Serial Fiction on a Tightrope
In a spurt of creativity, a new fiction publication is born
Serial fiction helped me complete my first novel, connect with readers, and win a Wattpad award.
TL;DR: Fans and authors of serial fiction can pitch articles or sample chapters to this new Medium publication.
· File Drawer Syndrome
∘ What if You Don’t Have a Tough Shell?
∘ Serial Fiction Platforms
∘ Wattpad Famous
∘ Explore Serials and Decide What’s for You
File Drawer Syndrome
Before discovering serial fiction, I wrote short stories and experiments, sometimes workshopping them in critique circles but rarely submitting to magazines or contests. My success ratio was high, but each cash prize or publication made me less likely to submit again. A safe, critiquing community fulfilled my desire to share stories without risking rejection. It was a newbie mistake.
Authors experience regular rejection. I belong to an invitation-only collective of pro and emerging Science Fiction and Fantasy writers who dedicate multiple threads of a massive private website to what they call “rejectomancy.”
Using collective knowledge, they inspect the digital tea leaves to discover why one story was purchased and another was passed over; which editor prefers certain themes and styles; and whether a lack of response indicates editorial flooding (a tsunami of stories), a lost manuscript, or a lack of interest. They swap response times and contract information, and share warnings about unscrupulous operators, all in the name of getting published.
Tip: When a story gets rejected, it’s often not about quality. The magazine or anthology editor must balance different themes, tones, and the relevance of chosen stories; filtered through personal preference and building around commissioned stories by famous authors. If these and other factors don’t align, the writer collects another rejection.
What if You Don’t Have a Tough Shell?
Stephen King, in On Writing, says he hung his rejection letters on a nail. By the time he was fourteen, the nail wouldn’t hold any more letters. What a prodigy!
The only short story I submitted around that age was a feminist anti-rape story I sent to Outlaw Biker Tattoo. Why? It was so wrong for the publication, almost as if I wanted to be rejected.
But time has taught me I don’t need to seek extra rejection. Take this horrifying quote attributed to Ray Bradbury.
“Pick a room in your house and paper it with rejection slips. By the time you’ve papered it, you’ll have gotten published. And, actually, it won’t take the whole room.”
I’d rather paint it builder’s beige! Digital submissions mean 100 rejections no longer provide even the masochistic satisfaction of covering a wall. And who needs the negativity?
I was married, a parent, and a full-time teacher by the time I started writing short fiction regularly. Life was too busy for discouragement, so I switched from stories to novels, thus delaying the submission process. Several still lurk, forgotten in file drawers.
In 2015, my choices were to give up, keep writing chapters for my critique buddies, or overcome submission anxiety. On an artistic dare, I started writing a novel in public, so that I would feel obligated to finish. Serial fiction was the artistic equivalent of walking a tightrope, with a theoretical audience of millions, if I failed to deliver.
Serial Fiction Platforms
There are plenty of platforms for serials: Royal Road for LitRPG and portal fantasies, Radish for romance, and Tales for interactive fiction. Wattpad is popular among (mostly) young readers of diverse genres. If you spin YA fantasies of any sort, Wattpad readers are hungry for your stories.
Wattpad Famous
On Wattpad, 90 million people spend over 26 billion minutes per month reading and interacting with original stories. It’s a huge free-to-readers “market” with established Wattpad celebrities. “Wattpad famous” stories have attracted very nice publishing deals. Anna Todd’s After stands at 718 million reads on Wattpad and netted her book and film contracts.
Wattpad and WEBTOON Merge Studio Divisions to create Wattpad WEBTOON Studios, a Fully Funded, Fan-Driven Global Entertainment Powerhouse (Wattpad website)
Since Webtoon's acquisition of Wattpad, they have established, partially automated, and marketed a multimedia property pipeline as an opportunity for writers to earn money. As with all things publishing, attention and money are reserved for the biggest hits with millions and even billions of Wattpad page reads.
In 2024, I’m interested to see if lightning can strike twice. Feeding Frenzy: Curse of the Necromancer won a Watty Award in 2015, but I’m unsure whether the sequels will attract attention. Since my first novel, the platform has become more commercial with paid stories, video ads between chapters, and promoted stories readers can unlock by purchasing digital coins. The rise of spicy romance, partly thanks to TikTok, has filled the top rankings with mature content.
I started on Wattpad with no expectation of making money or getting published. The goal was to start and finish a novel in public to get over my submission anxiety. Since then, I have published four books (ebook and paperback) with a fifth ready to serialize in March. What a useful artistic experiment it has turned out to be.
Explore Serials and Decide What’s for You
This new publication is fiction first and will feature serials and web novels. I hope you will enjoy sampling various tales, and that you will comment on what you discover. Please contact me if you are serializing a story on Wattpad or Royal Road. I’d love to feature the best for Medium readers.
In the meantime, you can read the published text of Feeding Frenzy: Curse of the Necromancer for free, as well as the sequel, Double Dead Magic, on a new serial platform called Ream. Follow me there for the latest installments and a commercial-free reading experience.
I’m eager to hear your opinion of Ream. Imagine Patreon, but set up specifically for reading novels and serial fiction on your phone, device, or computer. Read my chapters there for free, with the option to pay for early access to my upcoming work-in-progress.
But that’s a whole other artistic experiment.
Please Gush About the Best Serials
Are you a serial fiction reader or writer? I want to shout out to people I follow who show an interest in reading, writing, or producing serial fiction. Normally, I don’t shout out more than a few people at a time, but this is a new publication. Please grant me some patience if you don’t enjoy being “evoked.” I won’t make it a habit.
This is a request for serial fiction fans and serial fiction authors to pitch me articles about the best reads in serial fiction today. They can be hosted on Medium, Royal Road, Wattpad, author websites, and beyond. Comment to be added to the publication if you want to submit an article or serial installment to be featured. I’m picky and too lazy to edit for improvement, so only offer your best and most polished work.
Michael Thorn, TzeLin Sam, Mariana Busarova, Marcus aka Gregory Maidman, Denise Larkin, BA (Hons), Gus Gresham, Fiction Friend, Sieran Lane, Carrie Wexford, Gus Gresham, Zane Dickens the Instigator, E. Ardincaple, Jay C Wells, Christine Graves, Michelle Richmond, Raven, Y. Chwyldro, Alice K, Zada Kent, Andrew Johnston, Erika Flowers 🏳️⚧️, Nanci Arvizu, Mark Starlin, Tom Farr, Nia Simone McLeod, William F. Aicher, Stephen M. Tomic, Jaxon Lee Rose, Marc Richard, Joseph LeSanche, Quinn, Vesselin Danchev, SJStone, GhostlyDark, Penelope Black, Ben Grainger, NanoNano1414, Paul Hobday, Olivia Mann, Hamsalekha, Bren Kelly, Carrie Ann Golden, Mo Ismailzai, Sofija Sztepanov
