Web Publishing with L. Lee Lowe
We asked Mr. Lowe to write a bit about why he publishes his books online, and here’s what he said:
My YA fantasy novel Mortal Ghost was originally serialized in weekly installments from a blog, together with regular podcasts read by Bill Uden, a young British theatre and directing student. Now the novel is available in its entirety online, as a PDF download, in various e-formats, including for cellphone, and as a complete set of podcasts.
Though there are still print serialisations, I think the internet lends itself perfectly to this form. A number of potential readers have said they don’t like reading fiction – reading for enjoyment – on a screen. Others, however, have expressed surprise that they kept coming back week after week. I wonder if it’s the very waiting which helped maintain interest. All too often the book read quickly last year, or last month, has also been quickly forgotten. With a serialisation the reader learns to engage in a different way with a story. It’s become something of a truism that online reading is hurried and superficial, but it’s also possible that a slower pace – akin to rationing your imported chocolate truffles rather than gobbling them down all at once – involves the reader more intensely in the process.
Of course, this would apply both to print and online serialisations. What distinguishes the online medium for me is the immediate feedback from readers, and the sense of kinship between reader and writer which can develop. It’s a real pleasure to be in touch with readers from places I need to look up on a map, though in all honesty I have to admit to revising very little based on reader feedback. In fact, I rewrite and edit extensively before posting a word, but still appreciate the opportunity to fiddle forever, if need be.
Conventional publishing is a business. The internet guarantees my independence from market considerations, though it means a trade-off in other ways: fewer readers, perhaps; the stigma of failure; and absolutely no way to make a living by writing. But it also means empowerment: I can write exactly as I see fit.
At the centre of my work is a strong conviction in open culture, freely available to all.
And there some readers who have told me they like to snatch a look in breaks at work, where they might not be inclined to pull out a book, something that never even occurred to me when I began.
At the moment I’m revising my new F/SF novel Corvus, which I hope to begin serializing and podcasting online in autumn. It’s set in a slightly alternate future in which the minds of teen offenders are uploaded into computers on the pretext of rehabilitation – a form of virtual wilderness therapy. The novel is part thriller, part love story, part riff on the nature of consciousness. The first chapter is available here: http://corvus-lowe.blogspot.com
Thanks, and we look forward to reading Corvus!
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That is super cool. I haven’t read through an internet published novel before, but I am now very eager to begin. I see in my future many bleary nights at the screen