The rise of the WhatsApp novelists | The Week UK

Charles Dickens published most of his novels in monthly magazine instalments, but if he was around now he might do the same on WhatsApp.

The messaging app has "proven to be a boon" for authors in Zimbabwe as the country's traditional publishing industry "falters", said the Financial Mail. Aspiring writers are able to charge directly for their services by "leveraging" the app's popularity and turning it into "a go-to for avid readers".

Paying the rent

Kingston Dhewa is "one of the new crop" of authors in Zimbabwe selling novels to fans on WhatsApp, said Al Jazeera. The trend "really took off" during the Covid pandemic, when authors grew an audience with serialised stories, typically released "one chapter at a time".