I've mentioned elsewhere that I'm going to use Kindle Vella to publish Henry Rider: Clown hunter, Amazon's new program for self-publishing serialized fiction. But at first this was supposed to be a novel that would continue into a series of other novels. Now that it's going to be a serial, do you think I should keep the story going as one really long serial or break it up into multiple shorter serials that would each count as their own book in a normal book series?
I think the answer to that is going to involve knowing more about Vella than we do yet. For instance, is your story boosted in visibility when it's new, when it's complete, or when it's long/has followers? As far as what readers prefer or what keeps them reading better... I do not know.
I'm leaning towards it just being one really long story. Maybe I can divide it up into part 1, part 2, etc, wherever one book would end.
Do you need to decide that now? I agree with marshipan -- I don't think anyone yet knows enough about Vella to be able to answer your question. That leaves me wondering if you have to commit up front to a specific number of installments in a series, or if you can just begin at the beginning and continue on until you reach the end.
An avid reader, prefer start to finish. One long book (into several series), I wouldn't read/pick it up. Why? Missing out on the story line and characters.
Look at these links (below), books that are part of a series: https://www.amazon.com.au/Gallagher-Girls-Collection-Ally-Carter/dp/3200306866/ref=asc_df_3200306866/?tag=googleshopdsk-22&linkCode=df0&hvadid=341792440235&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16315686514077227228&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9071320&hvtargid=pla-385350364302&psc=1 then, this one: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=0CKFDwAAQBAJ&gl=au&hl=en-AU&source=productsearch&utm_source=HA_Desktop_US&utm_medium=SEM&utm_campaign=PLA&pcampaignid=MKT-EDR-apac-au-1003227-Med-pla-bk-Evergreen-Apr0121-PLA-Ebooks_Fiction_Thrillers&gclid=CjwKCAjw1uiEBhBzEiwAO9B_HWE0HWbcDlFezzXL6DUgs03qMSRb4RLCLpaWKM7OR3LLM5YtaH6cdhoCqYgQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
I still don't understand. They're both book series. One is just a longer series than the other. What does that have to do with serialized fiction?
As others have said, not a lot is known about it at the moment. My gut feeling is that if I saw an author had finished one series and had started another, I would have confidence they would finish it and be more like to engage. Nothing worse than getting into a book/show and it being cancelled halfway through. Obviously, this wouldn't pay off until the first novel's worth of episodes was completed. By then some of the other metrics may have kicked in and dominate over this consideration. I don't think you need to decide yet. Wait until you are halfway through and see how things are going.
I'm not sure the same work could be handled seamlessly as either a sequential batch of serials or as one very long serial. If the story is to be handled as shorter serialized books, then each book has to have some semblance of a start and a conclusion. Each "book" has to tell a complete story. On the other hand, if it's to be one, very long serial then it only needs one beginning, and it only needs one end. Everything in between is just scene changes. Given that people's lives and foci change, I lean toward doing multiple shorter series. That way readers can feel they have read an entire story so that, if their lives take them in a different direction, they don't have to stop redaing with the feeling that they've never gotten to the end.
