What’s this all about, anyway?

Summer in Orcus is a web serial by T. Kingfisher, aka Ursula Vernon, aka yours truly. It is a full-length novel, approximately ninety thousand words, about a girl named Summer and a very odd world called Orcus.

Okay, but is it done? I’m not gonna get invested and then you’ll get bored, right?

Right! The book is finished. It is edited. Proofreaders are having their way with it. It will be updated unless I’m hit by a bus, in which case there will be a slight delay and then my husband will update it.

Why a web serial? If it’s already finished, why not just put out an e-book?

Good question. I have put out a number of self-published e-books, and I like doing it. But I wanted to try something different with Orcus. I had great luck with my webcomic Digger, which ran for a number of years. A serial builds a community, it lives in people’s heads week to week in a way that a novel read straight through can’t. So I wanted to give it a try.

Okay, but why now?

What made this possible is Patreon supporters, who have been incredibly generous. Because people support my stuff on Patreon, even for just a dollar a month, I can take the gamble of putting out a book on the internet instead of charging money for it up front.

And hey, it may not work! I may take a total bath on this one! I may never do this again! But because of Patreon, I can afford to take the risk, and see if the game, as they say, is worth the candle.

What if I want to wait to the end to read it?

Great! Not a problem. It will be completely done in early 2017, if not before, and you can read it straight through then, either on-line here or you can buy an e-book, which will be for sale, so that you don’t have to click and grumble on-line.

What if I want to buy an e-book before then?

E-books will not be available until the serial has run its course.

What if I want a print copy?

Well, that’s a little tougher. Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, there will be a print version in some fashion, although probably not for a bit.

How much does it cost?

It’s free.

No, really. You can read the whole thing here on the website for zero dollars. The eventual e-book will be priced as usual, so that people who hate reading on the internet can have a copy, but you’ll be able to read it on-line for the foreseeable future. Patreon supporters when the series ends will also receive a link to download a free e-book version.

But will it stay free?

Well, as the philosopher Herodotus said, “Never say which spring you won’t drink from.” I can’t swear that somebody won’t show up and want to publish it on requirement that it be taken down. Life happens. I can be bought. But at this time, barring unlikely events, it’ll stay up. (Digger‘s stayed free for years now, so the odds are good.)

What if I don’t support you on Patreon?

It’s okay! Not everybody has the means at this moment in time. Read the book, enjoy it, buy an e-book if you want to, or just read it online. Kick in a donation on Paypal some day when you have the means, or better yet, pay it forward and support some other author doing something wild and crazy on-line.

I’ve polled my Patreon supporters in various places, and it turns out that most of them don’t want stuff that nobody else gets to see. They want to support making cool stuff that the whole world gets access to. So we’re all trying Summer of Orcus together!

How can I support you?

Over on the sidebar, there’s links to my Patreon and to a Paypal donation link if you’d rather just do that. You can support Orcus for even just a dollar a month, which helps pay for the enormous amounts of coffee I consume while writing books.

Is there an RSS feed?

I’m working on that now!