: Re: Self-Publishing Chapters Is selling individual chapters a valid marketing scheme? Is there anything against it or examples where it worked to sell a whole novel?

@Kristi637

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Serializing a novel has been done before - traditionally this was done as part of periodic publications (so you would get say a chapter per issue of a magazine) but it has been done outside this environment as well.

The only recent notable example that comes to mind is Stephen King's The Green Mile which was released in six smaller volumes - this worked IMO but there were some key differences from what you are proposing:

Firstly the released sections were probably more substantial than a typical "chapter" - each was between 92 and 144 pages long. Secondly King was already an established author - and having his name on the cover was always going to bring people along with his "experiment", he wasn't trying to use this as a way to market the book - it was a creative experiment where he (and his publishers) relied on this star power to overcome any skepticism.

Does that mean you shouldn't do it?

Not necessarily - but I think you are going to be putting quite a substantial amount of work and pressure on yourself. You would need to be able to stick to a release schedule, keep the "chapters" written in such a way as to hook people back for the next one and price them attractively.

Ultimately unless you are really planning on using this as a creative tool to format your story in a episodic manner then all you are doing is offering the reader a less convenient way to read the book, and I think that's going put more readers off then it entices.

So if you're plan is just to take a "normal" novel and release it piecemeal then I think you should reconsider.

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