The Good Book says, “Put your bread in the water and make sure it gets back to you.” The publishing industry seems to adapt more to this philosophy each week as the number of free serialized novels available on the Internet increases exponentially.

I have been offering my novel, Horizons Past, free in serialized form (http://www.horizonspast.com) for about five months. I had no illusions of inventing the wheel with this unusual approach, because I knew that a handful of authors had preceded me. Now I read several times a week from another novel that is published in serialized e-book format for free.

Many of the comments I receive refer to the question “Why would you give your book away?” The answer to that depends on how established the author is. Established authors create markets for their book fund and interest in their upcoming releases. They now also get paid for their serialized books from sponsors who display the books on their websites to attract business.

MJ Rose, in the article “Electronic Serial Authors Make a Killing,” talks about authors Doug Clegg, Steven Lee Climer, and Charles Compo leveraging their published books to generate readership with free serialized novels. Apparently internet marketers like Cybergold have also latched onto serialized novels as a way to drive customers to their site.

Booktrade.info reports that Headline Publishing Contact, the first novel by British comic book writer Simon Spurrier, will be published online for free from May 24. The book will be published for a period of six weeks to coincide with the launch of the print edition. Headline claims to be the first mainstream business publisher to make such a move.

For aspiring authors and minor authors, the free serialized novel serves to build visibility and name recognition, but apparently for established authors, giving away their book seems to bring in big cash profits.