Installments
Sketches by Boz was issued in its own installments from 1837 to 1839. Dickens was equally at home in both the short story and the full-length novel format. This is because nearly all his novels were serialized in periodicals in their first publications. Only later were they edited for book form. He and his publishers, Chapman & Hall, released most of his major novels in weekly or monthly installments. These sold for 1 shilling apiece, which was within the affordable price range of most Victorian readers.
This method of publication kept readers anxious to learn of the next plot twist, thereby ensuring sales of the following installment. It also allowed Dickens to gauge public reaction to each installment, and tailor the plot developments accordingly. Dickens wrote his novels as he published them, and readers frequently wrote to him to implore for the good fortune of their favorite characters. Although Dickens was not the first author to publish novels serially, he was by far the most successful in the use of this method.
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