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Stand Alone First Book in a Series

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Alli B.

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I've always heard it's so much easier to get an agent and sell your book if your first book is a stand alone book with series potential.

Originally, that was my plan. But as my story continues to develope, I would much rather take another direction, in which both my antag and protag's complete their personal journey/goal/resolution, but their story lines didn't meet until book 2.

Even if it isn't "normal" is it acceptable? It's closer to an epic with multiple povs, but my goal is to finish under 95,000 and if I have them meet it'll be about 125,000 (possibly more).

I guess I just need reassurance that all these people with three books+ deals really intended to have a series and sold it as one. I have no doubt that this ending is the best possible ending for the first book. If I didn't feel that way I wouldn't be so torn.
 

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Fine continue writing but present first installment as a stand alone—which means it must have an ending that makes sense as a stand alone.
 

job

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What Neegh said.

Absolutely stellar language breaks all the rules.

But -- speaking generally here -- an agent or editor wants to see something standalone in a first book. That means a completely satisfying ending.
 

Lord of Chaos

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You are always able to leave scenarios unresolved to create the basis of a sequel to the first book but having a complete story in the first book, with an actualending will make your novel much easier to sell.

Remember, it isn't just agents that look for it. Editors want a complete story because there's always the chance the book won't sell enough to warrent a sequel and it looks really poor on the publisher's part if they print half finished stories and never the conclusion.

Also readers tend to want a resolution to the story as well. While some authors have gotten away with cliff hanger endings, they are generally in later books of a series after the author has established a fan base and can trust them to stick around and wait for another installment. If your first book ends without any resolution, you run the risk of your readers feeling betrayed and there's a possibility they won't buy the second book for fear that it will do the same.
 

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So the protag and antag don't meet in the first book? Are they still acting against one another even if they don't meet? Can they be aware of one another, at least? Or maybe glimpse one another?

Sometime readers get a nice anticipation from watching characters converge. Readers know it will happen even if the characters don't. But that probably won't work if they don't meet in that first book so you need some other satisfying relationship between them.
 

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Having the first novel as a stand-alone even though the story is a series is what George Lucas did for the first Star Wars. He made it as a stand alone movie in case it didn't make enough money to warrant the sequels. But it is clear at the end of The Empire Strikes Back that there has to be another movie.
If you are concerned then make sure that the book resolves the important issues of the story. Also remember that there are sequels that are part of a series, such as the Hunger Games or Divergent books; and there are sequels that just are other events that involve the same characters, such as Lee Child's Jack Reacher or Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt novels.
 

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Slight thread highjack: is it worth putting a statement at the end of your book blurb in Amazon to the effect that XXX is a standalone novel with no cliffhangers, despite being in a series? Or does that sound too much like pleading? Is there a better way to phrase that?
 

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I imagine genre plays a role here. In fantasy, completely standalone books seem rare these days, even for debut novels. Almost everything seems to be a trilogy or series, and two and three book deals are pretty common, at least when big 5 publishers buy (I'm guessing smaller presses are more cautious, however). They want something that will entice readers to buy the next one, and 2/3 of the debuts I've read in the past couple months ended on what I would call annoying cliffhangers (and the other stopped in a fairly satisfactory place, but it was clear more was coming).

But I'm thinking having the story end in a satisfying place, with the major problem that has been consuming the protagonist solved and the major characters out of danger is best.

Note, cliffhangers don't bug me as much if the next book in the series is already out.

As per Angry Guy's question: I've never seen a blurb or back cover copy or whatever for a book that mentions whether or not it ends on a cliffhanger, so it would come off as strange to me. I assume when I pick up a book that it will end in a good place, and if it's a series, I assume it will end in a place that satisfies but leaves me wanting more.

Reviews are another thing, of course, and readers often make those kinds of comments.
 
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I've always heard it's so much easier to get an agent and sell your book if your first book is a stand alone book with series potential.

