But what’s serial fiction? A serial is episodic fiction; you publish an episode at a time, until you’ve told the story.
Writing serial fiction: questions
Questions authors ask about serial fiction include:
- How long is a complete serial? As a rule of thumb, a serial might match the number of words in a novel in the genre you’ve chosen, but length is up to you.
- What if a serial doesn’t sell? If it doesn’t, it still gives you benefits: you build readers (and fans, we hope) and you add to your publishing catalogue. You could look on your serial as a marketing exercise and an experiment.
I’ve had a couple of students who gave up on a venture into serial fiction. However, the majority found that their serial helped them to sell more books and gain confidence.