Ending with a sequel teaser?

Honestly, news of a pregnancy is probably more of a cliffhanger than a teaser for me.

My advice? Leave it out. Send your queries and all that good stuff. Then ask an editor's opinion when you get signed (positive thinking!).

I don't know about leaving it with 'I'm pregnant', but you could always leave it to the reader by having her send a text saying that they need to 'talk' - maybe asking him to call her, or she's asking when a could time would be to call him... It could certainly imply that she's pregnant.

P-Jay said:

Isn't a cliffhanger when it cuts off just before the climax?

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Yeah, I guess you are right.

I do like the "We need to talk..." idea.

MeganJoWrites said:

Yeah, I guess you are right.

I do like the "We need to talk..." idea.

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Actually...I like the 'We need to talk.' better too...because it's not nice to text someone that you're pregnant. That's a phone call or in person conversation, imo

Chasing the Horizon said:

I read most epic fantasy debuts from the major publishers, and the majority of them are the first installment in a series and do not stand alone in any way, shape, or form. Forget teasers. They don't even resolve the main plot. I assume these first-time authors are probably under multi-book contracts obligating them to complete the series (usually a trilogy).

And if an agent doesn't like the book enough to want another by the end, sequel teasers are the least of your problems.

Of course, this only applies to epic fantasy. But the "must stand alone" advice is not universal.

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Since you were the only one who replied directly to me, I'll reply directly to you, and to no one else that disagreed with my statements.

This might sound cliche, but if we all had the same opinions about the same things, this would be a very-boring world to say the least, a world I wouldn't want to live in. I don't write epic fantasies, so I don't know about that, but I do know I'd throw the book across the room if I read an entire book, no matter the length, and in the end, there's something hanging. I'd be like, " but I thought the book was over! I thought all the loose ends had been tied up by the end! What? Say what? So it's not over? I abhor that with a passion, and that would be a novel that I wouldn't want to read if I knew about that in advance, and since I'd assume it's an author's custom to do this, I wouldn't want to read another one of their books ever again.


I am not against sequels. I am writing a sequel myself, and I have yet to write a story that doesn't have a sequel. However, the main conflict of the first, second, and third installments of the novel, and so on and so forth, that problem the characters are facing has to be resolved, and yes, that rule is universal. If you can't solve the conflict in your story satisfactorily, you can't write. It's that simple. That is a basic rule of writing that if you can't follow, then you have a big issue right there. If there is a "teaser" that means that the conflict the novel is dealing with has not been resolved.


I don't mean disrespect against anybody here, but come on, this response I received was a little...Err....err....I didn't stomach it very well. Let's leave it at that. I write romance and sci-fi, not fantasy, so this rule you're going on about doesn't apply to me.

I sincerely hope I haven't offended anyone here. I was simply trying to differ with an opinion.

Christina.

ChristinaLayton said:

I am not against sequels. I am writing a sequel myself, and I have yet to write a story that doesn't have a sequel. However, the main conflict of the first, second, and third installments of the novel, and so on and so forth, that problem the characters are facing has to be resolved, and yes, that rule is universal. If you can't solve the conflict in your story satisfactorily, you can't write. It's that simple. That is a basic rule of writing that if you can't follow, then you have a big issue right there. If there is a "teaser" that means that the conflict the novel is dealing with has not been resolved.

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I'm really not trying to be argumentative, but you are confusing series with serials. And there is a very important difference between the two.

What you are describing above, where the story is all wrapped up nice and neat in each book and there are absolutely no loose ends, is a serial. Subsequent books may use the same world, characters, etc., but the story is completely resolved in each book.

A series, on the other hand, is a story that is broken apart into several books. There will be a main conflict within each book that is resolved, but their will be an overarching conflict that is carried over from book to book. However, it is written as such that if the subsequent books are never written, the reader still feels they got a satisfactory ending.

Did you read the Harry Potter books? Were all aspects of the plot in every book wrapped up nice and neat at the end of each book with no loose ends? No. Series.

Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books, where the plot strings were totally resolved in each book, but the same characters were used again and again? Serial.

See the difference?

Here is something worth reading on the 'soft cliffhanger'. It might help you determine how you want to handle your ending.

http://www.publishingcrawl.com/2012/07/06/writing-series-the-cliffhanger-dilemma/

I hate, hate, hate cliff-hangers. I merely hate teasers. I’ll remember who committed those (to me) crimes and refuse to even look at another of the books of a writer who put them at the end of their book.

But I love the promise at the end of a book of more to come about characters and places and situations I enjoy.

Not everyone feels the same way I do. But a lot of people do. It’s a foolish writer who doesn’t keep this in mind.

As for this particular example, a pregnancy complicates people’s live enormously, as all of us know who’ve faced this in our lives. To some people it’s a promise and a happy event. For others it’s a hateful event. Many a father has abandoned his child and its mother, and late or no child support is a huge legal problem in this country. Some mothers have killed their children, either deliberately or through neglect.

So the problem for you is how to make this pregnancy a happy event, or at least not a hateful one. Can you lay the groundwork in the body of the book to make this something to look forward to happily in the next book? If so, I’d say go for it.

From a writer’s standpoint, a new child in a couple’s life can be a useful complication in the next book. Your characters will have to undergo personal growth. They will also have to radically change how they schedule their lives.

Laer Carroll said:

So the problem for you is how to make this pregnancy a happy event, or at least not a hateful one.

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P-Jay said:

I'm not trying to make it either at this point. I'm merely deciding if I want the shock factor at the end of the book.

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I said happy or NOT hateful - plus or NOT minus. Not happy or hateful - plus or minus. Big difference.

Why do you think “shocking” readers is going to make them more interested in the sequel?

Many of them will say to heck with it. Don’t want to read a book with a squalling kid in it, and stinking diapers, and not getting enough sleep at night, and less sex, and never being able to have a totally carefree time away from home, and ... And a couple of decades of being a parent.

Or forever, actually. Most people with children remain committed to the happiness and well-being of their children not matter how aged and mature and successful the “kids” become. I'd be willing to bet that the parents of the leader of the "Free World" (whoever s/he is) still nag him or her about quitting smoking and eating right and etc!

I like the idea of a book that will for sure have a sequel or be part of a series having some things that aren't "happily ever after". After all, life does go on for the characters and chances are, there will be more conflicts.

One series that comes to mind is "The Lying Game". There is a central mystery in each of the books that we as readers have yet to figure out (unless a book has come out that I haven't read yet). We don't know who the killer is. It's not all neatly wrapped up at the end of each book. We as readers will continue to read hoping that someday we'll know the answer, but knowing those answer might not come for a while. We get to speculate along with the characters as to what may have happened, who the bad person might be, etc.

Anyway, that may have been a poor example, but I rather like not tying everything up in a neat bow at the end as long as you do indeed plan on (and follow through with) a second book. And by that I mean the second book is several chapters along when you submit the first book to a publisher. That way they know you're serious about the next one.

Also, I like the idea with a text saying "We need to talk" or something similar. Gives the reader a chance to speculate on what might be going on before the next book comes out.

The book I've got out with an agent right now is a stand alone and also the first in a series. The story has a definite resolution, and is over. But there are a few minor threads left open, which I hope will act as minor teasers. For instance: the MC's mother is in Europe for all of the book, and MC misses her desperately. The mother is not vital to the plot, but the fact that MC misses her IS, and it's obvious that there are unresolved issues between the two, and a backstory. At the end of the book, she gets a cable from Mother saying she is coming back.

There are other minor teasers: her sister's marriage to an inappropriate man, her father's affair with the governess. A maid with a little boy; just casually mentioned but enough to spark a bit of interest. And of course, the little boy is vitally important in one of the sequels...

