Tor.com buys web-only serialization rights to two graphic novels

Tor.com is exercising its mandate to explore nontraditional publishing, this time by purchasing web-only publishing rights to two full-length graphic novels for web serialization. Publishers Weekly is reporting that Tor.com Producer Pablo Defendini signed a deal with agent Bob Mecoy (of Creative Book Services) to get the web site rights to both The Imitation Game (by Jim Ottaviani and Leland Purvis) and Red Light Properties (by Dan Goldman).

The Imitation Game is a biography of mathematician Alan Turing, while Red Light Properties is "a paranormal real estate tale", according to Mecoy. Both 192-page books will be serialized over six months, starting in January.

Talking about this new new direction for the site, Defendini said "Anything we consider for the site is definitely not for business as usual." He recognizes that this new type of deal might not be a financial windfall, saying "we may try some things that just might not work." But he's got some history to support the deal: soon after launching the site last year, "we noticed right away that the comics were very popular." The serialized comics will be a focus of the redesign Tor.com is planning for next year.

Both sides of the negotiation recognize the serializations are an experiment. Mecoy said "My clients decided to go with Tor.com because this model breaks new ground, or rather it's a traditional model—the serial—used by Dickens and others over the years to attract new readers and build an audience. We know that you can regularly release episodes of story telling that will not negatively impact the sales of the finished complete work. It's the old becoming new again."

Ottaviani is the author of T-Minus: The Race to the Moon, Levitation: Physics And Psychology in the Service of Deception, and others. Illustrator Purvis's recently published two graphic novels for Aladdin's "Turning-Points in American History" series: Sons of Liberty and A House Divided. Goldman is the co-creator of 08: A Graphic Diary of the Campaign Trail and Shooting War.