You’re an author and you’ve decided you want to write a series. Well, this is the post for you.
A series can be great for authors because it can draw in readers and keep them. If they like your first book and its characters, they’re likely to forge ahead and buy more books in the series. This is why there are so many series out there. Today, I’m going to talk mainly serial series. So, to get started, let’s get definitions out of the way. A serial series is one that has an overarching story arc throughout the series. Think Harry Potter or the Hunger Games. The books are meant to be read in order, and build on one another. A non-serial series will use the same world or the same character, but can be entered through any book in the series. Think of Sue Grafton’s alphabet mystery series or Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels. These are more like the “continuing adventures of” types of series, and each book can stand alone. While it’s nice to know the backstory of the character, you don’t have to know it to really enjoy any book in the series. Continue reading “So, You Want to Write a Series?”
Common wisdom has it that, as an Indie, it’s a good idea to write a series. You price the first book as free or $.99 and set the rest at a regular price. Once readers are hooked, you can pretty well count on them to buy the others. Loyal customers and all that. But inherent in the multi-book series, you have two main problems. 
Here at IU, we often hear from indie writers who have finally, happily published their first book. They’re extremely proud of their effort, as well they should be, but now want to know how to promote that book. How do they let the world know the book is there? How do they get sales?
That’s a loaded question, isn’t it? Because first, we need to determine what makes a successful author, and that is an entirely personal question. More importantly, the answer is likely to evolve over time. It certainly did for me — it took me five-and-a-half years to write my first book, so on many levels, I felt successful just being able to type “The End” after 80,000 words. A few months later, that seminal author moment when I held a copy of my own book in my hands definitely felt like a success.