What are the pitfalls of selling a trilogy or series?

Hi,
Sorry if this is long. I am looking for advice from writers who have sold a series of 3 or more books in one go. I have read through several threads on AW about stand-alones and series. Great advice, directed for the most part at unpublished writers: make your first book 'stand alone' mentioning series potential in queries. I'm a newbie writer also, but my angle is slightly different. I recently sold my first 2 books, both stand-alone contemporary romances.


I've taken a break from contemporary and have written Book One in a space opera romance trilogy. I asked my editor if I can pitch it as a whole. This, because I don't want Book 2 or 3 to get "stranded" if Book 1 doesn't sell. How could I sell the other 2 books if Book one is published elsewhere? Not impossible, perhaps, but difficult. And I cringe from the work involved in self-publishing... Anyway, my editor recommended a different pen name so as not to confuse readers, and said to send her Book One ms plus as much as an overview as I can of the other two books.

In case anybody patient enough to read this is wondering, Book One (84K) doesn't work as a stand-alone. It resolves my heroine's main problem (getting back to Earth) and develops the romantic interest, but ends with a deadly challenge. Book Two resolves that challenge, which is important for Book Three, and furthers the developing "will they/won't they" between H and her enemy, Book Three resolves overall political and romantic plot, with a HEA for heroine and hero. There's potential for Book 4 with a secondary character, but not developed in my head yet.

So, I'm wondering if anybody has had their trilogy (or series) contracted in its entirety and
a) is it better to write all the books first before you queried/pitched to your editor? Was that easier in the long run for plot continuity?
b) were there any pitfalls or stressers about having sold all three (or more) books without finishing the entire trilogy? And I know all pubs are different (mine is a large, well established publisher), but what sort of time-frames did you have to produce the books?

I'm not under any pressure from my editor to submit the trilogy as we are fast and hard with developmental edits on my other 2 books and their marketing team seems to have endless meetings about the re-titling so am trying to decide how best to proceed. My impatient part is saying "go ahead and send her what she asked for", my more cautious part, well, she's a-niggling at me, saying maybe it's best to write at least first drafts of Book 2 and 3 before pitching entire trilogy.

Any experience, good or bad, and advice would be very much appreciated.
Many thanks.

EMaree said:

Only write the other books after you've sold the first and have been asked for more.

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Thing is, I want to sell all three books in one go, i.e., not do the "I'll write these books if the first one sells and I'm asked for more" route, that's why I'm pitching the trilogy, not just first book, to my editor. I Sorry if that wasn't too clear.

Cathy C said:

FWIW, I've tried it both ways--write the whole series or write just the first book. I've found it's infinitely more productive to write just a single book. The reason is editing!
Don't get me wrong...I'm not railing against editing. On the contrary, the editing made the books rock. It simply was a PITA later due to my frantic internal need to protect my "vision" for the reality. Turns out that my vision expanded to see a much more complex and interesting reality that was spurred by my editor. I now chuckle at my original synopses of books that are nowhere close to the books on the shelves. I can also happily sign contracts, like the one I signed last week for a new series, and not fret about getting all three books on the page immediately. It's all good.

As for timelines, deadlines are about seven to nine months to complete each book. If you write slower than that, it might be worth the editing pain in subsequent books just to know the first draft of all of them is on the page. It's all up to your internal knowledge of how you write.

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Thanks, Cathy. Extremely good advice as I'm still getting to "know" how I write. My first book took about 9 months to get to submission stage, second 5. This one roughly 4, but it'll need more editing after my Betas are done. I am very happy to see that you've sold trilogies and series, and to learn from your experience. That editing sounds like a convoluted nightmare. Eek! That's what I'm worried about, though part of me is also worried about wanting to insert something into Book One when I write 2 and 3 and not being able to, as it's already published.

Every time I read so-and-so has just had 3 books or more contracted it makes me feel positive for flogging this trilogy as a whole. It is possible, just have to make sure my writing is good enough. I have strong feelings about this story: my publisher has to offer for the entire trilogy or nothing. If nothing, then I'll submit to other pubs. No takers? I'd rather write next two books and (gulp!) self-pub them in a few years time than only sell the first. I'm clear on that.
Thanks again for sharing your experiences. They've given me a lot to consider.