Horror writer Stephen King is taking a break from his online serial novel, The Plant, so he can focus on other, perhaps more lucrative, projects.

Horror writer Stephen King is taking a break from his online serial novel, The Plant, so he can focus on other, perhaps more lucrative, projects (www.stephenking.com). Stephen King’s online serial novel is taking a break — and a monster the author has seldom faced may bear part of the blame. King says on his Web site that he needs to take a break to focus on other projects. According to a published report, those projects may have a better chance of paying the bills than the serial, titled The Plant. The story got off to a strong start when an estimated 150,000 users downloaded the first part in July. But readership has declined to about 40,000 for the latest installment, according to the New York Times. King’s spokesman said the author did not learn of the declining numbers until after he decided to shelve the project, according to the Times. Making matters worse, payments are down. Readers are able to download the chapters and pay only if they like it — with King promising to keep writing as long as the checks, $1 or $2 a chapter, keep coming in. King has been something of an online publishing pioneer. Prior to The Plant, King set the standard with the online-only release of his novella, Riding the Bullet. Some 500,000 copies of the work were sold, although many were given away by online booksellers in promotions.