Last week I posted an excerpt from the latest NSSWM about co-authoring in which Julianna Baggott and Steve Almond are one of several partnerships who discuss the pros and cons of writing with someone else. I’ve found something that is even more daunting than writing with one or two other people. Imagine working with 14 other writers.

Audible.com has a new audio book entitled The Chopin Manuscript, which has 15 authors. How would you like to work with Jeffery Deaver (Lincoln Rhyme series), David Hewson (Nic Costa series), James Grady (Six Days of the Condor), S. J. Rozan (Bill Smith/Lydia Chin series), Erica Spindler (Last Known Victim), John Ramsey Miller (Winter Massey series), David Corbett (Blood of Paradise), John Gilstrap (Scott Free), Joseph Finder (Power Play), Jim Fusilli (Terry Orr series), Peter Spiegelman (John March series), Ralph Pezzullo (Jawbreaker), Lisa Scottoline (Daddy’s Girl), P.J. Parrish (Louis Kincaid, Joe Frye series) and Lee Child (Jack Reacher series) to create one novel? Like I said, it's a little daunting.

Deaver came up with the characters and plot, and then each author wrote a chapter before Deaver finished it off. The book will be released as a serial, with old school cliffhangers at the end of every chapter, and new installments being delivered every Tuesday starting Sept. 25th. The first chapter is up, free, and good enough that I’m contemplating buying the rest of it. 

I also want to listen to the rest of the book to see how well these authors do in writing a cohesive novel. The editor must have had a field day making sure that the characterization and plot arc worked, and that the chapters don't sound like they're written by 15 different people (unless of course they want it to read that way). In fact, I almost want to get the book and have one of my friends listen to it--without knowing about the multiple authors--and see if they can detect any differences.

The main reason I'm considering not buying the book is that I don't want to deal with the serialization aspect. I want to get the whole thing at once, not in bits and pieces. I'm of the generation that kind of skipped installment stories (tv doesn't count in this discussion). In previous generations there were serialized radio programs and stories in magazines and newspapers, but those were pretty much gone or faded to the background by the time I got to the consumer age. Internet serialization of stories didn't start to boom until I was in my twenties, so I missed out during the formative teen years. In fact, the closest thing to installment stories during my tweens and teens I can think of are comics. Which may explain why I don't mind following five different weekly comics, but the thought of having to wait for the next installment of a novel makes me grimace.

Did I miss something? How do you feel about reading/listening to stories in installments? I know of several ezines that have serialized stories going; has anyone looked at how installment writing is different today from previous generations?