This book I'm reviewing, Secrets to Writing in a Series, by K. Stanley & L. Cooke has only been out since September 2023. It captured my interest for several reasons:
1. I write in a series currently (see my Devil Chronicle Series, featured above.)
2. I plan to start another book in a series format and make it easier for myself the second time.
3. I use a software program that one of the authors, K. Stanley designed, Fictionary, and I liked that, so I was interested in seeing what the book offered.
Other books of this genre that have many positive reviews that deal with the same topic include How to Write A Series: A Guide to Series Types and Structure plus Troubleshooting Tips and Marketing Tactics, by Sarah Rosett, 2020 and Writing the Fiction Series: The Complete Guide for Novels and Novellas by Karen Wiesner, 2013, if you wish to check them out.
Back to Secrets to Writing a Series. First, let me say that, like most things I do, I get involved with matters without knowing what I'm doing. I didn't think I would be writing a series when I wrote the book that I later turned into a series. I decided to write a series for the following reasons:
I wrote some books, and one sold better than all the others.
It was a novella, and since I priced the book at $2.99, it served as an entranceway price for other books.
The characters were exciting, and there were many unanswered questions, and I thought there was potential for other books. Therefore, The Devil Chronicles series was born.
The problem with turning it into a series after the fact is that you are making this much more difficult on yourself. If you know it will be a series in advance, you can plan accordingly. That's the premise of Secrets to Writing a Series and it makes complete sense.
According to the authors, the first decision you will make about your series is whether it will be an open or closed-book series. Let me be honest, I had never heard of the term before. If you asked me what my series was, I would not have been able to tell you before reading the book, and I've written two books in my series already. The question you have to ask yourself about your series is:
Will each book have a separate plot line? or
One plot that ends at the end of the last book of your series?
An open series has separate plot lines in each book
A closed series has a plot that ends in the last book of your series
You can't move on and do any of the work suggested in the Secrets to Writing a Series book, if you don’t know the answer to this important question.
The next thing you are going to do is write blurbs. Like a few other books I've read, the Secrets to Writing Series suggests writing blurbs for each book in your series in advance, based on your protagonist's needs and what would happen if their needs are not met. The book also uses actual published books as examples to see how they've handled blurbs, etc. The book also gives you an excellent form called the vault where you will write and store all your information. Don’t freak. All of this info can change as you work on your novel.
I found much of what the authors mention helpful. I now know I'd written my Devil Chronicles series as an open series. Each book has its own separate plot line and character arc. There is a difference between an open and closed series, in how you handle other things, but I don't want to disclose all the information from the book. The authors answered other questions, such as how to change POV within a series, how much backstory to include after the first book, and what to think about when naming a series. I wish I had given more thought to these things with my first series, but I can give more attention to the second and third series I am just beginning.
I'd taken a boot camp class with Susan Brown Moore a few months ago focusing on building Characters Arcs. I had integrated much of what I learned into the two main characters in my second book, The Devil I Love (Devil Chronicles Series.) I found some overlapping information in the book, Secrets to Writing a Series, that definitely would have assisted me in developing my characters if I hadn’t taken the workshop. I can't say enough about the workshop I took with Susan Brown Moore, though, and I'll be writing about it in a later June post.
Thanks to this book, it won't take hours of rewrites to get another series off the ground now that I've learned some basics about how to approach writing a series. I will set things up in advance to know where I'm going and, from having taken Sue's class, have an idea of where the characters are going too.
Is writing a series more complex than writing a stand-alone? Writing a good one is tricky. To churn out the same tropes, over and over, with a lackluster story that's boring, takes no work at all, but to create a good one that sells, yes, it is definitely hard work. Writing a first book that sells is hard enough, but continuing to have them all enjoyable. Yes, it is challenging. Secrets to Writing a Series is a comprehensive guide that not only provides valuable insights, but also empowers writers to navigate the complexities of writing a series. The short assignments the author has you do will help you write and market your book and give you a better chance to be successful.
Please leave your comments about writing a series and any suggestions. If you've read a series you loved, or maybe you once did love and then didn't, maybe mention why it fell flat.
Have a great week writing, editing and reading!
You have introduced an interesting topic, Kay. I have but a single series to my credit, and it did not start out as one. The narrative simply kept writing itself, until I realized it had formed a trilogy. Then I found a small publisher, who insisted on making it a tetralogy (i.e., dividing the material of volumes two and three into three parts).
I think stand-alones are always better than works that serve merely to set up the next volume. If the readers truly enjoy a stand-alone, they will probably be interested in purchasing the sequel, but the erosion of "read-through" numbers is otherwise well documented, also.
I look forward to reading other comments.
There is nothing worse than reading a story that should have ended long ago, but a writer keeps writing it… the same thing with movie sequels. It could be that it is hard to come up with something new. Some series do well, even when the continuing story is not what it should be, but it's because the reader falls in love with the characters early on, and they have a hard time giving up on it. You are correct many series do not do well, but some do. You can go to Publisher Rocket and find them; and it you don't have to reinvent the wheel, it is worth exploring. Thank you for sharing, Lenny.