Recently I came across a new term @KairaLansing coined as a hashstag: #NOVELSODE. I ran across it right around the time I was finishing up my first 2 episodes of the Tracking Jane series. The find excited me because I saw other authors out there like Kaira Lansing using this shorter format to harness the power of the eBook and subscription services (more on this boring stuff below). I had given this approach to story-telling some thought, and now I knew I wasn’t alone!

What is a NovelSode? Kaira sums it up at Novelsodes.com, “it’s similar to a TV Series Episode, but without the TV.” Though that gets the concept across nicely, I’m a bit more formal (OK, square) in my thinking, so here’s my definition:

A Novelsode is a self-contained story, with its own realized and resolved plot arc, but which also supports a longer-term plot, such as one would find in a full novel or series of novels. As a corollary, two or more Novelsodes can form a full novel — or not.

In my own Tracking Jane series, I am using this format to tell individual stories that span about one half of the average novel’s length (around 40,000 words for the word counters). Each of these stories support a larger narrative.

I was looking forward to exploring this shorter, snappier format. In fact, this is nothing new. In earlier days of the printed word, authors like Charles Dickens employed the serial format to great effect. In the more recent past era dominated by print publication, however, it seemed that anything beyond a long short story and falling short of novel length could not find an easy road to publication — as if that road wasn’t already hard enough. But times are changing. Things have turned more interesting, perhaps even unruly enough to merit taking another look at how Dickens did things.

With the advent of eBooks, especially, I think readers now look upon shorter works — so long as they are priced accordingly — with a favorable and open mind. Add to the mix the upsurge in subscription services akin to Netflix, but for books, and readers will also benefit from the ability to download — perhaps even binge on? — multiple titles, i.e., Novelsodes, at the cost of a flat monthly subscription fee.

We will see where all this goes, but I for one will be giving the Novelsode a good run in my Tracking Jane series, and even add a couple, perhaps, to my Our Cyber World series.

As for the reading side of my life, recently I found two other authors who write — whether they realize it or not — in the Novelsode format. When you get a chance, check out the Hipstopia series by R.A. Desilets, and Rick Wayne‘s Minus Faction.

To see other authors joining the Novelsode movement, visit Novelsodes.com.