How long will readers wait for book 2 of a series?

Welcome to my feature called Wednesday Wing where I’ll be passing on

observations, tips and information to readers I’ve made a note of.

Today I’m passing on a tip about writing a book series from my own READING experiences.

I seriously believe that with the explosion of self-publishing that the book market is at a saturated state, anyone and everyone can publish a book or five.

There is a saying about there being at least one book in each of us waiting to be written. For many authors writing a book is one of their life’s ambitions and once they’ve written and published their first book there is no stopping them, even before they’ve hit the publish button many authors will be scribbling away with thoughts of their next book.

BUT what should that next book be about? SHOULD you write a sequel or plan a series? Or should you write a one off stand alone novel and then try another completely different style or genre? There is no right or wrong answer, however I do think authors need to think long and hard before diving in with a sequel or a series.

Marketing and selling any new book is hard and unless the book becomes a best seller, selling a sequel WILL be even harder. Readers are put off committing to the sequel if they haven’t read the first book. If your first book had less than a mass of 5* genuine reviews from REAL readers (not your family and friends but a wide selection of reviews across the world), the sequel will be treated cautiously by readers.

So what can you do? The YA Fantasy genre has book series in it’s droves as does the Detective crime genre. I know from my own reading of YA fantasy that the popular series will often have the first book on kindle offered for FREE to capture the reading audience and then it makes them pay for the rest. BUT ANY first book in a series still has to be a smokin’ hot read for readers to be gagging for book 2 and beyond. It still means hours of hard sweat and lots of your hard earned money to make that book a great seller and then you give it away for free in the hope that the next books will bring in the cash.

Cliff hanger or stand-alone? Some series are stand alone books which all have a connection, these are books which finish their storyline with each book. The Cliff-hanger takes the reader on a roller coaster ride and just when things get exciting or it looks like the mystery will be solved, the book ends and the reader is left gagging for the next book. As a reader a cliff-hanger ending is a real pain if you have to wait several months for the next book. The danger for an author is that you’ve then lost the reader who forgets about your book unless you have a really loyal fan base. (Think Harry Potter books)

AS READERS, what are your thoughts about series and sequels? (Many of you are authors, but today I ask you to put your READER hat on and look at things from the other side of the fence)

Here are links to all my other Wednesday Wing Posts.

Checking your WordPress is linked to your Twitter helps others share your posts http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-7L2

Writer’s Craft books by Rayne Hall full of REALLY useful tips http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-7Ma

Hyperlinks, Short links and Linkys http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-7Rl

Making your post titles easy to share on Twitter to maximise views. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-7SA

Creating Twitter pics that fit http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-7Y4

Creating a slideshow on WordPress http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-7Yo

Getting the most out of Google+ posts http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-7YM

Automated Tweets, LOVE ‘EM or HATE ‘EM? make use of them http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-7Za

What’s Your Book Genre? http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-84S

Should you write dreams into your work? http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-84Q

What can I read in the first 10% of your book? http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-84W