Why Installments?

As a reader, I know how frustrating it can be to purchase a "book" for $2.99+ and realize it's not full length. I've done that one before. However, I'm still a huge fan of installment series and have opted to do the Push series as such for many reasons. If you think about it, there are two types of readers: 1) Those who will read multiple books simultaneously, dashing through a few chapters here and there and 2) those who take a more monogamous approach, reading only one book at a time.

Installments appeal to the simultaneous reader because they can knock it out in a day or two and flutter onto another literary work. But they should also appeal to the monogamous type because of two little words: book coma. It's that feeling you get after reading a girthy book that has basically dominated your life for the past week. Instead of throwing yourself into another full length book, reading installments (serial novels) could be a good way to break it up.

I understand the draw back in terms of pricing and will never expect my readers to purchase a series that exceeds the amount of a traditional novel. Selling 8 installments totaling 70,000 words at $1.99 a pop is highway robbery. I would be furious! But if you break a novel up into 3-4 parts and price them to total the amount of a full length I feel it's reasonable.

Personally, the large draw to me is being able to get content to my readers in a few weeks instead of a few months. Books, to me, are a lot like television in the sense that they're often in series and you have to wait for the next episode to air. This is true with full length and serial novels. Or if you want to make it cinematic, think of full lengths as a movie and installments as a television series. Either way, if the price is right and the writing is great it shouldn't matter.