More often than not, I find perfectly wrapped stories to be boring and one dimensional, so the hatred a couple posters have expressed for absolutely any loose plot threads in a book, especially one in an ongoing series, is surprising to me. I've never heard this sentiment before from any of my friends, reader or otherwise. The same goes for prologues and epilogues. I've never heard anyone say they would either skip or not buy a book with a prologue until I started visiting these forums. I just don't get being that closed minded and arrogant about your craft. At the end of the day, the mark of a good book should be the quality of the writing. If done well, who are you to tell the creator how to best go about creating their artwork? From what I've seen, the best writers will break any rule if it makes their story better.

As for the more subtle "we have to talk" disruption, I like it. Primarily because that is just the sort of text you would receive in real life.

ChristinaLayton said:

If there is a "teaser" that means that the conflict the novel is dealing with has not been resolved.

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No, it doesn't. It's that simple.

A cliffhanger means that the conflict has not been resolved - and if you're writing a planned series, even that can be OK.

A sequel teaser means you've dealt with the plots and subplots of the book at hand, and something new has raised it's head to pull the characters back into conflict.

And by the way, neither of those means they can't write. It just means they don't write like YOU.

I like to walk away from the ending of a book with a good, simple, clear emotional resolution. It's a big part of my enjoyment of the book.

If you add a 'teaser' you mess that up.

Personally, I dislike teasers. They strike me as a marketing gimmick to get me to buy the next book.

That aside, why are you asking? Have you sold the book? If so, what does your editor say? If you haven't, and are still querying agents and publishers, leave it out and say in your cover letter that you see this book as the start of a series. The teaser can always be added later if the editor thinks it would be a good idea.

As a reader I don't mind something’s being unresolved to start a new book. But it all depends how it's done.

For Example
Allysa finally reached the door which behind it held all of the answer to her questions she'd been searching for yadayadya and right as she opens the door the book ends. I'm pissed and WILL NOT read the next book. That’s kind of a screw you to the reader.

But if it went like Alyssa opened the door and found out all along her twin sister had sent an assassin to kill her and her sister tells her why she did and in rushes another family trying to Kill Alyssa and her sister and they have to work together to defeat them or something like that. I'm sold, I will read on

If I read your book and enjoyed it, the pregnancy would frustrate me, you’d just better get the next book out quickly.

I am watching this thread closely. I'm dealing with a similar issue. Except the resolution of my WIP opens up an entirely new can of worms around 70k. If I was to completely resolve that can of worms which I am now I'd probably be looking at 150K book which I realize could be a second book but how hard are those to sell? Is it better to have an ambiguous ending or send a completed possible trilogy as one book to an agent with an out of this world word count. I would think an agent wouldn't want to bank on sequel's or a series, but if they love the book they should right?
So confused

P-Jay said:

So, I left it out.

Logically speaking, I should leave it in. It's only one sentence, and if they don't like it, it can easily be deleted. If an agent/editor gets to the last sentence, I doubt the sentence would be a deal breaker.

HOWEVER, the number of possible demerits of leaving it IN outweigh the single possible demerit of leaving it OUT.

Leaving it IN brings pause of pretence and presumptuousness. It may tick off certain readers (evidently) , and may dampen the story's main conflict.

Leaving it OUT may just provoke the "happy ending" letdown.

(I know that's way too realistic and over-thought, but hey, I'm an engineer. )

If and when it gets into the hands of an editor, I'll throw them the idea and we can go from there.

Unfortunately, I'm playing it safe. F*ck me, right?

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Because you said this is a true story, I find the tidy ending to be unrealistic at best and the wrong message to send at worst. Are you marketing the book as a true story, or just drawing inspiration from the real life events?

P-Jay said:

The ending isn't exactly tidy, but it resolves.



More to the latter. It's not a memoir.

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In that case, it comes down to what you feel works best for your story. I still think shaking things up at the end sounds more interesting, but I am basing that on only the details you provided, so it might not be a fair analysis.

Good luck!