TUTORIAL: How to Create a Table of Contents For Serial Fiction and Series Publishing
An Easy Step by Step Guide
Note: There are many on Substack who are now publishing serial fiction and other types of work that require continuity and cohesiveness.
Who This Guide is For
If this is something you are doing or have wanted to do, but you are unsure of how to create an orderly way for readers to access the full content without a lot of random searching, this guide is for you.
The Process
Go to your dashboard and click New Post.
2. Just as with any new post, fill in the Title and Subtitle fields.
Choose the action button you wish to display at the top ( Subscribe, Share, etc.).
Add an image if you desire
Steps to add linkable Chapters or Sections
Beginning with Chapter 1, open each chapter individually in another browser tab
Copy the URL
Paste it into the main content section of your new post.
At first, the display will be huge.
Example:
Art Archives #5: Clay Pot
Eugene, OR is full of different sorts of artists. In the house I lived in on Mill Street, there was a portrait artist, a Pen and Ink artist, a photographer, and a ceramic artist (potter). The potter, Dan Turnage, and I became friends. I even did an interview with him about his business when I worked for the school…
To change the size, hover the cursor over the display. A little box with lines will appear at the top right corner. Click on this box and choose Small Display.
Result:
Repeat this process for each chapter you want to add.
When done, you will have a nice Table of Contents with a linked Thumbnail photo and Title for each chapter.
(Click to see what the finished product looks like)
Finish with a divider line and insert a Share and/or Leave a Comment button.
Publish
Pin to the Home page and Section page to keep it prominently displayed
Things to keep in mind
The TOC post must be published for readers to have access.
The TOC page can be edited to update each time a new chapter comes out.
Tip: If you’re cranking out weekly chapters, it can be a little cumbersome to publish a new version of the TOC each time you add a chapter. Instead, always add a link to it at the top and bottom of each new chapter.
Linking Previous and Next chapters on each post:
At the top of the page, type < Previous Next >
For the previous chapter highlight < Previous and click the link tool at the top of the document. Copy the chapter post address for the prior post and paste it into the URL box. Click Link.
Repeat the process with Next >.
Centering: Place the cursor at the front of < Previous Next >
Click the quote tool at the top of the page and choose the “Pull Quote” option.
That will center the links on the page with lines above and below so it looks nice and symmetrical:
That’s it. Easy Peasy, right?
Try it out. Let me know what you think and please feel free to offer suggestions for improvements.
This will be a post I save. Very helpful guide and very helpful advice in the comments. Thank you!
Thank you so much for putting this together. This was a great tutorial. I will archive this after I try it out on my Silent Keys serial.