It’s one thing to think about writing book, but it’s another to write book series. Whether you’re about to write your first novel or you’re an old pro, you know (or soon will know) that writing a singleton book is a monumental feat. It’s akin to crossing the finish line at a marathon. The fatigue. The pride. The desire to do it all over again.
While writing one book is undeniably a challenge, writing a full series can seem darn near impossible on the outset. Before you jump into a new book, though, consider the notable reasons why writing a book series may be a better option.
3 Reasons to Write Book Series
Is a book series two books? Four? More? You decide. Your series will have an ongoing storyline with mostly the same characters. Of course, there are creative approaches, such as making a prequel or telling a side story that was introduced in a previous book in the series. No doubt, you have at least a few other story ideas floating around in your head for a new book that you’re excited to get a jump on, but let’s dig into the benefits of a series and how a series affects book sales.
The Binge Factor
People today love to binge. They want to sit down and dig into something for hours, and they want to pick back up where the left off tomorrow. They don’t want to constantly search for something new to entertain them. People want to immerse themselves in a world rather than jump from story to story, and a series allows them to do this. It allows them to connect with your work on a deeper level.
In addition, characters are developed across multiple books. Characters are often dynamic, and this makes them human. There’s only so much character development that takes place in a single book. Readers can fall in love with your characters in the first book and watch them evolve in the stories to follow.
You can also answer those questions for readers like what led up to this story? How do their lives turn out? What’s up with these secondary characters? Your readers want more, and a series gives them that.
Consolidated Processes
It takes a considerable amount of time and effort to develop a storyline. You can spend days defining your characters before you even start writing the book. Then, in the book, you must pay attention to developing these characters out fully for your readers. In a sequel, these processes are already done. While you need to refresh readers, you’re not starting from scratch with a sequel. This makes a sequel easier and faster to write usually.
Of course, you need to bring fresh elements into each story. Each needs its own plot and arcs. The financial benefits of writing a series aren’t realized when your second book falls off in quality or fails to capture the readers’ attention as well as the first book did.
With more readers looking at your books, you’re likely to earn more book reviews. Book reviews are like gold to authors as they produce social proof and lead to more book sales.
The Financial Impact
The going strategy of authors who write sequels is to offer the first book at a discount or even for free. Why would you do this? Because you can get more read-through with subsequent books if readers love the first one. Often, authors see their overall income increase by writing series. In addition, you generally only (or mostly) need to market the first book in the series. This is the book that you want readers to get hooked on.
With a series, readers who love your work may be more likely to follow you as an author. They want to know when the next book is released and what series you’re working on next. This allows you to more easily build a fanbase. With a fanbase, you can more successfully market your pre-releases without emptying your marketing budget.
Before You Write Book Series
The last thing that you want is to spend months writing a full series only to see it flop. You’re not just dealing with one flop; you’re dealing with multiple flops. To get the most out of a series, make sure that your first book is absolutely amazing. Engage your readers from cover to cover. Build up the storyline. While you want to wrap up that particular story, you also want to tease your reader enough so that they buy the next book in the series. When done properly, you can dramatically grow your career and income.