Platforms & formats

A large section of a serialized story, usually ending on a turning point. Some series sell each arc as a book instead of numbering volumes.

Mother of Learning is published as four arcs, each one a book and an audiobook.

In our data: Mother of Learning

Several books of a series sold as one ebook or audiobook. Handy for a cheaper start, but it repeats books you may already own.

Audible sells Chrysalis, Books 1-3 as one title (54h41m), and The Path of Ascension has a Books 1-3.5 box set.

A store listing that takes orders before a book is out. The date on it is a plan, not a promise: publishers move dates, and two stores can show different ones.

Aethon's page for Defiance of the Fall 17 still showed a pre-order dated December 2, 2026 while Amazon's Kindle page gave September 16, 2026, the day it came out.

In our data: Defiance of the Fall, Release calendar

The largest free site for English web serials. Many LitRPG and progression fantasy series start there chapter by chapter before an author or publisher sells edited ebooks and audiobooks.

Beware of Chicken was first posted on Royal Road in June 2021, and Mother of Learning's full text is still free there.

In our data: Beware of Chicken, Mother of Learning, Royal Road to print

A web serial whose chapters were mostly taken down after the story came out as books, leaving only the first part (or a notice) free. Royal Road labels these pages STUB.

When we checked on October 10, 2026, Azarinth Healer's Royal Road page said "This fiction is a stub" and listed 24 chapters. Of the 17 Royal Road pages our editors read that week, 14 were stubs.

In our data: Royal Road to print

A story published online in installments, often several chapters a week, before or alongside books. The serial is usually ahead of the books, and the books are edited versions of it.

The Wandering Inn is published chapter by chapter as a web serial on wanderinginn.com and collected into books.

In our data: The Wandering Inn