Self-Publishing a novel in Parts?

I wrote my WIP to be distributed this way. My reasoning was as follows:

1. I can make part 1 free, and nothing distributes a title like "free". Each part ends with a hook that, I hope, readers find irresistible. With luck most of them will buy the other six parts.

2. Because I'll sell seven units for each person who reads the whole thing, my ranking will be higher than otherwise.

3. I'm happy to sell each piece for a low price. The total price ends up being more than most people would pay for an e-book, but with luck, readers will be so happy they don't care.

If you are publishing with Amazon and willing to enroll in KDP Select (meaning that you publish the title only at Amazon), low prices work to your advantage: your royalty for a Kindle Lending Library or Kindle Unlimited checkout will be far higher than your royalties for a purchase.

After urging from a member here I briefly considered trying to query the WIP, but it was written to be a seven-part serial, so it is 230K words. Apparently that's way too long to be conventionally published by an unknown novelist, so away I go with my original plan.

Speaking as a reader, have all the parts ready to go, if not actually published at the same time.
Why? GRRM, innumberable other writers who've made the readers wait while they write the next book; plus all those people who only wrote that one book out of a proposed series.
The more of cliff-hangery your first chunk is, the more important that the next chunk be promptly available. And, the less of a track record you have, the more important. Etc.

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but the parts aren't complete stories in and of themselves? And you have to buy each part?

Feels kinda manipulative to me.

Samsonet said:

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but the parts aren't complete stories in and of themselves? And you have to buy each part?

Feels kinda manipulative to me.

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I don't know that it's any more manipulative than, say, the average TV show. If it's a serial, people tend to expect the main arc will be ongoing, IMHO. If the OP is honest with customers, that it's one story in X parts, and isn't promising stand-alone stories only to pull at bait-and-switch cliffhanger at the end, I wouldn't think that would be an issue. (I write this as someone who's had that bait-and-switch pulled on me more than once, and been ticked that the author didn't just tell me it was a freakin' serial from the get-go.)

I also second the notion of having the whole series written, at least through a competent-level draft (if not the final spit-and-polish draft), before releasing Part 1. And once you start... follow through to the end.

As to manipulative: yep. It's like we're trying to make money! Of course, I am up front about mine being a serial. There's a big "part X" on each cover.

As to having it done ahead of time: also yep. As a pantser, I couldn't possibly have published the beginning before I'd written the end. I'm even going to publish them all at once. People read fast, and I don't want anyone to forget to buy the next installment.

Katharine Tree said:

As to manipulative: yep. It's like we're trying to make money! Of course, I am up front about mine being a serial. There's a big "part X" on each cover.

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Hey, people make good money writing series too.

Tbh, I'm still ticked off about the time I spent like six bucks on a "series" that was actually parts of the same story and didn't even finish. Granted, I was a little kid with an amazon card who didn't realize that it was physically possible to publish books that didn't have an ending, but the author branded it a series and treated each book like it was a standalone. I'm still pretty mad at him. Wonder if I ever wrote a review of the books...

Samsonet said:

Hey, people make good money writing series too.

Tbh, I'm still ticked off about the time I spent like six bucks on a "series" that was actually parts of the same story and didn't even finish. Granted, I was a little kid with an amazon card who didn't realize that it was physically possible to publish books that didn't have an ending, but the author branded it a series and treated each book like it was a standalone. I'm still pretty mad at him. Wonder if I ever wrote a review of the books...

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I'm with you. Especially when the "book" is like one or two chapters. Freaking like 25 pages! And it's priced as a regular-length novel! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? If it was the same length as a regular novel, okay, I might give you a get-out-of-jail card for leaving me dangling when I was expecting the "book" to finish, and especially for pricing it that high. But if it's a puny 25-pager, I will avoid the rest of the so-called books in that series. That book, because it's divided up into multiple parts, usually like four parts, comes out to $12-$16. I'm talking e-book here. No way. Kiss this reader goodbye. I don't care how well I thought the writing was, I ain't giving you anymore of my money to a greedy moneygrubber like you.

Oh, just to add, I've avoided authors who did this, even when I got that first "book" free. Still pissed me off.

I'm sure you're self-publishing, right?

I can see it going two ways: 1) Publishing the hulk and don't offer print versions because they might be too expensive 2) Publish the section at a fraction/free of original. If you'd sell the original at $3, and part it into thirds I wouldn't mind paying $1 for each (or have the first one free to welcome readers. If all options were free, it's up to you. As a reader I don't want to feel like I have to buy another book or a few to complete the story, but if they were cheap or free, I wouldn't have as much of a problem.

As for the parts, I suggest you try to make them more of their own stories than slices of the original. If they're short and cheap-ish as much if they were volumes of the same book, but I would still want them to feel a bit complete.

I also agree with having them done/prepared beforehand. Personally, I'd have the second going into final editing as the first would be released and the third one written and story hammered, but I'd suggest at least have the second first drafted and the third thought up as you come out with the first.

I wouldn't have a problem with it as long as you're clear that it's a serial. I'd probably offer the first part for free and the others for 99 cents.

This is one of the interesting things about self-e-publishing. It allows for more creativity and experimentation from authors. It's also nice to know that, if it doesn't work out, it's not like you've sunk a ton of money into the effort (not like it was with vanity presses).