Support for Indie Authors discussion

So I have this book that's a two book story (it was initially one book, but came out to four hundred pages so I decided to divide it into two). It's currently in the editing stages and far from being ready to publish, but what's been nagging me is that when it is ready, should I publish the two books at once? Or publish book one then wait a little while to publish book two?

Is one a better strategy over the other is what I'm wondering. Or does it not really matter. Right now I'm kind of leaning toward publishing both at once, but I'm willing to publish them one at a time if that might be the better way to go.

Thoughts? Opinions? Two-cents? A dollar?

I'm sort of in the same boat, only I have a trilogy I am getting ready to publish. Because of the time involved in just getting a book ready to publish (editing, etc) I was planning on releasing the first book when it was ready (there is no cliffhanger type ending, although there is a revelation at the end that will hopefully leave the reader wanting to know more). The other two books would follow as each became ready to be published. In the end matter at the back of the first book, I was planning on having a 'coming soon' or offering the first chapter of the next book so that readers know there is more to come. I was also thinking of using the preorder idea on the second to see if that helped boost sales.

That really depends on the story. Does it break naturally into two books? Does the first book end in a cliffhanger? How will you price the two books?

All of those have potential pit falls.

Two books under $2.99 will earn less then one $3.99 book. But publishing both at $2.99 means charging $6 for the whole thing, to which readers might object. Some authors who engaged in "book slicing" in the past have made some readers sensitive to this.

Readers also do not like cliffhangers for the most part. If each part does not come across to reader as complete story with a satisfactory ending, history suggests the reviews will not be kind.

I'd suggest (for what's it's worth) finding some new beta readers who don't know the whole story and send them the first part to see how they react. If they like it and want more, you are good to go. If they complain that it seems "amputated", either recast the story into two complete works, or release it as one 400-pg book.

If each part does tell a complete story and doesn't come across as "half a book", there is not much point in releasing them together, IMO. Release the first, let it get a following, and then release the second 3-4 months later to build on that. That tends to take the best advantage of Amazon's new release cycle.

My 2-cents.

Owen wrote: "That really depends on the story. Does it break naturally into two books? Does the first book end in a cliffhanger? How will you price the two books?

All of those have potential pit falls.

Two ..."

Thanks so much for the input :D

Book one doesn't end on a cliffhanger but there are a few things left unresolved. My own opinion of the story, though, is that it does feel like a two-book story. Book one deals with the protagonists' search for a family member, with the main conflict more in the background and more the promise of a threat than an actual threat. Book two deals with the main conflict as an actual threat.

I also wouldn't mind publishing them separately since then I could focus on them one at a time - get one book edited and have it out, gaining readers, while I then focus on the second book. It would be kind to my sanity if nothing else. It's a long friggin' book in need of a ton of work :/

Lisa wrote: "I'm sort of in the same boat, only I have a trilogy I am getting ready to publish. Because of the time involved in just getting a book ready to publish (editing, etc) I was planning on releasing t..."

Yeah, I'm now kind of leaning toward maybe publishing them separately. That way I could work on them one at a time.

400 pages is not too long for a single book. How many words? 120,000?

Melissa wrote: "Book one doesn't end on a cliffhanger but there are a few things left unresolved..."

The first book should have hooks to the second book. After all, if everything is resolved, what's left to grab the reader for the second book?

Speaking from experience -- our second was over 600 pages, with no way to break it up -- I'll say that: yes, two 200-page books are indeed much kinder to one's sanity.

Martin wrote: "400 pages is not too long for a single book. How many words? 120,000?"

I can't remember the word count (I've since made a lot of changes and cut a lot of fat, so it's a heck of a lot shorter than it was). I do remember that it was four hundred going on five hundred. Which, yeah, I suppose isn't a big deal, but it is a young adult novel and I heard that it's not a good idea to make a YA novel super long. (Then again, how long were the Harry Potter books?)

If I can make book two short then I might combine them. But so far I seem to be adding more than taking away :/

Owen wrote: "Melissa wrote: "Book one doesn't end on a cliffhanger but there are a few things left unresolved..."

The first book should have hooks to the second book. After all, if everything is resolved, what..."

Oh, it definitely has a hook. There's plenty of questions not yet answered and, as I mentioned before, a major threat that becomes more threatening.

I think my dad and brother even once suggested I make it a two book story, but I'd been rather stubbornly set in making it one book. Although they might have suggested it because the book was so long. I'd also published it through LuLu, and at the time, the more pages a book had the more expensive it was (that might have changed, I don't know), and I think there was concern that people wouldn't want to by a long, expensive book.

Based on everything said so far, two books three months apart seems best. In fact, you might even want to release the second book to preorder when you put out the first. That way your early readers don't have time to forget, yet you still get a solid six months with your name being in the new release category.

Personally,I like the idea of a two book set. There aren't too many 'duologies' these days.