I have the first book completely done, the second one is in works and I plan on having the third one done by the end of November. Should I wait until all three are finished before I put them out or does it not matter?
Self Publishing a trilogy
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Speaking as an avid reader/bookbuyer, if I buy a book and like it and there are more in the series, it drives me mad to have to wait for them. I may have forgot about them by the time the next books come out, so I may not buy them. If they're readily available, though, I'll snap up the whole series at once. So my vote is -- don't leave me hanging!
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I'm publishing a six-parter. Because Part I is so self-contained, I feel confident I can publish it now... I just finished the first draft of Part V. I won't publish Part II until I've got the end of Part VI on paper, though.
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I agree with Unimportant. I want all the books and will wait until they're all available to buy them (if I remember). I also noted that my books sold better when they were all available at one time. I wrote a trilogy and a series this year (releasing one title at a time, about a month in between each). I think it hurt sales not to have the next book available. My two cents. I am seeing follow-up sales now, but I think it would have really helped to have all the books in a trilogy/series out at the same time.
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On one hand, I love it when I discover a new author and they have a bunch of books out. Especially if they are in a series, I read one, and then I can devour them all. Examples here might include the House of Night books, the Tiger saga, heck even my discovery of Christine Feehan or Lynsay Sands years ago was after they had books out.
But on the other hand, I also like discovering a new author who doesn't have a pile of books yet but who also has talent. I get to watch them grow and see what they will do next. Veronica Roth, Lauren DeStefano and Gena Showalter (Note: I'm talking about *when* I first read her work, which was via The Stone Prince.) are the first to jump to mind here.
Now, the catch with everything above, of course, is that these authors are all trade published. We don't expect them to come out the door swinging with a backlist. In the first examples, I discovered these authors as I was discovering the genres they wrote in. P.C. & Kristen Cast's House of Night series was what I consider my "official" introduction to YA, and Christine Feehan's Dark Legend and Dark Magic were my introduction to paranormal romance all the way back in 2001(?).
I can somewhat understand how that might be different for self publishing. We're swimming upriver against a million other books and we don't have the advantage of having a team of people backing what we are releasing. We have to prove our work isn't crap and we have to find a way to get our work in front of people in the first place. Having one's name pop up consistently through regular (not spammed or rushed, mind you) releases that readers can count on is one way to do that. It allows you a better chance to retain the spotlight, gain repeat customers and (through these two things) sell more books / gain more readers.
If you have the self discipline to actually wait until the whole thing is done, my hat is off to you. (I won't lie--I'm generally very patient with the *quality* of my *book*, but the thought of waiting until I write all four that I want for these characters + the anthology I want to release would *kill* me. Perhaps I should try to wait until I have the rough draft of book two or something, though...? *ponders*)
Other things to consider are the speed you realistically (and without cutting quality) are able to write, revise, edit, send to betas, revise and / or edit again, proof, etc. as necessary. I started writing Sealer's Promise in May 2011. I finished the first draft in July 2011. I then waited until March 2012 before pulling it out and thinking I would "edit" it. I ended up re-writing about 70% of the thing and then have turned around and worked on editing minor plot inconsistencies, technical issues, voice, etc. Now, I *have* had real life issues going on this year, but that's beside the point. I am hoping to have it done today (*dances*) and ready for betas, but (not counting the break I took from writing it) getting it here took me 9 1/2 months. I. Write. Slow.
Another thing that might be worthy of consideration is this: What are your goals as an author? Are you after money? Readership? Proving to yourself that you can do this? Holding your book? Trying your hand at running your own business? There are a thousand different reasons you might be here, and you don't have to narrow it down to *only* one. But you should be honest with yourself about what your priorities are and then strive to find out what you need to do to make those goals / dreams a reality. (Or at least have the best possible chance of doing so.) You can also have little goals / milestones that will lead to bigger goals. (Completed a draft of your newest book? Revised another? Got interviewed on someone's blog? Got a review? Made a sale (yes, one.) ) Every little thing can be something, nothing or everything depending on one's perspective. (I recall feeling this way last year as I started my book blog and got it going.)