Originally, that was my plan. But as my story continues to develope, I would much rather take another direction, in which both my antag and protag's complete their personal journey/goal/resolution, but their story lines didn't meet until book 2.

Even if it isn't "normal" is it acceptable? It's closer to an epic with multiple povs, but my goal is to finish under 95,000 and if I have them meet it'll be about 125,000 (possibly more).

I guess I just need reassurance that all these people with three books+ deals really intended to have a series and sold it as one. I have no doubt that this ending is the best possible ending for the first book. If I didn't feel that way I wouldn't be so torn.

It really depends on genre. If you are writing a murder mystery, then no, it is really not going to work. Readers will kill you if the mystery is not solved and the antagonist brought to justice at the end of the book. If you are writing a romance, then it must have a HEA at the end of the first book, whether or not there might be a continuation of the storyline in further books.
 

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Exactly. And with mysteries or detective novels or whatever, the same character may appear in a series of books, but each plot is stand-alone and tied off at the end with respect to a particular crime.

With romances, I'm not as sure how series work. I guess the couple breaks up and gets back together in book two, and three, and four? That might get annoying after a while. Or maybe the focus shifts to a different couple, but the original couple is still in the story as support characters?

Fantasy and SF, though? It's really common for stories to take place over trilogies or longer series. But it's also pretty common for authors to write completely stand-alone stories, even ones with completely different casts of characters, but set in the same universe.
 
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Channy

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I want to piggyback on this thread too with a slight derail, by asking about a way you'll end your query. I've been researching successful queries on WritersDigest, and quite a few of them have ended with the variation of "XXX is the first in a planned trilogy." No ambiguity on whether or not there might be more, these authors are laying it out on the table for them. Do you think that's a bit on the risky side? Especially if you're a debut author?
 

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is it worth putting a statement at the end of your book blurb in Amazon to the effect that XXX is a standalone novel with no cliffhangers, despite being in a series?

The reviewers will almost certainly tell other readers if there's an unresolved cliffhanger at the end.
I don't know if they'll say there isn't.

My own books are a series and many of the reviews reassure readers the books are standalone. So your reviewers might do the same and save you the need to do it yourself.
 
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job

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. . . way you'll end your query. . . . "XXX is the first in a planned trilogy." No ambiguity on whether or not there might be more, these authors are laying it out on the table for them. Do you think that's a bit on the risky side? Especially if you're a debut author?

I think the standard line is something like, "While Digging for Teeth is entirely standalone, I hope to make it Book One of a Trilogy."

That makes the author sound peppy and adaptable.
 

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I guess I just need reassurance that all these people with three books+ deals really intended to have a series and sold it as one.

Intent doesn't enter into it. An agent first looks for good writing, a good story and a marketable author. They won't ignore that the book doesn't tie up all the story lines, but they won't, at the time a writer is signed by an agent, toss you simply because of that.

Books have a beginning, a middle and an end. All books do. You can leave some plot threads unfinished, but the story has to end. There are no cliffhangers in a book series, that's only in stupid television scripts.

Many first books are pitched to agents as "having series potential" and that's a good way to do it. But if you don't have a good, satisfying story that an agent can sell, you won't be considered. Once you have the agent, let them worry about the selling aspects and you concentrate on making it the very best book you can write.

Keep in mind that first books usually suck. The author isn't seasoned enough to write well enough yet. Agents aren't looking for an author for a single book, with the exception of major memoirs, autobiographies or specific books about specific situations. Agents want an author who can produce, regularly, for years to come. Whether it's a series or not really isn't a limiting factor there.

Jeff
 
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Alli B.

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What genre does this fall under?

Fantasy (Adult)

So the protag and antag don't meet in the first book? Are they still acting against one another even if they don't meet? Can they be aware of one another, at least? Or maybe glimpse one another?

Sometime readers get a nice anticipation from watching characters converge. Readers know it will happen even if the characters don't. But that probably won't work if they don't meet in that first book so you need some other satisfying relationship between them.

