The Future of the Webserial May Not Be on the Web (Updated)
Cross-posted at MeiLinMiranda.com
Update: You can now subscribe to my site on Kindle. I'll keep webserial folks posted on results here and at MeiLinMiranda.com.
A funny thing has happened: I've stopped reading webserials.
I KNOW, RIGHT??
You see, I got a Kindle, and I realize now that I hate reading on the web. Hate. It. But I like serialized fiction. And I'm hearing from readers of my own work that they're in the same position now that they have ereaders; they've stopped reading on the web. I'm thinking that ereaders have the serious potential of taking away our online audiences.
So now I have a dilemma as both a reader and a writer. What to do? I could do what a lot of traditionally published writers, agents, editors and publishers do and rage against those horrible ereaders. Or I could be smart and go with it. I choose smart.
As a writer I'm going to start publishing my feed on Kindle. Or try to; there are hoops I have to jump through.
As a reader, I'm going to start asking writers to do the same--once I test the waters. There's no charge--no downside--and a potential revenue upside. It pushes content to the Kindle, and any advertising eyeballs lost may be balanced by subscriptions.
I'm also going to see if there are other blog-to-ereader apps out there that will work on, say, Nooks. iPhones and Droid devices have Kindle readers already so I'm not worried about them.
So what do you think? Do you have an ereader? Would you prefer to have this site on your ereader than your web browser? Note I'm not asking you whether you'd pay for it, just whether you'd prefer it; I'm thinking that this might be a way of reaching out to readers I don't have yet.
And if you're a fellow serialist, have you tried this? What's been your experience?
I'll give it a shot with Awakenings. You're right, it can't hurt that much, and right now I'm barely making a dime from ads.
I put it up last night, still waiting for it to fully pop through. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005AC0QVG is the link.
Erin, are you an Amazon affiliate? Make sure you put your affiliate code into your links.
I am not, actually, because the blog, at the moment, is my only amazon thing right now. (Truth be known, I really, really don't like Amazon, but that's because of what they did to some smaller B&M bookstore chains years ago, so I never bothered with anything along those lines.) This said, reading JA Konrath and Barry Eisler's Be the Monkey has started to reshape my thinking about Amazon...so maybe I'll be updating that link later with an affiliate link, too.
Hmm having had a quick look at Meilin's, Sharon's and Erin's kindle blog pages one thing has become clear...
"This title is not available for customers from:
United Kingdom"
Is Kindle Blogs US only or is this some sort of setup issue?
(Not that I intend to subscribe. I read my kindle books on kindle for pc on my netbook).
I don't remember setting anything up to say it was US only. Maybe because the service is still in beta?
That's strange, you have to accept UK terms and conditions when you sign up. I think the service may be in beta still. I'll see what I can find out.
Or maybe there's a separate listing at amazon.co.uk?
I've been curious about this for a while, but because of the interaction I'm looking for I don't think I could do it until Amazon FINALLY releases app capabilities like they keep saying they will >.>
I've been checking out everyone's kindle blogs and I'm curious to see how they work out. I think the ereader formats have a lot of potential to reach a greater and/or shifting audience, but for now I think I'm going to watch from afar (mainly because I'm incredibly leery of middle men and their very long terms of service). Also, since Amazon sets the subscription price, as of yet you can't offer it for free, which seems like it would limit potential new readership via that avenue.
Has anyone gotten any bites on subscriptions? If so, are they mainly existing readers who want a new format, or new readers? I wonder if some lovely programmer has come up with some independent/opensource code for this already... Aha! http://kindlefeeder.com/ You don't get the marketing of being listed by Amazon, but it is another option (and free).
Oooo. Also: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/download-entire-newspapers-blogs-ebook-read...
It's a couple of extra steps that some readers might not want to take, but again, it's an option. And there's no middle man. I'll be interested to see what other technology pops up to fill this need.
I've gotten a few bites. I'm fairly sure they're existing readers looking for a new way to read. I'm looking for income even more than readers (I go where I'm going to get optimal balance of both), so I have no scruples charging via Amazon. I'm evil that way. 
I've only had one so far myself, but I'm still really new to the weblit scene and don't have quite the following that the Intimate History does! I'm happy to even have one subscriber at this point.
Scruples aside, most of the time you've got to have an existing fan base to have people actually willing to pay for a recurring subscription. 
Which you've got, so your reputation could help you get new readers and income that way. For those of us with lesser known work it might serve us better to offer it free.
Kindle blogs is interesting and it's certainly a good experiment (the one thing you won't do is *lose* money, I imagine).
It has the same issue the kindle store (and indeed smashwords) have for me though - stupid american tax hoops that would cost me a fortune to get past.
I'm intending to code up epub and mobi versions of the first arc of Dragon Wars and offer them on the site for the grand price of £1.25 (approx $2) and see if anyone bites.
Becka