THE Group for Authors! discussion

My first series I wrote and edited the first book before I started on the second. By time I got through with the second, I had to go back and edit some things in the first book so they matched events and stuff in the second. By time I finished the third book, I had to go back to edit books 1 and 2 again to add some stuff so it did not come as a surprise. So, for that series, I wrote books, 1, 2, and 3 and edited them after each one before I even considered submitting them anywhere.

Today, my latest series, I am writing the book as a stand alone with series potential. I doubt I will have to do any editing on that first one when I get to the next book in the series, as I have now learned how to plot with the future books in mind.

If you are considering Self publishing for this series, I suggest you have all, or at least 3 books from the series ready to go before you hit the publish button on the first one. Studies have shown that SP does better when the writer has a steady output of say, I new book every 3 to 6 months to start with and then you can slow down to 6 to 12 months, depending on how prolific you are...

Good luck...

I'm not extremely experienced on this either and with my own book, I did not plan the series until it seemed obvious with my major cliffhanger that it needed to be done. I felt that it was a stand alone just because I wanted the reader to finish and say WTF and then really think about what the ending really meant. I am starting to not like the way series are done because the cliffhanger end bothers me in that the story wasn't finished. If you are completing the novel and the reader feels satisfied, but still wanting to hang out with your characters, you have done your job. I just finished two very popular books and I was disappointed with the ending because they were setting it up for the next novel. Needs to be able to stand alone with still wanting more. I don't know if that answers your questions, but that's how I feel.

A couple of thoughts: First, writing a book is a lot of work, writing multiple books literally represents year(s) of your life. So I think the advice pundits are smart in suggesting you complete Book 1, write it so that it can 'stand alone', (but plug factoids/characters in to jump off of on Book 2). Then edit that puppy until you can't stand looking at it any more.

Do the querying agents thing for Book 1 until you've exhausted your agent options (all via email, so no cost involved). If you can't get an agent to rep it for traditional publication that might be an indication of several things: your writing craft/style may need to be improved, the story itself and/or characters weren't strong enough to entice the agents, maybe even both, if you are new to writing.

If you have strong interest in Book 1 from agents (and hopefully get a pub. contract!) then you'll know it's worth your precious time to go forward with the rest of the series.

There are several 'stories' of self-pubbed authors that have written series, e.g. Amanda Hocking, who couldn't get an agent or editor to bite, but she didn't want to leave her creative works in a drawer, so she chose the self-pub wrote via Amazon, etc and she basically became a millionaire within a year. The caveat there is you have to have a strong enough story, written well enough and with a concept that appeals to a niche market of readers in order to make a successful go of self-pubbing, and you also have to be willing to self-market, and that takes a lot of work and organization and learning curve of its own.

I suppose my answer is simplistic but I believe the only books worth reading are the ones the writer is compelled to write. I say edit the first one and get it going, but continue to write whether you get the blessing of an agent or not. Success is an individual thing. Success for me is having even a few people enjoy and gain something from my books but I don't have to support myself with my writing. Go for it!

I agree with Alex about the polishing--don't send anything out until you're completely satisfied it's the best it can be!--and also with Nick. You'll find as you finish the subsequent books that you want to go back and make changes to the first one. And also that it's better, if self-publishing, to have 3 books ready to go. That way you can offer the first very cheaply also, and hopefully hook them on the series.

BUT I disagree that you should wait to see if you have strong interest in Book 1 from agents, to know whether it's worth your while to go forward with the rest of the books. I queried agents for a few months. I self-published when a very prominent agent told me that "New Zealand rugby" wasn't a good hook, because I was pretty sure it was. Nine months and 80,000+ copies sold later, I think I know who was right . . .

Agents and publishers do NOT "know" what will sell. They are GUESSING, and they base way too much of their guesswork on what's selling now--forgetting that by the time your book comes out, it'll be a couple years from now, and something brand new will be "hot." I base this assertion on many years in the publishing business. Having agents turn down your book does not mean it's not salable. (Of course, it also doesn't mean it's salable.) It can just mean that it doesn't fit into the specific couple niches that everyone is looking for right now. So I'd say, pursue the traditional publishing avenue, but try not to get discouraged (hard, I know), and if you don't get any nibbles, put up your first 3 books, polished to perfection of course, and see what happens!

Corinda wrote: "I suppose my answer is simplistic but I believe the only books worth reading are the ones the writer is compelled to write. I say edit the first one and get it going, but continue to write whether ..."

Well said. I agree with this ^^