Serialization of speculative fiction novels - a new publishing model?

Donation link for T.A. Pratt

The publishing industry as a whole right now is one of many struggling through some economic hardships. Editors and agents alike have tightened their criteria for bringing on new authors, marketing budgets have been slashed, and, unfortunately, a lot of the industry's time-worn policies and procedures (such as a bookstore's ability to send back any unsold titles for a full refund) keep profit margins slim on all sides. 

So far, people are looking to advances such as Print-on-Demand (POD) services and ebooks and e-readers (such as the Kindle) to relieve some of the burden print costs forces the industry to shoulder. However, there is another approach that seems to be gaining some notice: Free novel serializations.

Free, you ask? Well...yes. Free. No strings attached. Of course, there is the option to donate however much money you wish to the author, if you enjoy the story enough (or just out of the kindness of your heart). 

Two such speculative fiction authors who are involved in this are T.A. Pratt and Catherynne M. Valente. 

C.M. Valente

T.A. Pratt is the author of the highly enjoyable Marla Mason fantasy novels. Her serial offering is a novella that is a prequel to the rest of the Marlaverse series: Bone Shop. Chapter 1, available now (again, FREE) is titled "In which Marla converses with a pyromaniac, commits some minor crimes, and hears a curious proposition." 

Catherynne M. Valente is the acclaimed author of the Orphan's Tales Vol. 1 & 2, as well as the recently released Palimpsest, a story about a sexually-transmitted city (yes, you read that right). Her serialized story, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making is in its third chapter, titled "Hello, Goodbye, and Manythanks: In which September Nearly Drowns, Meets Three Witches (One a Wairwulf), And Is Entrusted with the Quest for a Certain Spoon."

Courtesy of CMValente.com

Long novel and chapter titles aside, is this a publishing model that might gain in popularity over time? Should authors trust in their reader base to support them through donations when they otherwise give the story away for free? 

On one side, it may be a way for authors to motivate themselves to write and produce stories on a consistent basis. If they have no trouble with that level of productivity, and don't keep readers hanging for months on end just for the next chapter (and their writing is entertaining, of course), they might well see a nice level of income. However, for every reader who does take the time to donate, there will no doubt be many who will just read the free story and that's that. 

Another advantage might be the simple growing of an author's audience. Even while some might not presently have the funds to support the writer's career, there may be a future time when they see one of their novels in a bookstore, and having read the free serial chapters, they are more inclined to purchase the author's further work.

Time, and donations, will tell.