An experiment in novel serialisation
If you’ve been following my small career, you would have noticed that I have a novel written called War Games. It’s a Space Opera Romance. I use that term explicitly because, although space opera is intrinsically romantic, that romance has more to do with the setting and scope of the literary landscape. Here, in War Games, the romantic relationship between two of the main characters is also an integral part of the plot, hence the addition of “Romance” as an additional identifier. I finished the novel late last year. And I’ve decided to serialise it (a chapter a week) for free on my website. Why? Well, for a number of reasons:
- I liked it and didn’t want it to get lost within one small category. That is, I didn’t want people to say dismissively of it, “Oh, it’s a lesbian story”, as if that’s somehow demeaning or not worthy of any wider consideration.
- From people’s reactions (m/m hawt, f/f meh), I wasn’t about to get much money from it anyway, so I thought I might as well try to spread the cheer rather than limit it.
- I couldn’t think of a generalist publisher to submit it to. (In my opinion, there’s enough space opera in there to not fit comfortably in the romance genre, and enough romance in there to not fit comfortably in the space opera genre. But, hey, that’s only my opinion.)
- I wanted to increase my profile through giving away fiction, in the hope that people would like my writing and help me on my journey to become a professional stay-at-home (as in, no Dreaded Day Job) author.
The genesis for War Games came from two sources. Firstly, it came from Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, with Sarah’s article on lesbian romance back in February of 2007. And secondly, it came from a discussion of Polish TV with my husband, J. Combine that with my love of science-fiction and you have a Space Opera Romance with a lesbian bias. No more and no less.The novel is full-sized; that is, it’s approximately 81,000 words, and has been through several self-edits. If you’re interested in reading it, you can go here to get the prologue and first chapter. ::Deep breath:: Happy reading!
I’ll be curious to see what kind of response you get from this serialization. I think this is an awfully smart move too. Kudos on thinking outside the box.
You also (inadvertently) helped me with a blog project I’m starting next week. More news on that tomorrow on my blog.
I’ll be curious to see what kind of response you get from this [sic! hee hee!] serialization.
Yeah, me too! This is all unchartered waters for me. And I look forward to checking your blog tomorrow. Say, aren’t you supposed to be recuperating after your eye operation next week? Don’t sabotage your recovery period, will you? ::shaking finger::