Serial writing ...

Sounds more diabolical than it is … ‘serial’ in the publishing sense whether one considers it an adjective (consisting of, forming part of, or taking place in a series: “a serial publication”) or as a noun (a story or play appearing in regular installments on television or radio in a magazine or newspaper).There are many reasons for serial writing but the obvious is the shift in our cyber-connected attention spans and the cultural shift to shorter instant information. A desire to write a full length novel as a first time author and the need to grow a readership in the changing face of technology become two very different goals. Finding the path that leads to traditional publishing via a non-traditional way to get there is exactly what I am willing to try.

Having sat a professional development panel session last month in Toronto during Magazines Canada’s annual conference, MagNet13 on “New Game, New Rules: The Changing Face of DIY Publishing” I was inspired to try a new approach to growing the readership I need along while developing the most solid proven storyline for my fiction manuscript novel length project. As a publishing industry professional I see the struggle of traditional methods in the ever changing shift of non-traditional methods needed to work towards my personal writing goal of a hard copy best seller fiction novel. A lofty goal in a somewhat deflated industry changing by the minute.

The old stigma around self-publishing, electronic possibilities and shooting one in the writer-foot by testing other options while also shopping for a tradition book deal are not the issues they once were. Many writers of all levels and fame, published or not, are stretching their skills and venturing into new publishing waters to discover where their readership is happily hanging out while favoring and promoting that which excites them to read.

The session speakers brought a business mix that only a few years back would never have been sharing a panel on the future of non-traditional publishing. John Degen, Executive Director of The Writers’ Union of Canada, Mark Leslie Lefebvre, Director of Self-Publishing and Author Relations at Kobo, and Allen Lau, CEO and Cofounder of Wattpad. The trio offered up a hopeful glimpse at a changing word landscape but most exciting for me as a writer in development was the concept presented by Allen Lau of Wattpad. This is such an innovative idea that even Mark Leslie Lefebvre of Kobo is using the Wattpad app to grow his own storyline readership. The serial writing / serial reading concept of Wattpad simply put is a platform for writers and readers to hang out together, read and write alongside one another and grow a great read, driven by an open dialogue writer to reader as the words flow.

I am now up-an-at-em on Wattpad presenting my manuscript in serial fashion to experiment with the open concept of growing my readership while I write towards what they want to read. Their feedback and cross promotion will become vital tools as I further develop my storyline. The final novel will not necessarily be the Wattpad path as my personal goal, for now, lies in the traditional print world. Having said that, I am open to all possibilities and my journey is in the writing, but the thought that I can take that path along with the reader in an ongoing conversation is a very intriguing raw concept I am willing to embrace.

Visit my profile, read along and dialogue as I grow my storyline for Shunned on Wattpad at http://www.wattpad.com/story/6735906-shunned-a-mennonite-prairie-saga

Write always,     Michelle