Enjoy some Mayhem & Magic!

Our blog is meant to evoke fun with the magic of myths, folklore, movies and the mayhem of murder and madness. We have to keep it interesting so if you like different genres of movies and books then you're at the right blog. Our authors are a wide range of experts and our readers know what is top of the line in their favorite genres. Sometimes we post recipes that might be fun to try if a culinary author has one in her book that we think is especially yummy or one that Terri and I have created and want to share with you. Enjoy Guest Blogger Alice Duncan's monthly muse on her books and writing mysteries.

Plus you won't want to miss our book reviews, author interviews or our guest bloggers. So grab your favorite beverage then join us for some magic and mayhem! The good news is that you don't have to leave the house or your comfy chair. We have something for everyone's taste and every month we have a different topic for our bloggers: ones we feel that might be useful in your own writing and reader points of view. Not to mention, life in general. So join us and be sure to have a notebook handy as your to-be-read pile will grow as you add books, recipes, movies and t.v. series you won't want to miss. Not to mention folktales, myths or ideas you may wish to explore. Be careful what you wish for because on mayhemandmagic2 you just might find it.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

The new serial trend in ebooks

I have to say, I am a fan of serials in general.  I remember when the Green Mile came out as a serial and I had to wait with anticipation for the next installment.  Loved it.  Then The Blackstone Chronicles by John Saul.  But I have to say that one of the things that made them great was they all felt satisfying on their own and then together - Wow.

Nowadays, I am seeing more and more serials in eBooks.  Mostly in horror and paranormal.  I have mixed feelings about them. The tend to be identified as series 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 etc... or as episodes: 1.1 1.2 1.3 etc.  Now first off, calling it an 'episode' bugs me.  To me episodes are TV not books.  I know the idea is to let people know it is an ongoing story just like a TV show, but it just feels wrong somehow.  And the trend continues by calling these "seasons" when the serial finishes up a story.  For instance Season one, episode 1.3.  TV all the way.  So then one presumes, season two has the same characters, just a new story.

Obviously this is all about sales.  Say there are 6 episodes at 2.99 (most popular ebook price).  So that is 17.94 for the story.  It doesn't seem like much episode by episode but it adds up.  Okay, still less than a hardcover, but still not cheap.  And is it worth it?  Maybe...  Depends on how well the author can do the 'serial effect'.  Think those old serial films like the Lone Ranger or Captain Marvel back in the day at the movie theaters.  That is the feel King said he wanted to accomplish (and I think he did).  But with this proliferation now, I have to wonder how many can do it vs. just churching out pieces of a story that just cut off leaving you feeling unsatisfied.  you want more because the story isn't over, but if you aren't satisfied at that moment in time at the end of that 'episode' are you as likely to buy the next installment?

To me a well-written stand-alone is superior to a gimmicky 'serial'.  And what is the difference from a true series or trilogy (modern publishing's favorite baby)?  Usually much shorter 'pieces' of the story.  I am just not sold. 

When done right, I think it can be awesome.  When not, just a gimmick.

Terri

No comments:

Post a Comment
http://mayhemandmagic2.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-new-serial-trend-in-ebooks.html
mayhemandmagic2.blogspot.com
crawl=CC-MAIN-2017-13
129151
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:OFCIFWVKFXF2AJ4XKPETQAFHRTAUARGF
<urn:uuid:a23d48c3-03fe-42a5-97fd-b53946669275>
2017-03-28T08:06:25Z
216.58.217.161
sha1:RGWBJCEUNYIMXFRHJ2JIXQ4NBH34RMOP
<urn:uuid:d5a9bb5f-8390-468a-a24e-d4509206734e>
http://mayhemandmagic2.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-new-serial-trend-in-ebooks.html
response
<urn:uuid:0c93a54d-5e94-442b-8bd7-810d9026d281>
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-233-31-227.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)/CC WarcExport 1.0
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2017-13
operator: CommonCrawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for March 2017
publisher: CommonCrawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf