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In
literature
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...
, a serial is a printing or publishing format by which a single larger
work
Work may refer to:
* Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community
** Manual labour, physical work done by humans
** House work, housework, or homemaking
** Working animal, an animal t ...
, often a work of
narrative fiction, is published in smaller, sequential instalments. The instalments are also known as ''numbers'', ''parts'' or ''fascicles'', and may be released either as separate
publication
To publish is to make content available to the general public.[Berne Conve ...](_blank)
s or within sequential issues of a
periodical publication
A periodical literature (also called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) is a published work that appears in a new edition on a regular schedule. The most familiar example is a newspaper, but a magazine or a journal are also example ...
, such as a magazine or newspaper.
Serialisation can also begin with a single short story that is subsequently turned into a series. Historically, such series have been published in periodicals. Popular short-story series are often published together in book form as collections.
Early history
The growth of moveable type in the 17th century prompted episodic and often disconnected narratives such as ''
L'Astrée
''L'Astrée'' is a pastoral novel by Honoré d'Urfé, published between 1607 and 1627.
Possibly the single most influential work of 17th-century French literature, ''L'Astrée'' has been called the "novel of novels", partly for its immense leng ...
'' and ''
Le Grand Cyrus''. At that time, books remained a premium item, so to reduce the price and expand the market, publishers produced large works in lower-cost instalments called fascicles. These had the added attraction of allowing a publisher to gauge the popularity of a work without incurring the expense of a substantial print run of bound volumes: if the work was not a success, no bound volumes needed to be prepared. If, on the other hand, the serialised book sold well, it was a good bet that bound volumes would sell well, too.
19th and early 20th centuries
Serialised fiction surged in popularity during Britain's
Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
, due to a combination of the rise of literacy, technological advances in printing, and improved economics of distribution.
Most
Victorian novel
Victorian literature refers to English literature during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901). The 19th century is considered by some to be the Golden Age of English Literature, especially for British novels. It was in the Victorian era th ...
s first appeared as instalments in monthly or weekly periodicals.
[ The wild success of ]Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
's ''The Pickwick Papers
''The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club'' (also known as ''The Pickwick Papers'') was Charles Dickens's first novel. Because of his success with '' Sketches by Boz'' published in 1836, Dickens was asked by the publisher Chapman & Hall to ...
'', first published in 1836, is widely considered to have established the viability and appeal of the serialised format within periodical literature. During that era, the line between "quality" and "commercial" literature was not distinct.[ Other famous writers who wrote serial literature for popular magazines were ]Wilkie Collins
William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist and playwright known especially for '' The Woman in White'' (1859), a mystery novel and early "sensation novel", and for '' The Moonstone'' (1868), which has b ...
, inventor of the detective novel
Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as s ...
with ''The Moonstone
''The Moonstone'' (1868) by Wilkie Collins is a 19th-century British epistolary novel. It is an early example of the modern detective novel, and established many of the ground rules of the modern genre. The story was serialised in Charles Di ...
'' and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who created the Sherlock Holmes stories originally for serialisation in '' The Strand'' magazine.
While American periodicals first syndicated British writers, over time they drew from a growing base of domestic authors. The rise of the periodicals like '' Harper's'' and the '' Atlantic Monthly'' grew in symbiotic tandem with American literary talent. The magazines nurtured and provided economic sustainability for writers, while the writers helped grow the periodicals' circulation base. During the late 19th century, those that were considered the best American writers first published their work in serial form and then only later in a completed volume format.
As a piece in ''Scribner's Monthly
''Scribner's Monthly: An Illustrated Magazine for the People'' was an illustrated American literary periodical published from 1870 until 1881. Following a change in ownership in 1881 of the company that had produced it, the magazine was relaunch ...
'' explained in 1878, "Now it is the second or third rate novelist who cannot get publication in a magazine, and is obliged to publish in a volume, and it is in the magazine that the best novelist always appears first."[ Among the American writers who wrote in serial form were ]Henry James
Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...
and Herman Melville
Herman Melville ( born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are ''Moby-Dick'' (1851); ''Typee'' (1846), a rom ...
. A large part of the appeal for writers at the time was the broad audiences that serialisation could reach, which would then grow their following for published works. One of the first significant American works to be released in serial format is ''Uncle Tom's Cabin
''Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly'' is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the U ...
'', by Harriet Beecher Stowe, which was published over a 40-week period by ''The National Era
''The National Era'' was an abolitionist newspaper published weekly in Washington, D.C., from 1847 to 1860. Gamaliel Bailey was its editor in its first year. ''The National Era Prospectus'' stated in 1847:
Each number contained four pages of ...
'', an abolitionist periodical, starting with the June 5, 1851 issue.
Serialisation was so standard in American literature that authors from that era often built instalment structure into their creative process. James, for example, often had his works divided into multi-part segments of similar length.[ The consumption of fiction during that time was different than in the 20th century. Instead of being read in a single volume, a novel would often be consumed by readers in instalments over a period as long as a year, with the authors and periodicals often responding to audience reaction.][
In France, Alexandre Dumas and ]Eugène Sue
Marie-Joseph "Eugène" Sue (; 26 January 18043 August 1857) was a French novelist. He was one of several authors who popularized the genre of the serial novel in France with his very popular and widely imitated ''The Mysteries of Paris'', whic ...
were masters of the serialised genre. ''The Three Musketeers
''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight ...
'' and '' The Count of Monte Cristo'' each appeared as a ''feuilleton
A ''feuilleton'' (; a diminutive of french: feuillet, the leaf of a book) was originally a kind of supplement attached to the political portion of French newspapers, consisting chiefly of non-political news and gossip, literature and art critici ...
''. ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' was stretched out to 139 instalments. Eugène Sue's serial novel ''Le Juif errant'' increased circulation of ''Le Constitutionnel'' from 3,600 to 25,000. Production in book form soon followed and serialisation was one of the main reasons that nineteenth-century novels were so long. Authors and publishers kept the story going if it was successful since authors were paid by line and by episode. Gustave Flaubert
Gustave Flaubert ( , , ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. Highly influential, he has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flauber ...
's ''Madame Bovary
''Madame Bovary'' (; ), originally published as ''Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners'' ( ), is a novel by French writer Gustave Flaubert, published in 1856. The eponymous character lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities and emp ...
'' was serialised in ''La Revue de Paris
''Revue de Paris'' was a French literary magazine founded in 1829 by Louis-Désiré Véron
Louis-Désiré Véron (1798 in Paris – September 27, 1867 in Paris) was a French opera manager and publisher.
Biography
Véron originally made his ...
'' in 1856.
Some writers were prolific. Alexandre Dumas wrote at an incredible pace, oftentimes writing with his partner twelve to fourteen hours a day, working on several novels for serialised publication at once. However, not every writer could keep up with the serial writing pace. Wilkie Collins
William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist and playwright known especially for '' The Woman in White'' (1859), a mystery novel and early "sensation novel", and for '' The Moonstone'' (1868), which has b ...
, for instance, was never more than a week before publication. The difference in writing pace and output in large part determined the author's success, as audience appetite created a demand for further instalments.
In the German-speaking countries, the serialised novel was widely popularised by the weekly family magazine ''Die Gartenlaube
''Die Gartenlaube – Illustriertes Familienblatt'' (; ) was the first successful mass-circulation German newspaper and a forerunner of all modern magazines.Sylvia Palatschek: ''Popular Historiographies in the 19th and 20th Centuries'' (Oxford: ...
'', which reached a circulation of 382,000 by 1875. In Russia, ''The Russian Messenger
The ''Russian Messenger'' or ''Russian Herald'' (russian: Ру́сский ве́стник ''Russkiy Vestnik'', Pre-reform Russian: Русскій Вѣстникъ ''Russkiy Vestnik'') has been the title of three notable magazines published in ...
'' serialised Leo Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
's ''Anna Karenina
''Anna Karenina'' ( rus, «Анна Каренина», p=ˈanːə kɐˈrʲenʲɪnə) is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Widely considered to be one of the greatest works of literature ever writt ...
'' from 1873 to 1877 and Fyodor Dostoevsky's ''The Brothers Karamazov
''The Brothers Karamazov'' (russian: Братья Карамазовы, ''Brat'ya Karamazovy'', ), also translated as ''The Karamazov Brothers'', is the last novel by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky spent nearly two years writing '' ...
'' from 1879 to 1880. In Poland, Bolesław Prus
Aleksander Głowacki (20 August 1847 – 19 May 1912), better known by his pen name Bolesław Prus (), was a Polish novelist, a leading figure in the history of Polish literature and philosophy, as well as a distinctive voice in world li ...
wrote several serialised novels: ''The Outpost
Outpost may refer to:
Places
* Outpost (military), a detachment of troops stationed at a distance from the main force or formation, usually at a station in a remote or sparsely populated location
* Border outpost, an outpost maintained by a so ...
'' (1885–86), '' The Doll'' (1887–89), ''The New Woman
''The New Woman'' ( pl, Emancypantki) is the third of four major novels by the Polish writer Bolesław Prus. It was composed, and appeared in newspaper serialization, in 1890-93, and dealt with societal questions involving feminism.
History
'' ...
'' (1890–93), and his sole historical novel, ''Pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...
'' (the latter, exceptionally, written entire over a year's time in 1894–95 and serialised only after completion, in 1895–96).
In addition, works in late Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...
China had been serialised. ''The Nine-tailed Turtle
''The Nine-tailed Turtle'' (, also translated as ''Nine-tailed Turtles'', ''Nine-headed Turtle'', or ''Nine-times Cuckold'') is a novel by (?-1935), an author from Piling (near modern-day Changzhou). The novel centres around the life of a scholar ...
'' was serialised from 1906 to 1910. ''Bizarre Happenings Eyewitnessed over Two Decades
''Bizarre Happenings Eyewitnessed over Two Decades'' (T: 二十年目睹之怪現狀, S: 二十年目睹之怪现状, P: ''Èrshí Nián Mùdǔzhī Guài Xiànzhuàng'', W: ''Erh-shih nien mu-tu-chih kuai hsien-chuang'', also translated as: "Str ...
'' was serialised in ''Xin Xiaoshuo'' (T: 新小說, S: 新小说, P: ''Xīn Xiǎoshuō''; W: ''Hsin Hsiao-shuo''; "New Fiction"), a magazine by Liang Qichao
Liang Qichao (Chinese: 梁啓超 ; Wade-Giles: ''Liang2 Chʻi3-chʻao1''; Yale: ''Lèuhng Kái-chīu'') (February 23, 1873 – January 19, 1929) was a Chinese politician, social and political activist, journalist, and intellectual. His thou ...
. The first half of ''Officialdom Unmasked
''Officialdom Unmasked'' (), is a late-Qing Chinese novel by Li Baojia (Li Boyuan). The theme of the work is the disintegration of the late Qing dynasty civil service bureaucracy as it is deteriorating.Holoch, p. 77. The novel was translated to ...
'' appeared in instalments of ''Shanghai Shijie Fanhua Bao
''Shanghai Shijie Fanhua Bao'' () was a periodical published in Shanghai, China.Holoch, p. 76. The name is often shortened to ''Fanhua Bao'' or ''Shijie Fanhua Bao'' ("World Vanity Fair" or "The Glittering World").PL, p548
Li Baojia (Li Boyuan) ...
'', serialised there from April 1903 to June 1905.
Late 20th and early 21st centuries
With the rise of broadcast—both radio and television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...
—in the first half of the 20th century, printed periodical fiction began a slow decline as newspapers and magazines shifted their focus from entertainment to information and news. However, some serialisation of novels in periodicals continued, with mixed success.
The first several books in the ''Tales of the City
''Tales of the City'' is a series of nine novels written by American author Armistead Maupin from 1978 to 2014, depicting the life of a group of friends in San Francisco, many of whom are LGBT. The stories from ''Tales'' were originally serial ...
'' series by Armistead Maupin
Armistead Jones Maupin, Jr. ( ) (born May 13, 1944) is an American writer notable for '' Tales of the City'', a series of novels set in San Francisco.
Early life
Maupin was born in Washington, D.C., to Diana Jane (Barton) and Armistead Jones Ma ...
appeared from 1978 as regular instalments in San Francisco newspapers. Similar serial novels ran in other city newspapers, such as ''The Serial
''The Serial: A Year in the Life of Marin County'' (often referred to as ''The Serial'') is a satirical novel about Marin County, California, written by Cyra McFadden. Beginning in 1976, the book's chapters had been serialized in the Marin Co ...
'' (1976; Marin County), ''Tangled Lives'' (Boston), ''Bagtime'' (Chicago), and ''Federal Triangle'' (Washington, D.C.). Starting in 1984, Tom Wolfe
Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018)Some sources say 1931; ''The New York Times'' and Reuters both initially reported 1931 in their obituaries before changing to 1930. See and was an American author and journalist widely ...
's ''The Bonfire of the Vanities
''The Bonfire of the Vanities'' is a 1987 novel by Tom Wolfe. The story is a drama about ambition, racism, social class, politics, and greed in 1980s New York City, and centers on three main characters: WASP bond trader Sherman McCoy, Jewish as ...
'', about contemporary New York City, ran in 27 parts in ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'', partially inspired by the model of Dickens. The magazine paid $200,000 for his work, but Wolfe heavily revised the work before publication as a standalone novel. Alexander McCall Smith
Alexander "Sandy" McCall Smith, CBE, FRSE (born 24 August 1948), is a British writer. He was raised in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and formerly Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. He became an expert on medical law an ...
, author of ''The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
''The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency'' is a series of novels by Alexander McCall Smith set in Botswana and featuring the character Mma Precious Ramotswe. The series is named after the first novel, published in 1998. Twenty-two novels have been p ...
'' series, experimented in 2004 with publishing his novel ''44 Scotland Street
''44 Scotland Street'' is an episodic novel by Alexander McCall Smith, the author of ''The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency''. The story was first published as a serial in ''The Scotsman'', starting 26 January 2004, every weekday, for six months. ...
'' in instalments every weekday in ''The Scotsman
''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its pare ...
''. Michael Chabon
Michael Chabon ( ;
born May 24, 1963) is an American novelist, screenwriter, columnist, and short story writer. Born in Washington, DC, he spent a year studying at Carnegie Mellon University before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh, gr ...
serialised ''Gentlemen of the Road
''Gentlemen of the Road'' is a 2007 serial novel by American author Michael Chabon. It is a "swashbuckling adventure" set in the kaganate of Khazaria (now southwest Russia) around AD 950. It follows two Jewish bandits who become embroiled in a re ...
'' in ''The New York Times Magazine
''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...
'' in 2007.
The emergence of the World Wide Web
The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet.
Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web ...
prompted some authors to revise a serial format. Stephen King experimented with '' The Green Mile'' (1996) and, less successfully, with the uncompleted '' The Plant'' in 2000. Michel Faber
Michel Faber (born 13 April 1960) is a Dutch-born writer of English-language fiction, including his 2002 novel ''The Crimson Petal and the White''. His latest book is a novel for young adults, ''D—A Tale of Two Worlds, D: A Tale of Two Worlds'' ...
allowed ''The Guardian'' to serialise his novel ''The Crimson Petal and the White
''The Crimson Petal and the White'' is a 2002 novel by Michel Faber set in Victorian England.
The title is from an 1847 poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson entitled " Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal", the opening line of which is "Now sleeps the cri ...
''. In 2005, Orson Scott Card
Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is the first and (as of 2022) only person to win both a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for both ...
serialised his out-of-print novel ''Hot Sleep
''Hot Sleep: The Worthing Chronicle'' (1979) is a science fiction novel by American writer Orson Scott Card, part of his the Worthing series. Card's novel ''The Worthing Chronicle'' (1983) covers some of the same ground.
''Hot Sleep'' was Card' ...
'' in the first issue of his online magazine, ''InterGalactic Medicine Show
''InterGalactic Medicine Show'' (sometimes shortened to ''IGMS'') was an American online fantasy and science fiction magazine. It was founded in 2005 by multiple award-winning author Orson Scott Card and was edited by Edmund R. Schubert from 20 ...
''. In 2008 McCall Smith wrote a serialised online novel '' Corduroy Mansions'', with the audio edition read by Andrew Sachs
Andreas Siegfried Sachs (7 April 1930 – 23 November 2016), known professionally as Andrew Sachs, was a German-born British actor and writer. He made his name on British television and found his greatest fame for his portrayal of the comical Sp ...
made available at the same pace as the daily publication. In 2011, pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
ous author Wildbow published ''Worm
Worms are many different distantly related bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limbs, and no eyes (though not always).
Worms vary in size from microscopic to over in length for marine polychaete wo ...
'', which remains one of the most popular web serials of all time.
Conversely, graphic novels became more popular in this period containing stories that were originally published in a serial format, for example, Alan Moore's ''Watchmen
''Watchmen'' is an American comic book maxiseries by the British creative team of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons and colorist John Higgins. It was published monthly by DC Comics in 1986 and 1987 before being collected in a single-vo ...
''.
The rise of fan fiction on the internet also follows a serial fiction style of publication, as seen on websites such as FanFiction.Net
FanFiction.Net (often abbreviated as FF.net or FFN) is an automated fan fiction archive site. It was founded on October 15, 1998, by Los Angeles computer programmer Xing Li, who also runs the site. It has over 12 million registered users and hos ...
and Archive of Our Own (AO3). Aspiring authors have also used the web to publish free-to-read works in serialised format on their own websites as well as web-based communities such as LiveJournal
LiveJournal (russian: Живой Журнал), stylised as LiVEJOURNAL, is a Russian-owned social networking service where users can keep a blog, journal, or diary.
American programmer Brad Fitzpatrick started LiveJournal on April 15, 1999, a ...
, Fictionpress.com, fictionhub, Kindle Vella and Wattpad
Wattpad is an online literature platform intended for users to read and write original stories. The founders Allen Lau and Ivan Yuen say that the platform aims to create social communities around stories and remove the barriers between readers a ...
. Many of these books receive as many readers as successful novels; some have received the same number of readers as ''New York Times'' best-sellers.
In addition, the prevalence of mobile devices made the serial format even more popular with the likes of JukePop Serials, and Serial Box, with iOS and Android apps that focuses entirely on curating and promoting serialised novels.
See also
* Feuilleton
A ''feuilleton'' (; a diminutive of french: feuillet, the leaf of a book) was originally a kind of supplement attached to the political portion of French newspapers, consisting chiefly of non-political news and gossip, literature and art critici ...
* Partwork
A partwork is a written publication released as a series of planned magazine-like issues over a period of time. Issues are typically released on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis, and often a completed set is designed to form a reference wo ...
* Television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...
* Web fiction Web fiction is written works of literature available primarily or solely on the Internet. A common type of web fiction is the web serial. The term comes from old serial stories that were once published regularly in newspapers and magazines.
Unlike ...
(Webserial)
References
External links
AuthorAlerts.com
FantasticFiction.com
FictFact.com
FictionDB.com
Vintage Series Books for Girls ... and a Few for Boys
{{DEFAULTSORT:Serial (Literature)
Literature
*
Penny papers