Like Webtoons (which have become a hugely popular and profitable publishing model spawning dozens of adaptations into TV and movie series – Stylus members can see DC Comics’ Webtoons Audience Appeal in Pop Culture Pulse: April 2022 for more), serialised fiction delivers short, snackable chapters designed to be read on mobile screens. These chapters often publish multiple times a week, and after commonly sampling the first instalments for free, readers unlock the full story through a mix of micropayments and engagement points earned through time spent reading.
Unlike Wattpad and Webtoon, which are user-generated content platforms where anyone can contribute, Yonder’s stories are acquired, distributed, and curated through publisher partnerships. At launch, the platform will include exclusives from authors like romance writer Ivy Smoak (The Hunted Series) and P.C. and Kristin Cast (House of Night), alongside hundreds of backlist titles from publishers such as Blackstone, Aethon and Wraithmarked.
The substantial success of real-time read-along newsletter Dracula Daily shows how online audiences can breathe new life into old books. Yonder offers a bridge for backlist catalogues into such online social reading communities on a large scale.
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