After reading L . E. Modesitt Jr.’s comment on the state of fantasy publishing (here), I’m beginning to think that the online publication of fantasy stories is the wave of the future for fantasy publishing, much as with the innumerable comics that can now be found online and which are supported through donations by their readers.

Given the number of fantasy stories that I’ve seen recently, most of which have started up in the last year [see, talesofmu.com, www.meilinmiranda.com, talistay.bitpartmedia.com, etc.], and the number of readers that some of these attract, who are slowly trickling to the newer and less quickly-paced stories, it seems to me that the general interest and market for these stories is increasing.

Most popular webcomics seem to pull in between one thousand and two thousand dollars a month, which is not a great income but enough to live on. Some of them do a good bit better than that through the sale of t-shirts, cups, other paraphenalia, through advertisements on their websites, and through signed and printed editions of their work (in a regular comic or book-format, once enough comics accumulate). The web novels (as we might as well call them, by comparison to web comics), seem to be following suit through print-on-demand services that will print and send a copy of the book to the buyer.

If the trend continues, and more promising writers begin to publish online rather than to submit to formal publishers, I can see the web-novel becoming a massive literary movement away from the control and selection of the old publishing houses and towards the more interactive and interest-driven market of the readers. The publishers believe they target the readers for their work, but the web-novels actually create a fan-base of those people who have a daily or thrice-weekly commitment to reading. It helps the attraction in the market if the reader can feel connected to the author of the work, with his or her comments being directly heard on the same day. An immediate response can be gratifying. And the readers can request more information on a certain part of the story, or a back-story, which the author can add as extra material or incorporate into the work.

There is something to be said for the slightly communal nature of the work, the extent of which involvement I think is interesting but which I do not think will extend far enough to cause the work to be actually a communal production. The work is ultimately in the hands of the author and follows the author’s intentions.

Certainly, this online publication seems to me to be a way for aspiring writers to place their work into the public view and to receive feedback upon it. It’s both writing practice and a popular review that should be beneficial to the writers. Perhaps some of the writers will move into formal publishing eventually, but I think it is more likely that, like the webcomics, the webnovels will become a mainstay of the web, with devoted readers and patrons. I do not think the renumeration for web-publishing is any less for a new author than a traditional publishing format would be. Only if the work became a bestseller do I see traditional publishing being a more lucrative career.

I have heard that the average yearly royalty for a non-bestselling fantasy novelist is around seven thousand dollars a year. Even one thousand dollars a month, like the webcomic artists seem to receive, is better than that.

The rise of the web-novel also is repopularizing serial publication. It will be interesting to watch it. Perhaps to join in.

6 Responses to “The Rise of the WebNovel”

1. You mirror my own thoughts exactly, and give the reasons why I decided to self-publish despite overwhelming advice to the contrary. I have many friends with book deals who get almost no help with publicity (supposedly the big draw of a mainstream publisher) and little in the way of distribution. On average, they get 5-6% of the book price and some don’t even make back their very modest advances once you figure in what they had to spend on publicity. Why would I want to put myself through that for 5% when I could put myself through it for 50-80%? And get immediate, unadulterated feedback, upon which, as an admitted attention junkie, I thrive?That, to me, is the best part of being a Dickens on speed, as I’ve called web serialists in the past: The readers. You get to forge a relationship with them in ways that weren’t possible before. I live to be read, and I love my readers with all my heart, even the persnickety ones.

   I credit the online fan fiction communities, quite honestly, with a lot of the rise of the web novel. I for one started out in the Doctor Who communities on LiveJournal and at Teaspoon and an Open Mind, where I was able to build a small but loyal fan base. Some of them have followed me over into my original work. But it was that taste of writing for an audience that wrote back, almost immediately, that asked for more, that asked questions, that asked for custom stories–

   When I started writing “Intimate History” I almost immediately started thinking about what on earth I was going to do with it. It had too much sex in it for a mainstream publisher, but not enough for an erotica publisher. And the POV character was only 16, which is instant death in erotica (and he really has to be 16, it’s just not believable for him to be 18–at least I wouldn’t believe it). Then I stumbled onto Tales of MU, and from there onto Alexandra Erin’s extremely helpful blog post on self-publishing, and it all came together with one big “why the hell not.” And unlike most writers, I’m also a programmer/web developer; I make websites in my sleep.

   So really, why the hell not? I have nothing to lose and readers to gain.

   Thanks for mentioning me here, and for putting me in your blogroll (though it would seem the link is a bit wonky). Keep reading.

   MeiLin Miranda - March 16th, 2008 at 4:46 pm

2. The more I look around online, the more I realize that even some major authors have been doing this, such as Lawrence Watt-Evans. See his online publication of _The Spriggan Mirror_ here: http://sonandfoe.com/chapter-one/. Online publishing seems to have been increasing for perhaps five years.Chad - March 16th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
3. Hah, link fixed. Thanks for pointing it out to me. I had the “http://” part doubled.I, as is horribly obvious, am a lackwit when it comes to making websites. I am beginning also to think that this green background is pretty vile, too. I really like the backgrounds you used for _An Intimate History_, by the way.

   Chad - March 16th, 2008 at 5:27 pm

4. Well, this new Sunburn theme is better, especially now that I’ve tinkered with the presentation format extensively, but where did that blogroll get off to…Ahha, I found it. Despite all evidence to the contrary, I am a web genius.

   Chad - March 16th, 2008 at 5:38 pm

5. Thanks for the link (although you’ve missed out the http:// part)Very interesting post, and I would agree with you regarding the rise of web novels (blooks, webserials, or whatever you want to call them) - especially in the genre of fantasy.

   For me personally, I started writing online as a way for me to finish the story I had begun writing two and a half years ago. I found a few online examples using WordPress, and these seemed to be the best vehicle, as it allowed me to customise the look and feel and just keep posting as I went (or, of-course, keep updating posted chapters until I felt ok with them)

   Hopefully this format will continue to attract more and more writers. It would be nice if it kicked bog standard publishing into the twenty-first century wouldn’t it?

   Robert Gould - March 17th, 2008 at 6:31 am

6. There, links fixed.Modesitt mentions the difficulty of small-press publications, particularly, anything that is not by a best-selling has difficulty getting through a publisher. He suggests that speculative fiction and the cutting edge of fantasy, as it were, are being lost due to this focus on attempting to maximize profits.

   I think though, that more people would buy fantasy if there were more and more varied books published. Perhaps the publishers are strangling themselves to ignore the new developments in the genre.

   Web novels are picking up that slack, and will probably become very well known for it, as some already are. They bend and blur genres, too, which publishers refuse to do most of the time, and the readers online seem to like this. I certainly do.

   Chad - March 17th, 2008 at 4:42 pm

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