onto Kindle Unlimited, I remember some authors laughing about how silly it was. It’s now a powerhouse of a genre!
Focus on Story, Not Format: Ultimately, what matters most is the story you’re telling, not the package it comes in. Let your narrative guide your choice of format, rather than forcing your story to fit a predetermined structure.
Adapt to Reader Habits: As reading habits change with technology, be prepared to adapt your writing and publishing strategies. Audiobooks have explode over the past five years, and a hot topic right now is audiobooks on YouTube, which are often more like podcast serials, and usually read by the author. Stay informed about emerging platforms and reader preferences!
By understanding that a “book” is what we make it, you free yourself from unnecessary constraints. This knowledge allows you to focus on what truly matters: crafting compelling stories that resonate with readers, regardless of the format they take!