Serial fiction is storytelling released in installments over time—chapter by chapter, episode by episode. Rather than publishing a complete novel all at once, serial writers release their work in sequential parts, building anticipation and creating an ongoing relationship with readers between each release.
Serial fiction can take many forms:
What unites them all is the fundamental structure: stories told in parts, released over time, with readers following along as the narrative unfolds.
Serial fiction isn't new. It's one of the oldest forms of storytelling.
The 19th century was the golden age of serial fiction. Many works we now consider classic literature were originally published as serials in magazines and newspapers:
Charles Dickens pioneered modern serial fiction with novels like The Pickwick Papers (1836), Oliver Twist (1837), and A Tale of Two Cities (1859). His monthly installments were cultural events, with readers lining the docks in New York Harbor, shouting to incoming British ships: “Is Little Nell dead?”
Alexandre Dumas serialized The Count of Monte Cristo (1844-1846) and The Three Musketeers (1844) in French newspapers, keeping readers in suspense for months.
Arthur Conan Doyle released Sherlock Holmes mysteries serially in The Strand Magazine starting in 1891, creating one of fiction's most enduring characters through episodic storytelling.
Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote Crime and Punishment (1866) and The Brothers Karamazov (1879-1880) as magazine serials, often writing each installment just days before publication.
Leo Tolstoy's epic Anna Karenina (1877) appeared in serialized form in The Russian Messenger.
Authors were paid by the word or installment, incentivizing them to create compelling cliffhangers and keep readers coming back. The format shaped the way these stories were told—with dramatic chapter endings, recurring character moments, and narrative structures designed to sustain interest over months or years.
Pulp magazines continued the tradition, publishing genre fiction serials:
Comic books and manga adopted serial storytelling as their primary format:
Television transformed serial storytelling:
Serial fiction is experiencing a renaissance in the digital age. Here's why it's more relevant than ever:
Humans have told stories serially for millennia—around campfires, through oral traditions, in episodic sagas. The novel as a complete bound object is actually the historical anomaly. Digital platforms allow storytelling to return to its episodic roots, the way stories were meant to be told: unfolding over time, shared within communities, evolving with audience response.
Serial fiction creates communities that traditional publishing cannot:
Reddit threads, Discord servers, and comment sections become gathering places where readers experience stories together rather than in isolation.
Serial fiction enables new economic models:
Successful web serial authors like Wildbow (Worm), Pirateaba (The Wandering Inn), and ErraticErrata (A Practical Guide to Evil) have built sustainable careers through serial publishing.
You don't need an agent, publisher, or upfront investment to start:
Modern readers consume content differently:
Just as Netflix and Spotify changed how we consume video and music, serial platforms are changing how we consume stories:
Web serials have pioneered new genres and subgenres:
These genres were largely born and refined through serial publishing, responding quickly to reader preferences.
Without traditional gatekeepers:
Serial fiction requires specific skills:
We created BookFic.com because we believe serial fiction is the future of storytelling:
Serial fiction isn't a compromise or a stepping stone to “real” publishing. It's a legitimate, powerful, historically rich form of storytelling that's perfectly suited for our digital age.
Whether you're writing your first chapter or your thousandth, whether you're discovering web serials or you've been reading them for years—you're part of a tradition that stretches back centuries and forward into the future of how stories are told.