Fans cough up for King

King's online publishing experiment appear to be a success

Stephen King fans have been sending extra payments to cover those who fail to pay up for instalments of his serialised online novel.

They fear the author may abort the experiment because some readers are downloading chapters from the internet without paying a $1 (67p) charge.

The author, who has said he will keep writing if 75% of readers pay, released the second instalment of his online serial novel, The Plant, on Monday.

The first instalment of The Plant was downloaded by 150,000 readers

Online bookseller Amazon.com, which is processing the payments for King, did not disclose exactly how many readers paid more than the amount requested.

But Alan Caplan, a general manager with the company, said that a number of readers were making payments of $2 (£1.34), $10 (£6.70) and even $20 (£13.40).

"It's just amazing the loyalty that he has from his fans," he said.

Encouraged

King has been encouraged by the response from fans - 76% of readers who downloaded the instalments have paid for them.

Readers can pay for each download by credit card or opt to defer payment and send a cheque in the post.

Worried that interest in The Plant may fade over time, King may make future instalments longer and more expensive according to his assistant, Marsha DeFilippo.

He may make some of the instalments as long as 35,000 words - the first instalment was 5,000 words - and then charge $2.50 (£1.68) each, DeFilippo said.

The 52-year-old is also thinking about offering a loyalty bonus to faithful readers: giving away the final instalment.

The writer of novels such as Carrie, The Shining and Salem's Lot will release the third chapter of The Plant on 25 September.