I adored this post and have had these bleak/sobering thoughts myself many a time. You have so much great advice in this post.
This may be why I love companion novels so much. They reward the fans with more of the same world and/or certain characters while also delivering a stand-alone novel that NEW readers can enjoy. I often wonder why pubs tend to treat companions just like sequels. Because in my mind they’re not. (Also worth noting that my experience could be coloring this. I’ve written a grand total of one companion in my career and it was treated like a sequel.)
Yes, companion novels can be great for that! I wonder, though . . . Do you think readers will read them out of order or just read the ones that are interesting to them? Did you see that with Vengeance Road and Retribution Rails?
With the Janies books, I feel like we still get more reads (and decisions whether or not to read further) based on the first two books (My Lady Jane and My Plain Jane). Those, I see people read out of publication order. I'm not sure I see the same with the rest of the books. . . .
Though interestingly, I got the sense that our publisher for treated the books *in the same contract* like sequels. So since the first two were different contracts, maybe that's part of it?? It's so hard to say!
Hmm!! That is interesting that you got people reading out of publication order! We should go find CJ Redwine and ask about her Ravenspire books sometime, since those are all standalone, with different main characters but in the same world.
I'm sure there's no one answer that will make it all make sense. But the companion thing is definitely interesting!
It may have helped that I had over two years between titles. And I mean that “helped” in that some people hadn’t even heard of the first book. So they just dove in with RR. It did NOT help in capitalizing on the momentum VR had, sadly. It took us forever to get a deal for the companion and by the time RR came out, sooo much time had passed. :(
Love this! I think especially long-term, it's so important to have a kick-ass finished series for people to discover, lest readers get wary of investing in new stories (aka Netflix, stop cancelling shows after one season!)
And at least personally, I love diving into an author's blacklist when a book of theirs resonates with me - always nice to have some completed series to read there.
Yes, exactly! Even if Series A wasn't a breakout, Series B or C or anywhere down the line could be one!
I remember way back when John Green had a bunch of standalone books that were liked but not massively popular . . . but then he published The Fault in Our Stars and suddenly everyone was going through his backlist and a ton of his books were just parked on the NYT list for weeks. Of course, it's not quite the same, since he was writing all standalone books and (it seems to me) he was always a fairly well supported author. But the way readers immediately wanted MORE -- and he was able to deliver.
Yes, those are my series! Two trilogies and two duologies. I also cowrite a, um, series of standalone books. Since they're not all part of a single story (like a trilogy spans one overall story), I didn't include them here; there are more entry points for readers in a series like that!
I adored this post and have had these bleak/sobering thoughts myself many a time. You have so much great advice in this post.
This may be why I love companion novels so much. They reward the fans with more of the same world and/or certain characters while also delivering a stand-alone novel that NEW readers can enjoy. I often wonder why pubs tend to treat companions just like sequels. Because in my mind they’re not. (Also worth noting that my experience could be coloring this. I’ve written a grand total of one companion in my career and it was treated like a sequel.)
Yes, companion novels can be great for that! I wonder, though . . . Do you think readers will read them out of order or just read the ones that are interesting to them? Did you see that with Vengeance Road and Retribution Rails?
With the Janies books, I feel like we still get more reads (and decisions whether or not to read further) based on the first two books (My Lady Jane and My Plain Jane). Those, I see people read out of publication order. I'm not sure I see the same with the rest of the books. . . .
Though interestingly, I got the sense that our publisher for treated the books *in the same contract* like sequels. So since the first two were different contracts, maybe that's part of it?? It's so hard to say!
Interesting theory about the contracts. My westerns were two separate contracts but I still felt like Retribution Rails got a bit of sequel treatment.
I did see people reading out of order! A lot of people started with RR and then said they wanted to pick up VR
Hmm!! That is interesting that you got people reading out of publication order! We should go find CJ Redwine and ask about her Ravenspire books sometime, since those are all standalone, with different main characters but in the same world.
I'm sure there's no one answer that will make it all make sense. But the companion thing is definitely interesting!
It may have helped that I had over two years between titles. And I mean that “helped” in that some people hadn’t even heard of the first book. So they just dove in with RR. It did NOT help in capitalizing on the momentum VR had, sadly. It took us forever to get a deal for the companion and by the time RR came out, sooo much time had passed. :(
Those of us who love the books, will really love the sequel, assuming it’s well written. So you are writing to those who are really into the story.
Remember, I read a book series of 25 books, until the author died and couldn’t write number 26.
Oh yes, I remember!
Love this! I think especially long-term, it's so important to have a kick-ass finished series for people to discover, lest readers get wary of investing in new stories (aka Netflix, stop cancelling shows after one season!)
And at least personally, I love diving into an author's blacklist when a book of theirs resonates with me - always nice to have some completed series to read there.
Yes, exactly! Even if Series A wasn't a breakout, Series B or C or anywhere down the line could be one!
I remember way back when John Green had a bunch of standalone books that were liked but not massively popular . . . but then he published The Fault in Our Stars and suddenly everyone was going through his backlist and a ton of his books were just parked on the NYT list for weeks. Of course, it's not quite the same, since he was writing all standalone books and (it seems to me) he was always a fairly well supported author. But the way readers immediately wanted MORE -- and he was able to deliver.
Thank you so much for sharing, Jodi! Are those your books in that beautiful photo with the book spines out? I'll take a look online now :)
Yes, those are my series! Two trilogies and two duologies. I also cowrite a, um, series of standalone books. Since they're not all part of a single story (like a trilogy spans one overall story), I didn't include them here; there are more entry points for readers in a series like that!
The Fallen Isles trilogy has caught my attention! Hope, fantasy - I enjoy writing about that too. I’ll look into it :D