But I've gotten a tad off topic. In relation to advising you regarding the main topic here, I'm honestly not sure what the best course of action for you is. (Heck, I'm not even 100% certain what is *best* for me. I'll have to try things and find out.) But I wanted to make sure that both sides of this coin got some coverage. Decide what you are most comfortable with.
I wish you the best of luck.
But on the other hand, I also like discovering a new author who doesn't have a pile of books yet but who also has talent. I get to watch them grow and see what they will do next. Veronica Roth, Lauren DeStefano and Gena Showalter (Note: I'm talking about *when* I first read her work, which was via The Stone Prince.) are the first to jump to mind here.
Now, the catch with everything above, of course, is that these authors are all trade published. We don't expect them to come out the door swinging with a backlist. In the first examples, I discovered these authors as I was discovering the genres they wrote in. P.C. & Kristen Cast's House of Night series was what I consider my "official" introduction to YA, and Christine Feehan's Dark Legend and Dark Magic were my introduction to paranormal romance all the way back in 2001(?).
I can somewhat understand how that might be different for self publishing. We're swimming upriver against a million other books and we don't have the advantage of having a team of people backing what we are releasing. We have to prove our work isn't crap and we have to find a way to get our work in front of people in the first place. Having one's name pop up consistently through regular (not spammed or rushed, mind you) releases that readers can count on is one way to do that. It allows you a better chance to retain the spotlight, gain repeat customers and (through these two things) sell more books / gain more readers.
If you have the self discipline to actually wait until the whole thing is done, my hat is off to you. (I won't lie--I'm generally very patient with the *quality* of my *book*, but the thought of waiting until I write all four that I want for these characters + the anthology I want to release would *kill* me. Perhaps I should try to wait until I have the rough draft of book two or something, though...? *ponders*)
Other things to consider are the speed you realistically (and without cutting quality) are able to write, revise, edit, send to betas, revise and / or edit again, proof, etc. as necessary. I started writing Sealer's Promise in May 2011. I finished the first draft in July 2011. I then waited until March 2012 before pulling it out and thinking I would "edit" it. I ended up re-writing about 70% of the thing and then have turned around and worked on editing minor plot inconsistencies, technical issues, voice, etc. Now, I *have* had real life issues going on this year, but that's beside the point. I am hoping to have it done today (*dances*) and ready for betas, but (not counting the break I took from writing it) getting it here took me 9 1/2 months. I. Write. Slow.
Another thing that might be worthy of consideration is this: What are your goals as an author? Are you after money? Readership? Proving to yourself that you can do this? Holding your book? Trying your hand at running your own business? There are a thousand different reasons you might be here, and you don't have to narrow it down to *only* one. But you should be honest with yourself about what your priorities are and then strive to find out what you need to do to make those goals / dreams a reality. (Or at least have the best possible chance of doing so.) You can also have little goals / milestones that will lead to bigger goals. (Completed a draft of your newest book? Revised another? Got interviewed on someone's blog? Got a review? Made a sale (yes, one.) ) Every little thing can be something, nothing or everything depending on one's perspective. (I recall feeling this way last year as I started my book blog and got it going.)
But I've gotten a tad off topic. In relation to advising you regarding the main topic here, I'm honestly not sure what the best course of action for you is. (Heck, I'm not even 100% certain what is *best* for me. I'll have to try things and find out.) But I wanted to make sure that both sides of this coin got some coverage. Decide what you are most comfortable with.
I wish you the best of luck.
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I published my first part on its own and I must admit I regret not waiting for at least two of the series to be finished, because I think it would have drummed up a bit more interest and I feel pressured into finishing the second book.
But on the other hand I'm accruing sales whilst I'm writing the second and third books. If I were to wait until they are all finished I could have missed out on a fair few. Plus having one release after the next is quite exciting and free publicity.
But on the other hand I'm accruing sales whilst I'm writing the second and third books. If I were to wait until they are all finished I could have missed out on a fair few. Plus having one release after the next is quite exciting and free publicity.
