I Like My Serial Hot

Actually, that's not precisely true. I like cold cereal, too. I don't actually eat any kind of cereal very often, but, if you're talking hot cereal, I make awesome grits. No, seriously. Yeah, I've dealt with you grit haters before. I've converted every single one of them that I've had the opportunity to make grits for. Starting with my wife way back when, because she tried to refuse to try them the first time I made them. Hmm... now, I want grits.

But, yeah, we're not really here to talk about cereal, are we? So on the subject of serials...

I learned in the last week that John Scalzi, whom I have never read but who seems to be kind of a big deal, has just started releasing his new sci-fi novel serially. Part two of his serialization just came out, and, now, I'm trying to decide if I want to read it. Not part two, the whole thing. Silly people. Anyway, looking over the reviews of part two, it looks like a lot of people are upset over the length while still loving the story. But, then, Scalzi isn't giving any of his installments away for free.

On the other side, the reviews for part one of his series were exceedingly positive and frequently very supportive of the serialization.

It shows why this serialization thing is an experiment.

And speaking of serializations...

As I mentioned, I finished Shadow Spinner last week, but that doesn't mean the serialization has ended. For one thing, I finished writing it, but I haven't even started editing yet. I did get some proof copies ordered, though, and, remember, that's one of the prizes in the Great Chocolate Contest (so you want to click that link and get right on that)! For another thing, I don't, yet, have a cover for the book, because, yes, the cover needs to be different from the serial covers in that it needs to be representative of the entire book, not just a chapter. That being said, the incredibly awesome Rusty is working with me on cover ideas. Okay, I asked him to come up with ideas. See, that's how much I trust his awesome artistic abilities! And, well, there are other things here and there that still need to be tweaked, so no actual release date, yet.

To preserve the serialization experience, I've decided to do some different things with the release of Spinner. Once I have the everything finished and it's ready to go, I'm only, initially, going to release it as a physical book. That will be for those people that really want to read the whole thing right now. Instead of having to wait two weeks for each e-part, you'll be able to order the whole thing as a physical copy. Once the serialization is over, the whole book will be available for the Kindle and (probably) the Nook. That's the plan, anyway. We'll see how it works out. At some point, I'll have my full report ready as to how I think this serialization thing worked out.

And, then, going back to the whole listopia thing, I have The House on the Corner and "Christmas on the Corner" on the Magical children's books list. [Actually, I have "The Tunnel" on there, too, but, even though there is magic in Shadow Spinner, it strikes me as less magical as a book. Yeah, don't ask me to explain that.] Anyway, it would be incredibly awesome if you guys could see your way over there to vote on it. If you've read it, that is. I can't bring myself to ask you to just go vote on it just for the sake of voting. So, yeah, there it is.

Man, I hate this marketing stuff!