He Said
Ashley brought this topic up and honestly, I never even thought about this till she mentioned it. I’m not sure where she comes up with this stuff but the more I thought about it the more I thought it was a good He Said/She Said topic. (Don’t tell her that as her head will just get bigger. Remember, I’m the one who has to work with her, every day.)
Sorry, got off on a bit of a tangent there.
So, should you turn your just published book (or yet to be published book) into a series? That depends.
Some of the best books I’ve have ever read have been part of a series. Hunger Games, Vampire Academy, In-between and The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo being just some of them. Oops, can’t forget the Harry Potter series!
Having said that, more often, the worse books I’ve read have been part of a series. Sometimes it’s the first book that’s bad, but usually it’s the second or third book. If the first book sucks, that’s really good. Why you ask? Because then, you can forget about the rest of the series and get on with your life, or better yet, go buy a good series.
However, there is nothing worse than an author sucking you in with the first book then, running out of ideas and wearing out their characters in the next, or subsequent books. Now, you the reader, are invested in the characters, the plot and looking forward to see what happens to them. Only to be left hanging or taken to who cares land while the author tries to figure out what he wants to do. As an author, this is a quick path to make sure your readers never buy any more of your books.
Thus, my advice to any author who is thinking about making their book into a series? Ask yourself, how far can you stretch your story? Do you have enough plot twists and turns, character growth, new characters and story changes to hold the readers interest through each and every book.
If you run out of ideas, stop the series. Trust me, your readers will know instantly when you wander halfway through a chapter or a book trying to pick up a new thread. Make sure you know where it’s going before you start each new book. You don’t need to know how you’re going to get it there but you must know where you want to take your readers. How you’re going to hold their interest.
Which brings me to another point about series. Should each book stand on its own? Or, should you tell the reader that they need to read the series in sequence? One of the hardest things I’ve ever done is try to recap my first two books in the third, without sounding like I was doing a book review. Sneaking in what happened in over a thousand pages and two books without being obvious is not an easy task. At least not for me. And if your series is five, six or ten books; wow, good luck on making them stand alone.
All things to think about before you decide to make your book into a series.
She said…
When I think about some of my favorite books, I realize they just happen to be books in a series; each one of them with characters I fell in love with from one book to the next. Some of them stretch a mere trilogy, whereas others have gone seven to eight books long, such as some of my favorites by indie author Lisa Olsen. One might question whether stretching a series out to eight books is a bit much. In the case of books such as Lisa Olsen’s Forged Bloodlines series, I would say my hope is that she will write about Anja, Bishop, Rob and the rest just as long as the immortal characters exist – the fact that I don’t ever want to see its end hopefully apparent in my words. But Olsen is, unfortunately, the exception to the rule.
As a reviewer I am often asked to read the first book in a series; sometimes even those that supersede it. With my affinity for books in a series, you would think this would be a treat. Unfortunately, as much as I hate to say it, I’ve started to cringe at the mere idea of even beginning a series. I’m becoming fed up with the whole idea and I’ll tell you why.
In my experience – and I can only speak of my own experience – the writing of a series has become more about wanting to make and sell more than one book as opposed to writing a great story with great characters who have a tale to tell. That isn’t to say that authors are trying to just make a buck when writing a series, but let’s be honest. When I read a majority of the series’ that I read, that is the opinion I get. It’s all about how to expand a series as opposed to telling a great story. And that’s a shame.
I’ve got only one suggestion to stop this from happening and I’m not sure even this will work…really read those reviews by reviewers AND consumers. Don’t just look at the stars and titles. Take the time to read what people had to say.