Publishing a Series

[Androxine Vortex]

I have a main series of books that I am working on and the series is called, Aeon Star. How "successful" do your novels have to be for a company to let you continue writing the series? I've gone to the bookstore before and have seen dozens of book series that I have never heard of before, some having six or more novels in them. I would hate to have to stop writing a series in the middle of it

 

[TWErvin2]

In a general sense, your first novel (in the series) has to do well enough that it makes a profit for the publisher to invest in a second novel in the series--or at least not take a major loss and the author shows potential growth in readership.

There isn't a certain number for each publisher. An ebook publisher may have less costs to recover to put a novel in production/make it available--ie there's not a cost for printing, and then there's POD vs. Off Set printing. But there is still some marketing investment, cover art, and paying editors of the staff, etc. I'm sure there are other costs I'm missing, beyond ISBNs, copyright registration, etc.

The best thing to do, in my experience, is to write the first novel as a standalone. There should be a complete story arc, and the novel should be a satisfying read. Yes, there can be openings for additional stories, but no cliffhanger endings. That's what I did with my first published novel

I wrote the second as a standalone as well. That was tricky, but I wanted to write it so that a reader could pick up the second novel and enjoy it, and didn't have to have to read the first novel. Yet, I wrote the second novel to compliment the first novel, so that readers of the first wouldn't feel redundancy with respect to the first novel's contents, while reading the second novel. If that makes sense. I am working on the third novel now. I'm still working to write it as a standalone, but by now, with the characters and world developed, it would probably be better to have read at least one of the first two novels.

The way I am writing avoids the problem mentioned, of ending right in the middle of the series. My series isn't structured that way. I think what you're discussing is more like a trilogy.

My experience is limited and someone else may say something that doesn't fully agree with my advice.

Good luck as you move forward in getting your first novel finished and hopefully picked up by a publisher!

 

[Androxine Vortex]

Thank you. I believe I asked this before a long time ago in a separate thread but would it be possible (if your publisher decides he/she doesn't want to invest in the next book in the series) to sign a contract beforehand so that if that does happen you are able to retain the rights to it and try to get another company to publish it or would your series just be "dead?"

 

[TWErvin2]

Thank you. I believe I asked this before a long time ago in a separate thread but would it be possible (if your publisher decides he/she doesn't want to invest in the next book in the series) to sign a contract beforehand so that if that does happen you are able to retain the rights to it and try to get another company to publish it or would your series just be "dead?"

I honestly don't see a publisher accepting a clause as you suggested. However, contracts should have a clause in them about when and how the rights revert back to the author. It may be a specific time period (2 or 3 years from publication) or an out of print declaration (which is much trickier to word properly now with the rise of ebooks and POD technology). So, the series would not be 'dead' in that case. Just delayed.

However, I would ask a question: If an author's series failed to sell (the first novel) with Publisher A, how likely is it that Publisher B is going to want to pick up the series? It is quite possible that the 2nd novel will be much better than the first (writers hopefully improve with experience) and maybe the publisher (and author) didn't market the first one well--the cover was unattractive, the book was overpriced, it didn't garner good/timely reviews, etc. Maybe it was poorly edited or it just wasn't the right fit for that publisher's audience, or a host of other reasons the novel didn't pick up steam or do well.

That points to two items. First, have the best darn debut novel in a series you can. Second, really target solid publishers who can help a novel succeed, not just the first publisher that accepts resulting from a shotgun submission strategy.

Researching a publisher is very important. Before deciding (beyond checking Preditors & Editors, Writer BeWare and several other places), it's best to pick up a copy of a novel they've published to determine the quality (editing, content, cover art, etc.). Also, a publisher that's new, without a track record, can be risky. Sure, they may launch and take off, but more often the publisher is learning the business as they go, and the early novels will be the guinea pigs--and the publisher may fail after a year, and the novel's first print rights are gone, making it harder to convince a second publisher to pick it up (if nothing else, the easy sales are gone, and obviously it didn't sell well enough to help keep the first publisher afloat, etc.).

Okay, rambling a bit, but I figured I'd expand my thoughts on your post a little bit.

 

[zizban]

Make sure your first book is standalone so if a publisher doesn't want #2, you wont be stranded. Series not selling well enough to finish do happen and that's gamble you (and the publisher take).

My series is five books but the first book is standalone. If none of the others see print readers can walk away knowing they have a complete story.

 

[Androxine Vortex]

Make sure your first book is standalone so if a publisher doesn't want #2, you wont be stranded. Series not selling well enough to finish do happen and that's gamble you (and the publisher take).

My series is five books but the first book is standalone. If none of the others see print readers can walk away knowing they have a complete story.

That really sucks because the way my series is there are a lot of books in it and I really don't see how I could make any of them a standalone novel. It's just the way my story is. it would be like if J.K Rowling had written her Harry Potter books as a standalone. I could see book one maybe being a standalone but you get my point.

Book one in my series sets up the stage for book two and so on and so forth. I guess you could compare my novels to the Lord of the Rings. The fellowship was the first novel but when it ended, the story wasn't finished yet. There was still more.

 

[Ireth]

I guess you could compare my novels to the Lord of the Rings. The fellowship was the first novel but when it ended, the story wasn't finished yet. There was still more.

The Lord of the Rings is one complete novel, not a trilogy; it was split into three volumes for publication.

 

[Androxine Vortex]

The Lord of the Rings is one complete novel, not a trilogy; it was split into three volumes for publication.

Oh yeah. I forgot about that. Well I mean I really don't know what to do. I really don't see a way for me to be able to make book I standalone without completely butchering the plot I have set up. To me it would be like saying to a play writer, "Hey we need you to make an hour long play but have it so that it could end in the first ten minutes also."

 

[Christopher Wright]

My advice, for what it's worth:[1]

If that's the book you wrote, that's the book you wrote. Swing for the benches.

------------
[1] If you didn't pay for it, it's worth exactly what you paid for it.

 

[MichaelSullivan]

In the fantasy and science fiction genre it's not unusual to be signed to a multiple book deal (generally two or three). There will be deadlines along the way for when book 1 has to be turned in, book 2, etc. It's possible that by the initial book(s) fail such that they will cancel the rest of the books in the series and you'll not get the advance for them. In some cases, you may have to give back a signing advance for books that aren't going to be published - check the wording.

If they decide not to publish then the rights should revert to you. Most contracts say they have x time from submission of manuscript to get the books published, and if they fail to the rights revert. Make sure that if they revert you get a reversion letter that explicitly states they no longer have a claim over that book.

If your rights revert, your most likely avenue is to self-publish as few publishers are going to want a 2nd or a 3rd book in a series that a) the original publisher had no confidence in and b) where the first book is owned by a competitor. Any marketing they would do to get their copies noticed, would also funnel sales for the first book - their competitors, which isn't a proposition they would like to see.