Yes, they're acting against one another. Both are human, protag's lands are getting raided by a different race. Antag gets captured by the different race and ends up falling in love with their way of life and her goals and growth develope. But the point of view doesn't show the antag evil until the last bit of her story, before she meets the protagonist.

I imagine genre plays a role here. In fantasy, completely standalone books seem rare these days, even for debut novels. Almost everything seems to be a trilogy or series, and two and three book deals are pretty common, at least when big 5 publishers buy (I'm guessing smaller presses are more cautious, however). They want something that will entice readers to buy the next one, and 2/3 of the debuts I've read in the past couple months ended on what I would call annoying cliffhangers (and the other stopped in a fairly satisfactory place, but it was clear more was coming).

It won't be a cliff hanger. Each PoV comes ends in a satisfying, natural way. There are more antagonizing forces and you don't see the main story's antag blossom into evil just yet.


Intent doesn't enter into it. An agent first looks for good writing, a good story and a marketable author. They won't ignore that the book doesn't tie up all the story lines, but they won't, at the time a writer is signed by an agent, toss you simply because of that.

Books have a beginning, a middle and an end. All books do. You can leave some plot threads unfinished, but the story has to end. There are no cliffhangers in a book series, that's only in stupid television scripts.

Many first books are pitched to agents as "having series potential" and that's a good way to do it. But if you don't have a good, satisfying story that an agent can sell, you won't be considered. Once you have the agent, let them worry about the selling aspects and you concentrate on making it the very best book you can write.

Keep in mind that first books usually suck. The author isn't seasoned enough to write well enough yet. Agents aren't looking for an author for a single book, with the exception of major memoirs, autobiographies or specific books about specific situations. Agents want an author who can produce, regularly, for years to come. Whether it's a series or not really isn't a limiting factor there.

Jeff

Thanks Jeff. What if I plan on writing the entire series before reaching out to the agent?
 

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Slight thread highjack: is it worth putting a statement at the end of your book blurb in Amazon to the effect that XXX is a standalone novel with no cliffhangers, despite being in a series? Or does that sound too much like pleading? Is there a better way to phrase that?

Why say that at all? That would come across as desperate to me if I were scanning the thousands of books on Amazon. It would be the reason I passed.

Don't say anything at all. Write a good summary for your book and let the book do the talking.
 

culmo80

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Agents and editors are going to look at your work from the standpoint of "will this sell."

If you attempt to market your book on the premise of "the real conflict starts in book 2," then few agents are going to take a chance on you.


Established, well-known authors can get away with this sort of thing because customers will buy it.
From an unknown author, readers will be hesitant to want to commit to a series from an unknown writer.

You definitely CAN have the "main" antagonist not show up until later in the series, but you need an antagonist in your first novel too, and it needs to be compelling.

Also, you can write the whole series before you take one book to an agent, but an agent isn't going to care about books 2 through...10 until he or she sees that book 1 will sell.
 

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Thanks Jeff. What if I plan on writing the entire series before reaching out to the agent?

I wouldn't recommend doing this for several reasons.

1. The agent or editor might ask for major changes which might end up with you driving yourself insane editing the rest of the series. This happened with my first book. My old agent suggested really good changes which I loved, but if I'd written the second and third books in the trilogy, it would have meant me having to rewrite them.

2. Your first book might not sell. Again, this was what happened to me, and it was plenty crushing on its own. I'm glad I didn't spend more time on it than I already have.

3. All that my old agent asked for to include in our submissions packet was the first MS plus synopses of the other two books in the planned trilogy. I don't think having the other books written is a selling point at all.

Of course, there will be exceptions to the rule, but as far as I know, most agents advise to write the first book and move on to a completely different project so you don't put all your eggs in one basket.
 

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I's say write a standalone first, and save this book for when you're a proven writer. There's no point in throwing up extra roadblocks. A new writer already has plenty without adding new ones.
 
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