Web Serial Fiction discussion

Currently, I write my serial in books, edit them thoroughly myself and with a beta reader, and then start posting the chapters. I'm getting to the end of the first book, and thought about publishing it on Kindle. But then thanks to my husband, the terror struck me -- it has not been professionally edited. What if it's not ready to be published??? I think it's good, and I have dedicated readers (not many), and no one screaming at me that things don't make sense. But there's a difference between what readers will accept in a web serial, and what they'll accept when they have to pay.

So my question to you all is: should web serials be professionally edited before being compiled/published?

And I don't mean just proofreading/copyediting. Probably every work could always use another proofread. But editing like content development, checking for structure, plotting and characterization.

Hey Katsueki,

First of all, kudos for being a conscientious author who wants a quality final product.

The fact that your fan base hasn't pointed anything out could be an 'ok' provided...
A - The demographic is generally well educated and/or well read. For example, a tween reading base is far less likely to find errors than an older, professional demographic.
B - And assuming you've over a hundred readers. Lots of dedicated readers are more thorough than a few. Or even a professional.

You still can do it yourself, if you consider yourself a fairly competent writer, then go research a few more tricks and things to look out for to edit your book. There are plenty of online sources that'll help you out.

Hope this helps!

I can't tell you what people should do. Things are open enough that there's no standards, but I can tell you what I've seen others do and done myself.

A few thoughts:

1. Editors improve things. My editor noticed a number of problems, major and minor, that we're worth fixing.
2. I've read a serial (An Intimate History of the Greater Kingdom) that was very good before being edited, but was noticeably better afterward.
3. If you care about growing your serial's audience, don't stop writing your serial while editing the first book. If you it will likely be much smaller when you come back. A hiatus and/or inconsistent updates are major audience killers.

One thing that's important to consider is that the cost for editing might be more than you ever make back on your serial... IHGK did have an Indiegogo or Kickstarter so that the author could help pay her editor for a developmental edit alongside the traditional editing for grammar/typos/proofing. I think you're going to have to also consider what shape your current story is in, i.e., how many pairs of eyes looked at your serial while it was going on and what they were looking for.

Simply put, if you can't afford to pay someone to do the pro edit (or are banking on mega sales on the kindle versions to pay for it), it's a big gamble and whether you ever recoup that cost depends on a lot of factors beyond your control post-writing (i.e., genre, algorithms, relevence, discoverability).

If you have a limited budget and are confident you have a clean read, I think a cover is a better investment.

Thanks for the thoughtful replies. I've been thinking this over, and for my situation and goals, I want to be publishing the best quality that I can (especially when starting out) and that means getting a professional edit.

I was a bit hesitant on putting it off because part of publishing is being brave. (and avoiding an endless unproductive cycle of edits). But I believe this is the right move.

And I will keep up my current posting schedule :)

Again, thanks!