Although this is last year's article, it was a timely read for me today. Have been trying to publish my developing novel entitled: "Breadwinner" through the online media in Malaysia. Have been unsuccessful so far. That's when I saw this article.
The question is do I have what it takes to be an international novelist? I still have to build up my vocabulary and brush up my writing skills. At 55, I wonder is there enough time for me to get down to learning the ropes to become a fulltime novelist?
What do you think? I will post here the unedited first chapter and beginning of the second chapter of my novel. Be free to comment.
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Online retailer takes a leaf out of Charles Dickens' book by publishing fiction ranging from romance to crime in instalments
Alison Flood Friday 7 September 2012guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
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Amazon is following in the grand old footsteps of Charles Dickens by launching a series of serialised stories for the Kindle.
Just as Dickens published novels including The Pickwick Papers and Oliver Twist in regular instalments, listening to responses from readers as they came in, so Amazon's new Kindle serials programme will release stories in episodes. Readers will be able to discuss the latest developments on Amazon's discussion boards, with authors looking in and learning from what their readers say.
Amazon made the announcement on Thursday, as it also unveiled the new Kindle Fire tablets. In honour of Dickens, it is offering readers the opportunity to download Oliver Twist and The Pickwick Papers for free, delivered in the same segments as they were originally. It is also launching its first eight Kindle serials, which range from romance to crime.
"Serialised fiction is perfect for contemporary book culture, where writers interact with their readers directly and books can be delivered with an immediacy that the old pulp writers never could have imagined," said Neal Pollack, whose serialised novel Downward-Facing Death, about the murder of a yoga empire founder, is part of the Kindle serials launch. "It's fast and fun and you barely have time to blink. I can't wait to see how my book ends."
Andrew Peterson, author of the Kindle story Option to Kill, a thriller that plays out "over the course of 36 lightning-fast hours", said serials were "ideal for thrillers because keeping readers engaged and wanting more is the goal of every thriller novelist".
The first eight Kindle serials are being sold for $1.99. When a serial is bought from Amazon, the reader will immediately have access to all published episodes, followed by later episodes as they are released.
Amazon is asking for submissions from authors interested in writing Kindle serials – "we're looking for well-written stories by authors interested in engaging with readers through the unique nature of serialised publishing", it says – but it is by no means the only publisher to believe the format is ideal for the digital age. The Booker prize-winning novelist Margaret Atwood is working with new imprint Byliner Serials to publish her near-future piece of serialised fiction Positron. The first instalment in the series, I'm Starved for You, was never intended to go any further, but it was so popular Atwood decided to expand the short story into a serial. Byliner Serials is also publishing Joe McGinniss's 15 Gothic Street, set around a Massachusetts courthouse.
The literary serial began hundreds of years ago with One Thousand and One Nights, said Byliner's editor-in-chief Mark Bryant. "Dickens carried on the tradition with The Pickwick Papers, Harriet Beecher Stowe with Uncle Tom's Cabin, Tolstoy with Anna Karenina, Dostoevsky with The Brothers Karamazov, and Tom Wolfe with The Bonfire of the Vanities," he said. "With the new immediacy and convenience of digital publishing, the possibilities are extraordinary. Along with Margaret's and Joe's ongoing stories, we'll soon be publishing serials with a number of other leading authors, and we're keen to see where all this leads."
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