Time frame to submit a sequel

BradCarsten

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From what I can tell, authors who sign a multi-book contract get about a year to complete their next book. So what happens with authors who write longer novels-> 250,000 words +. do they get any more time to finish their sequels, or are they still expected to complete it within the same time frame?
 

Terie

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All of those details are part of contract negotiations. No one should commit to a time schedule they can't reasonably expect to meet. It has to be worked out between the parties to the contract.
 

BradCarsten

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All of those details are part of contract negotiations. No one should commit to a time schedule they can't reasonably expect to meet. It has to be worked out between the parties to the contract.

Are they happy to give you a longer time frame? I can imagine that your readers could start to loose interest if they have to wait 2-3 years for a sequel.
 

Terie

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Are they happy to give you a longer time frame? I can imagine that your readers could start to loose interest if they have to wait 2-3 years for a sequel.

Well, no, they're not necessarily happy to wait. As you say, readers are conditioned to get a new book pretty much every year. Publishers make money by making readers happy.

The thing is, you're putting the cart WAAAAY before the horse. It's incredibly difficult for a debut author to sell a 250K manuscript. It happens, but it's almost vanishingly rare. I suspect you're going to find that you're going to have to work in a much shorter format until you're established. Right now, you should be concentrating on this book and not worrying about things that are a year (or likely more) in the future.
 

BethS

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Are they happy to give you a longer time frame? I can imagine that your readers could start to loose interest if they have to wait 2-3 years for a sequel.

I don't think the fans of George RR Martin, Scott Lynch, Patrick Rothfuss, Diana Gabaldon, or Jean Auel have ever lost interest in waiting for the next book.

Become impatient and irritated, maybe. But lost interest? No.
 

BradCarsten

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The thing is, you're putting the cart WAAAAY before the horse. It's incredibly difficult for a debut author to sell a 250K manuscript. It happens, but it's almost vanishingly rare. I suspect you're going to find that you're going to have to work in a much shorter format until you're established. Right now, you should be concentrating on this book and not worrying about things that are a year (or likely more) in the future.

Nothing wrong with aiming for the stars, right? :)

My book still has a good few months on it before I can even consider publishing, but i’m really just wondering how the process works. You know... normal people dream about winning the lottery and all that boring stuff. This is what keeps me up at night. :)

I know there are guys like Brandon Sanderson who can write the wheel of time and Mistborn at the same time and have them out within a year or something, but I can’t imagine that's common, even among experienced writers.


I suppose as BethS said, the fans will wait. I've been waiting 15 years for the WOT to end....
 

Terie

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I know there are guys like Brandon Sanderson who can write the wheel of time and Mistborn at the same time and have them out within a year or something, but I can’t imagine that's common, even among experienced writers.

Not everyone can multi-task (boy, I wish I could!), but the majority of SF/F writers, even of doorstops, put out one book a year on a series (though they might take time off between series). The GRRMs, Lynches, etc, are exceptions, not rules. It's not a good idea to bank on anything in publishing, and especially not on being an exception.

And heck, I'm pretty sure GRRM is putting out at least one book a year, just not ASOIF.

I understand dreaming and reaching for stars. We all have to do that. :) But you're in a forum asking for factual answers, and that's what you're going to get. The fact is that most publishers do expect a book a year. Doesn't mean they all do, doesn't mean you can't get a contract with longer time between. It might well happen. But if you're asking about what's typical, well, there you go.