I'm finishing my WiP, a stand alone novel I've called Dangerous Beauty meets Assassin's Creed II. I love the historical-ish world I created and the characters. But the ending is a tragedy. There is no plan to reuse characters or world ever again. So to you scribes, I pose a question. What would you do?
Do you as readers find yourself feeling shortchanged when you enjoy a book and find out there is no sequel?
Do you more often want to see the world or characters continued, if only partially (since some people died)?
Do you as writers feel confident in a stand alone you will never reuse?
How do you make the decision whether to continue a story past one book?
Would that decision be based upon reader feedback, overall sales, or your personal feelings?
My questions are in part due to the fact that I have a series of ten novels in first draft. When I read through the stories, I like some and others are so shit I cannot possibly salvage the stories. They would be complete rewrites from outlines.
The problem with series is that you cannot simply say, "Oh, well book four and nine are really good, so I'll edit those ones and publish them". I mean, a lot happens between four and nine and I find myself not wanting to work on any of them because to do so, I'd have to commit to rewriting huge chunks of material (about 1.5m words). So I'd like to know whether readers tend to enjoy series more, or whether it's time better spent to write stand alone books that don't rely on each other for understanding.
Basically, those million words are not time wasted yet, because they were my practice to get where I am now. But I really like a couple of those books and it's daunting to select a new "starting place" for my series. I'm finding myself drawn a lot more to the idea of publishing stand alone novels in varying genres, as I push forward and try to get past old work begging for my attention.
Any thoughts are welcome. i'm about to begin a new project and I'm torn between selecting a couple old novels to edit or beginning a few short stories that I have outlined and really am excited about writing.
Thank you, scribes.
Do you as readers find yourself feeling shortchanged when you enjoy a book and find out there is no sequel?
Do you more often want to see the world or characters continued, if only partially (since some people died)?
Do you as writers feel confident in a stand alone you will never reuse?
How do you make the decision whether to continue a story past one book?
Would that decision be based upon reader feedback, overall sales, or your personal feelings?
My questions are in part due to the fact that I have a series of ten novels in first draft. When I read through the stories, I like some and others are so shit I cannot possibly salvage the stories. They would be complete rewrites from outlines.
The problem with series is that you cannot simply say, "Oh, well book four and nine are really good, so I'll edit those ones and publish them". I mean, a lot happens between four and nine and I find myself not wanting to work on any of them because to do so, I'd have to commit to rewriting huge chunks of material (about 1.5m words). So I'd like to know whether readers tend to enjoy series more, or whether it's time better spent to write stand alone books that don't rely on each other for understanding.
Basically, those million words are not time wasted yet, because they were my practice to get where I am now. But I really like a couple of those books and it's daunting to select a new "starting place" for my series. I'm finding myself drawn a lot more to the idea of publishing stand alone novels in varying genres, as I push forward and try to get past old work begging for my attention.
Any thoughts are welcome. i'm about to begin a new project and I'm torn between selecting a couple old novels to edit or beginning a few short stories that I have outlined and really am excited about writing.
Thank you, scribes.