Serial Novel

• Main
• All Subpages
• Create New

A novel that's published in multiple parts. Popularized in the 19th century, when many writers (including Charles Dickens and Arthur Conan Doyle) would publish their novels first as monthly or weekly installments in magazines, alongside short stories and novellas. Venues included both dedicated “digest” magazines like Strand or Astounding, and more general magazines like Life or Esquire (and sometimes… Playboy.) As time has passed, most readers now get their fix directly from separately printed books. Stephen King published his novel The Green Mile in six installments; also, quite a bit of the more popular Fan Fiction is published in a serial format.

• From the 1930's or earlier until quite recently many Science Fiction novels have first appeared as serials. These include Dune, Glory Road, Have Spacesuit Will Travel, and hundreds more.
• Bridget Jones began as a newspaper column in The Independent.
• Tales of the City was originally a serial in the San Francisco Chronicle.