Series

I don't think you're committing fiscal suicide. If you don't want to write a sequel, don't suggest it in your agent queries. But, if an agent comes to you and says, "Such and Such Publisher loves the idea, but only if you make it into a series," that's when you really have to decide.

Sequels pick up fairly close to the end of the action in the prior book. A series can have the same characers but deal with different issues, or be told from new views of what were minor or non-existent characters in earlier books.

No book really ever ends. Characters grow, have offspring, move elsewhere, take up new work, go to a new plane of existence, etc. The same story can be told by the opposite character, etc.

When people query agents, do you mention is part of a series or just go for the single work?

I always let the publishers say, "we want more books with these characters."

Though once you've sold one book to a publisher if you have an idea for another book in the series or a direct sequel it doesn't hurt to say, "You know, I have many more ideas for these characters."

Conventional wisdom over on the Query Letter forum in SYW seems to run toward NOT mentioning that a book is part of a series if you're a first time novelist. In other words, your first book should be able to stand alone.

I'd say a stand-alone novel is not a liability. It doesn't carry the danger of becoming an orphan -- a first installment that doesn't sell well enough to warrant publishing the rest of the series.

On the other hand, if your book could support a series, you might mention that: "THE BIG BANG GETS BIGGER is a stand-alone novel with series potential."

I remember seeing James Cameron talking about how he pitched the movie Titanic to the monty people. He said "the movie takes place on the Titanic so you know there won't be a sequel!" That may have been Cameron's thought process at the time, but with a compelling enough story, you can always make follow-on movies or write follow-on books. Let's face it... had he made a moview called "Rose's Life" or something after that he would have made billions more.

I think there almost always an apportunity to serialize any story.

I definitely think this one is up to the agents or even a publishers. Psychic Straits, which I'm currently rewriting, would make a first great book in a series, but I'm not even going to start writing the second until the first has sold. I do have it outlined though.

I don't think you have to write a series of books. My next two books, which I have outlined, will be stand alones.

I think it is more difficult to build a brand, if you don't have a series running.

For one, you have to think of an entirely different premise, maybe an entirely different world, for your next book. That can fall flat, if the first attempt was serendipitous in some way.

Also, if you succeed with your first stand alone book, and your readers want more, you have to work extra hard to make unrelated follow-ups appeal to them as well.

That said, settling into the comfort of a series can really make you lazy, as a writer, if you're not continually pushing the envelope. Personally, I can't stand the thought of doing a series, because I would get bored with it quickly. When I'm done, I'm done. I'm moving on to something totally different.