Celebrating Independent Authors
Are you writing a series? Many authors are, it seems. Some of us have discovered how satisfying it can be to extend one story into many, to watch our characters grow and develop. It’s actually something I never thought I would do, but now that I’m knee-deep in it, I love it.
Coming from a position of doing only stand-alone books for the first 40 years of my writing career, however, I’ve run into an issue. Continue reading “Managing Your Book Series”
You’re an author and you’ve decided you want to write a series. Well, this is the post for you.
A series can be great for authors because it can draw in readers and keep them. If they like your first book and its characters, they’re likely to forge ahead and buy more books in the series. This is why there are so many series out there. Today, I’m going to talk mainly serial series. So, to get started, let’s get definitions out of the way. A serial series is one that has an overarching story arc throughout the series. Think Harry Potter or the Hunger Games. The books are meant to be read in order, and build on one another. A non-serial series will use the same world or the same character, but can be entered through any book in the series. Think of Sue Grafton’s alphabet mystery series or Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels. These are more like the “continuing adventures of” types of series, and each book can stand alone. While it’s nice to know the backstory of the character, you don’t have to know it to really enjoy any book in the series. Continue reading “So, You Want to Write a Series?”
Common wisdom has it that, as an Indie, it’s a good idea to write a series. You price the first book as free or $.99 and set the rest at a regular price. Once readers are hooked, you can pretty well count on them to buy the others. Loyal customers and all that. But inherent in the multi-book series, you have two main problems. Continue reading “Writing a Series: Pitfalls and Solutions”
Guest Post
by Adan Ramie
Most writers of fiction have dealt with a story that pushes against the boundaries of novel word count. Many might even know what it’s like to realize you’re writing what my writing group jokingly calls “the sprawling epic.” You know the type: the story starts when your protagonist is born and goes on for decades – maybe centuries – and several books before it finally reaches its conclusion.
Recently I found myself facing this sometimes-crippling foe. Unwittingly, I had written myself into a crossroads in which I had published three novels in three genres, and they were all screaming sequel. I solved my dilemma not by giving up on any of the stories, but by clarifying each of them with this three-question method. Continue reading “Series Writing: Empowering Your Inner Sprawling Epic”