I have been doing an experiment, posting a new novel on line as a serial.
The Tale Of Jon Handshaker Every few days I post a new chapter. To date I have 28 chapters posted. Why? Isn't the book good enough to get published?
I think it is, or, it could become good enough. Most of my publishing efforts right now are concentrated on another novel, and I don't really want to be caught up in the query process hell with two novels. Besides, the novel going on line isn't really ready for that yet. It still needs at least a few more chapters written cold, and the chapters that are done are not in a final order yet. I am even considering eliminating some and seriously revising others. No publisher would pick up a novel in this state from an unknown writer.
So, why is it ready for on line if it isn't good enough for publishing?
It is good enough, it just isn't ready, and won't be without a lot of work. Publishing it on line is forcing me to do the work. I have readers now. Real readers, who e-mail and facebook me, prodding me to get that next chapter up. So I sit down and write, edit, proofread, and post.
Each chapter takes a couple of days from the raw state to good enough to post. I have to choose when to publish, which chapter to place next, which characters to emphasize. All of the decisions I would normally do over the course of months, with advice from test readers and an editor.
There are other worries. Some of this story was written ten years ago. My style was very different then. How much do I adapt the old style to my new? How hard do I push the religious theme? Publishing it on line is forcing me to deal with the story on a day to day basis, at what is for me very high speed. It is like the difference between speed chess and chess. Different skills are in play. If I make a mistake it is a lot harder to go back and correct. My readers will react, and I don't want them to react by leaving!
Discipline. Writing on line is disciplining me to write every day, something I have always been weak at. I have often gone months without writing a word, then sat down and ripped out three convoluted chapters in a day. It has worked for me. But it doesn't get the job done very fast. Since I have this story well on the way towards the finish, and I know where I want to go with it, I should be able to write diligently and get it finished in a few months. With my old writing style that just wouldn't happen. Now, I think it will. I have broken the goal down to one chapter at a time, of a thousand to two thousand words per chapter. I can do that. A chapter in a day, then a few days to let it work in my subconscious, a few days to play around with it, revising. A day to proofread, eliminating most of my stock phrases and the typos. And done. Bite the bullet and publish.
Can I keep it up and publish two chapters a week? I will see. It will probably end up being one per week, when I get to the point of writing the final new material.
I wonder, though, if I am losing something. Certainly any chance of ever getting this book in print with a traditional publisher. I plan to finish this on line effort, then put it all together and self publish, an e-book with Amazon or one of the other e-book publishers. Perhaps I can even make a few dollars off of it. I have already gotten a few bucks from Google AdSense click-throughs. Time will tell.
What I really hope to accomplish is to get my name in front of real readers, who are reading because they want to find out how it ends. That, I am accomplishing, though still not in the numbers I would like (millions). Later, they might just buy some other book with my name on it.