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And for me half the fun is the wait--the anticipation of wanting it and wondering what's going to be in it and so on. I've read series that are already complete, and I'll buy those in a heartbeat, but I also love hearing a new one is coming out on whatever date and having that to look forward to.
Granted, with self-publishing, it might be best to try to hit on people who would just buy the whole thing up front to boost sales.
Granted, with self-publishing, it might be best to try to hit on people who would just buy the whole thing up front to boost sales.
I'm putting out a 4 book series, have two out now. I don't see any reason to wait to put them out, plenty of readers don't wait to buy a series all at once. Mine are stand alones in the same world with related characters.
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I have a series of three books--not a trilogy because I have a prequel coming out and a book four after that, so more of a series--but if I could go back, I might have planned it as a series in the beginning and then released the books close together. I know I lost readers of the first and second book because it was about nine months later that the third book came out after the other two had experienced a huge sales surge. It would have been great to have book three ready to go.
My problem was I never intended to write a series. I was just hoping that I could sell one book. While it didn't have great initial sales, those who did buy and read it were asking for a second book, so I obliged and it came out six months later.
I went back to work on an unrelated book and then had the sales surge and was caught unprepared with the third book. If you know ahead of time you want it to be a trilogy, at least have a good start on book three when you put the others out.
My problem was I never intended to write a series. I was just hoping that I could sell one book. While it didn't have great initial sales, those who did buy and read it were asking for a second book, so I obliged and it came out six months later.
I went back to work on an unrelated book and then had the sales surge and was caught unprepared with the third book. If you know ahead of time you want it to be a trilogy, at least have a good start on book three when you put the others out.
Hey, I'm doing a trilogy as well. When the first one was done I put it out there but before I could finish it I had to know how the trilogy ended so I have a first draft of book two and three.
I know lots of people that wait until the whole series is out before reading. That's fine with me. They can read it when every book is published but there are lots of people who don't wait and I could use the positive word of mouth and income from these people. That's why I'm publishing my trilogy one at a time instead of all at once.
Also, editing is too expensive to do all three books at the same time.
I know lots of people that wait until the whole series is out before reading. That's fine with me. They can read it when every book is published but there are lots of people who don't wait and I could use the positive word of mouth and income from these people. That's why I'm publishing my trilogy one at a time instead of all at once.
Also, editing is too expensive to do all three books at the same time.
One more thought -
As a reader, I'm already a little leery of self-pub stuff. I know some is great, but I also worry that there's a lot of bad stuff. If I see that three books have been published *almost* at the same time, I may worry that they've been pounded out at some crazy pace then posted without editing.
Otherwise, if I like one, I want the rest. so having them all around is good. But...if I was browsing Amazon and saw three that were posted within a week of each other, an eyebrow might raise...
As a reader, I'm already a little leery of self-pub stuff. I know some is great, but I also worry that there's a lot of bad stuff. If I see that three books have been published *almost* at the same time, I may worry that they've been pounded out at some crazy pace then posted without editing.
Otherwise, if I like one, I want the rest. so having them all around is good. But...if I was browsing Amazon and saw three that were posted within a week of each other, an eyebrow might raise...
I think it only matters if you don't finish them.
Of course, if it comes to that, irate fans of your book is probably the least of your writing career concerns. Joe
I this see comment a lot. I'm curious, don't authors give you enough of a sample to determine if the book is any good?
I plan on making 2-3 chapters available as a sample (disclaimer: my book is nearly 700 pages). Personally, if the
book doesn't even remotely hook me in the first few chapters (or more often with self-pubs the writing and or editing is terrible)
then I give it a pass. But that's me. I'm curious how much is enough to determine that buying the self pub is a good bet.
Joe
You'll drumming up additional sales when the 2nd is released. Anyone that wasn't familiar will pick up the 2nd, and if you link them properly, will find their way to the 1st. Same will/should happen with the 3rd.
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Me too. I find that I will burn out on an author if I have too many books at once. I burned out on the Sookie books and Kim Harrison's The Hollows series. I'll eventually go back and finish them but having a break keeps me from just getting bored with it.
I know that most say to publish them at once though.
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