When I was contacted by Amazon and asked to submit ideas for a serial novel, I didn’t hesitate.  Mainly because before the question was even finished being asked, I knew what the answer would be.  It would be a resounding yes.  And I knew what my book was going to be.  The Circuit Rider.

Of course I was familiar with the serial format, mostly because I had read and enjoyed Stephen King’s The Green Mile.  And I was already planning on writing The Circuit Rider because I loved westerns, and thought the story of a traveling preacher riding with a female alcoholic gunfighter had the potential to be a good story.

So I said yes.

This was uncharted territory to say the least.  As an indie author, I had never worked with a publisher before.  I had also never written under an official deadline.  Sure, I had always set my own deadlines, but this was different.  Other never befores?  Never written a western.  Never written a serial novel.

I had my work was cut out for me.  Now, as I’m finishing up the last episodes, I thought I would take a short break to write this blog post, because quite a few people have asked me to describe what the process is like to write a serial.

The following are my observations.  They are not answers because I believe there are no answers, or rules, when it comes to writing.  Everyone has their own path.

But for me, a few things stand out.

1.  It’s a lot of fun. 

I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable it is to be in the process of writing a novel, while simultaneously getting feedback on the book from readers.  It’s inspiring and motivating.

2.  The challenge of story arcs. 

In a serial, each section, or episode, has to have its own, complete story arc.  A beginning, middle and end.  Of course, each episode is a story within the larger story, so you have to pay attention to moving the “bigger” story forward as well.

It’s significantly different than a traditional novel.  Conventional wisdom has it that if you introduce a character early in the book, that character had better play a part later.  Not necessarily with serials.  Depending how many episodes a serial has, if every character with a sizeable role were to play a part in the finale, it could potentially be a cast of hundreds.

That dynamic doesn’t make writing a serial better or worse than writing a traditional novel, it’s just a different experience from an author’s viewpoint.

3.  Lack of distance

Typically as an author, once you’ve published a novel and set it loose in the world, you’ve already moved onto other projects.  Which means there is a distance between yourself and that book. When the inevitable ups-and-downs in sales occur or the occasional less-than-flattering review arrives, that distance acts as a buffer.

Not true for a serial.

Sales results are coming in, readers are posting reviews, and you’re still writing the book.  It can be a bit surreal at times.

4.  Working with Thomas & Mercer has been a fantastic experience.  I couldn’t ask for more from the publishing team.  They have been a pleasure to work with and I consider myself supremely lucky that my first publisher is Thomas & Mercer.

Those are my thoughts right now.  Of course, I’m not finished with the book, but I will be soon.  I plan to write another post when I’ve had some time and distance to look back.

And if you’re interested in seeing what I’ve written, The Circuit Rider is available here:

 On Amazon for just $1.99! 

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