Developing The Series: A Topic Workbook, #7

By Devon Ellington

Got too much story for one book? Or a character with whom you want to explore life over multiple books? Learn how to figure out an engaging character that will keep your audience coming back. Build the character's world, supporting cast, and long and short arcs. Learn about spin-offs and tie-ins.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Devon Ellington
• Release date: Aug 17, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201776176

Devon Ellington

Devon Ellington publishes under half a dozen names in fiction and nonfiction. She is also an internationally-produced playwright and radio writer. She has published six novels, dozens of short stories, and hundreds of articles under the various names. She spent over 25 years working backstage in theatre, including Broadway, and in film and television production. 

Book preview

Introduction

The series is a popular form. Readers love to experience growth and adventure with favorite characters over time. Publishers want to invest in an author that’s more than a one-shot wonder—unless it’s a book on par with TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. A few years ago, another, earlier Harper Lee novel was published, but many people wish TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD had been left to stand alone, as it did for so many years. Publishers want to know that the author can regularly deliver new content. A series provides that framework, provided the characters are engaging enough for the readers to care about and grow with over time.

In most traditional publishing situations, the maximum time allowed between book releases in a series is one year, and that includes not just research and writing, but editing and the entire production process. Lately, some series are releasing the first three books within six months of each other (especially in cozy mystery). If the series gets enough pre-orders, it continues. If not, it’s dropped.

If you are the type of writer who needs five years to write a book, a series through a traditional publisher might not be your best choice, unless you have a top agent who can fight for you, and the first book is so brilliant that the publisher is willing to keep your name in front of the public in between books. Readers move on.

Some authors release one book a year for a series, some more than one. That’s something to discuss with your publisher. If you're going an independent route, it's important to fulfill your readers' expectation. You may need to feed the monster with short story/novella releases, or anthology appearances.

Some readers refuse to start a series until the entire series is released. They can’t comprehend that, by sitting back and waiting, they contribute to a series being dropped (by a traditional or small publisher).

If you have to take a break, for whatever reason (health, the publisher goes under, etc.), be prepared to put a lot into marketing the earlier books in the series when you pick it back up.

A series is a huge commitment. You have to be willing to make the physical and psychological commitments.

If you get on a tight contract/release schedule, you don’t get to sigh and say, Oh, I got busy; life got in the way. I can’t make the deadline. In a traditional publishing house, your deadline affects the jobs of many other people in the company; in a digital house, it is a couple of dozen. Once you sign a contract, it is no longer about YOU. You must make your deadlines. The only leeway you have in missing deadlines is before you’ve sold your first book. If you renege on promises you made your indie audience, they'll move on to someone who produces quality content on a regular basis and feeds their desire for more. If there’s a problem, you need to communicate quickly and honestly with your agent, editor, and publisher to make adjustments.

This workbook comes from a class I've taught several times, both online and in-person,  originally called Prolonged Exposure on developing the series. I did a short version, in mostly lecture format, at the NECRWA Conference in Massachusetts in 2014, and a two-hour version at the 2022 Cape Cod Writers Center Conference (virtually). I've updated material since the first time I taught, in order to include changing formats and indie options, making it as useful as possible for as wide a range of authors as possible.

There are a series of  Topics. Interspersed between them are 9 Exercises, which relate to the topics and build on each other. Especially the first time you use this workbook, it helps to do the exercises in order. You will be able to use these exercises every time you sit down to develop your series.

Series are addictive—once you start one, you'll want to build more!

Topic #1: Why a Series?

WHY WRITE A SERIES? There are many reasons, but there are two driving ones.

The first is personal and creative. You are in love with your character or characters, and feel that they have far more story than can fit into one book. If you’ve never sold a book before, it is unlikely you can sell your first novel if it’s over 120,000 words. Category novels are in the 55K-65K range. Most novels are somewhere between 75-90K. Fantasy novels can go up to 100K or a little over, but until you have established a track record of solid sales, few will want to take that risk on a new author. The cost of physically publishing something that large, and the price point it has to hold in order to make it viable, will often put it out of the realm of a good business decision for a publisher. Never forget: publishing is a business.

As someone who judges novel contests, there's a trend in indie to release books, especially digitally, that run 1100, 1500, even 1700 pages. In most cases, it doesn't serve the characters, the story, or the reader. I often wish the author had trusted an editor and cut; or, when the book is rich and beautiful, I wish it had been broken down into a duology, a trilogy, or a series—something more manageable. Life meanders on, but we want our fiction in more controlled segments.

As you build a track record of reliability in meeting deadlines, continuing to create fresh material, and building sales, you will have more flexibility. First, though, you have to prove yourself. Even as an indie author. Especially if you go the indie route.

While you prove yourself, you need to write whatever you want, but also keep an eye on the market. Writing what you love and understanding the market are not mutually exclusive, and can’t be if you intend to write as your career.

If what you write is rejected by various agents and editors, but you have that deep gut knowing that you must stay true to your own vision, then go the independent route. Be aware that you must then devote at least 50% of your time to marketing (often more), which leaves only 50% of the time to write the next book.

Independent books can catch fire if the author continues to release new material regularly, spends a lot of time on promotion, and, oh, yeah, writes a really great book that is also well edited and well copy-edited. Your book has to be even better to garner attention as an independent release, because you don’t have the status of someone else contracting your work to give it a small sense of public validity. This is less of an issue than it was even five years ago, which is good. As a judge of an indie contest for the past several years, I’ve been delighted to read books