Welcome to the website of Pages Unbound, a resource for authors of original web fiction and for readers looking for something to read on the web. Our focus here is on original long-form fiction: web novels, in other words... sometimes also known as web serials. If you're a reader, you can find links to interesting stories being developed for the web. If you're an author, you can add a link to your story and share in the growing audience for such work.

What is a web novel?

The short answer is a "novel on the web"... and maybe it's nothing more than that. If somebody writes a novel and then decides to post it online, certainly it's no different from any other novel. On the other hand, more and more novels are being developed and written specifically for publication on the web--often in a serial format, using nothing more than a blog for the medium--and this can have a definite impact on the finished product. Viewed in that light, a web novel and a print novel are very different things, in much the same way that a "webcomic" is not exactly the same thing as a print comic strip.

A serial web novel isn't subject to such things as page counts. Slower pacing and more freeform plotting are possible. Because web novels don't have to worry about which shelf the bookstore will put them on, they don't have to fit into a neat little marketing niche. This is where the name "Pages Unbound" comes from: authors free to experiment, without the physical or practical constraints of traditional publishing.

Sometimes, the results of these experiments can require a bit of a "mental adjustment" on the part of new readers who are accustomed to stories unfolding at a certain rate or in a certain way... but once you get over the initial strangeness, you'll find that serial web novels have plenty to offer.

The biggest advantage? There's always something new to read!

So, get browsin'... and who knows? Maybe you'll be inspired to write your own opus.