Story Serialisation

Context

Stories have been presented in a serialised form in the past, e.g. Dickens. There is no reason why this model cannot be used in today’s climate. The expanding use of email and PDAs means that people get their “push” content in different forms. Previously it was mail, newspapers and magazines. Today text rules. It must be in bite sized pieces however.

There is an oversupply of content. A lot of it is bad but a reasonable amount is pretty good. Publishers have traditionally controlled what gets to the press due to expense. With the Internet and modern production techniques this restriction has gone and the increasing education levels mean that there is a lot more content. Readers still need publishers to filter the junk but there are emerging positions for new (reputable) publishers who can take advantage of the cheaper publishing channels.

Old school publishers have been slow to move to capitalise on electronic channels. Sure, they use the latest technology in layout and printing but have been slow to adopt XML and alternative forms of publication such as e-books and the Internet.

Problem

Users want a cheap way of getting a quality fix of fiction every day. They don’t have time for a whole novel and don’t want to pay a lot for the privilege.

Solution

Build a system which can serialise content and serve that content regularly. Hire editors who can filter the wheat from chaff. Use royalty free content. Once the system was built it could be licensed to others to use.

Inspiration

I had discussions with a couple of friends about books they were thinking of publishing. I got to thinking about how the Internet could be used to publish books in a novel way. People have limited time and a serialised form of novels seemed like a good fit for this.

Implementation

Website. Shred the stories. Serve the stories.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Opportunities exist for new publishers. It is just a case of whether it is worth it. As usual, it looks like it would have to be done “for the love of it”. However, a generic system for serialising content could be quite useful for those wanting to licence the software from you.

Business Model

Very difficult to see how one could make money from this. If you signed up 10000 users at $10 a pop you would only just have enough to break even. I think that it is a mugs game. Established copyright owners will never give their content away because it is the golden egg. They will give anything but the content. I propose to give only the content. In the long term it may well be in the established publishers best interestes to promote the work of their authors, however, I don’t think that they would see it that way.

Outcome

A possibility. There needs to be some more compelling business reasons to pursue this project further.

Tags
idea
story
serialisation