Serialization is a thing, and it’s changing what we’re demanding of our fiction.
For the last few weeks, I’ve been picking up free and 99c books at Amazon. At Amazon because I read on a kindle and because all of my self-published books are exclusive to Amazon (the requirement to enrol them in Amazon’s lending library, Kindle Unlimited). So as both a reader and an author, I’m Amazon-focussed. Also, Amazon is currently the biggest player in book retailing, so it’s commonsense to be aware of what they’re doing.
The books I picked up were light-hearted and mostly romance or cozy mystery. They also, on the whole, were severely deficient in PLOT. When they weren’t, when the story actually had tension, drama and a satisfying resolution, it was a hallelujah moment. And yet, even with the plot perhaps only fifty percent developed, I often went on to pick up a second and even third book in the series.
Why?
The characters hooked me. Yes, even though most characters were walking, posing cliches, I loved them. I wallowed in banter. Not high class banter, just give-and-take snark and good humour. In short, I realised I was reading the ebook equivalent of a sitcom. In describing this to an author friend, I described it as “Friends” TV. Who could hate “Friends“? Turns out my friend could! 😉
Then, today, in wandering around the internet, I came across Jane Friedman’s coverage of the NINC15 conference for established authors and publishing industry professionals, and what was Jane talking about — serialization. She used the metaphor of stand-alone novels as movies, and linked books as television shows. So maybe, my “Friends” TV show insight is true?
Jane poses an intriguing question.
I think she’s identified an important factor in the demand for sitcom fiction, and in how authors are positioning to meet it. In the books I read in the last few weeks, plotting, proof-reading, and a whole range of traditionally vital elements were only minimally addressed and it didn’t matter! What mattered to me, as a reader, was sinking into a world that was reassuringly familiar.
This is a different world. In the pecking order of authorship, literary authors tended to look down on genre authors, but now I suspect genre authors of stand alone books will look down on serial authors. And guess what? As always, snobbery will blind people to the blinkin’ obvious: if you’re satisfying your audience, congratulations!