Most
publishers like to know there is a series possibility with a project but that
it can stand alone. I encourage people when they first start writing a project
to decide a series concept for a couple of following books right then. You
don’t need more than a nice sized paragraph on the overall concept to put in a
“series potential” section in your proposal, but it’s good to have it right
from the beginning and it’s even better to have the concepts in the back of
your mind from the beginning.
For one
thing it can help you set up a following book as part of your writing task if
you have them in mind. You may have
ideas that do not fit within the project that you are working on but might fit
in one of the other books and you can toss them in a file for the book to use
if and when you start on it.
You can
make sure you have the necessary characters for series books in the first one
and can make sure they are set up correctly and can make sure the over-riding
theme is established. Doing these things will add depth to the book that you’re
working on even if the series does not materialize and it is fated to be a
stand alone.
I told
one lady not to use the word ‘trilogy.’ A publisher is then being presented
with taking three books or none at all. If they are presented with a stand
alone that has series potential they can take the one book, they can decide to
take all three (and maybe get the second and third cheaper than if the first
book is successful) or they can take the first one and option the other two and
wait to see if the first book is successful. Or the publisher can decide to do
the book as a trilogy. I prefer them to be the one to decide that instead of
pitching it that way. Giving them these choices makes the project much more
attractive to an editor.
A
publishing house invests money developing an author, and they are more open to
doing that if they can be sure there is more in the pipeline to justify the
effort and expense.
Should a
book be pitched to have series potential? Absolutely.
2 comments:
Does every book have series potential? I think so. But should there be a series from every 'first book'? No.
I've read some books that I never wanted to finish, and I've tossed a few and said "well, glad THAT's over!"
I could easily milk any manner of connections and rabbit rails in my MS, even down to the guy who sells my main character the Nadelhoffer Twist barbed wire for his ranch.
You can bet I'll be pitching my MS to have series potential, but not to such an extreme!
Good advice, Terry. Thanks.
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