Fiction Update
I'm releasing the remaining chapters in my novel because I want you to have a better reading experience
Over the last several months, as I’ve been serializing this novel about surveillance in the modern workplace that many of you have been reading, I’ve had a realization:
I don’t like reading serialized fiction.
It’s hard for me to stay engaged; I forget what happened in the previous chapters; it doesn’t allow me to keep going if I want to read on.
In the end, I decided that reading fiction like this just wasn’t working for me. And if it’s not working for me, why should I expect it to work for you?
So I’m making a change.
I’m putting the remaining chapters of my story up on my Substack Fiction home page and I’m linking them below. If you like a chapter and want to keep going, you can follow the <Next Chapter> links included at the beginning and end of each chapter, or you can return to this table of contents if that’s easier.
Basically, you get to read as fast or as slow as you want. I’m hoping that some of you will get caught up enough in the narrative to rush to the end—I know that at some point, that’s what happened to me.
Please note: If you’re a person who only reads their Substack subscriptions in your email, you’ll either have to change your ways and go to the website or the Substack app or just stop reading. I hope not the latter! Please let me know though and if there are enough of you, I’ll figure something out.
Chapter 17: Stamper Takes an Override
Chapter 18: Cascade Reviews the Data
Chapter 19: Friction
Chapter 20: Verbal Override Requested
Chapter 21: Bury These Friction Reports!
Chapter 22: Swale Canyon Showdown
Chapter 23: Shut This Down!
Chapter 24: Party at Dan’s House
Chapter 25: Two-Way Door
Your thoughts and observations are always welcome, either in the comments section or via email.
You can tell our conversation helped! I felt a little bit sad about this, likely because I didn’t want to deviate from the course I had set, but then I realized that a thoughtful course-correction is nothing to regret (or, as Emerson said, “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.”) Can’t wait to hear what you think! Don’t hesitate to lay down your opinions here, no matter where they end up. I’m ready for it!
Fascinating insights Tom and always good to go with your gut.
I wonder if serializing every two weeks worked less well than releasing a chapter each week? But also, I wonder if serializing just doesn't work, period?
For example, the famous Dickens books of the 19th century were serialized, but there were no competing alternatives. You read the chapter in the newspaper because that's all there was. And then you waited a week for the next entry while trying not to die from smallpox. Needless to say, our current content ecosystem is quite different.
For my in-progress novel, I really think it's pretty good, but I also have no confidence I'll snag an agent and get a traditional publishing contract. So I'm mentally ready to release my book on Substack. If/when that happens I'll be sure to leverage your learnings.
Also, I do hope to start your book sooner rather than later!