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.)
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.
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.)
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.
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.
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 :)