Is it a waste of time to complete a sequel?

[Luzoni]

This question has probably come up somewhere already (apologies!) but I've heard conflicting things about when writing a duology, trilogy, or pentology, or whatever. Traditionally, I heard it was a waste of time to complete a sequel, that your time would be far better spent trying to sell the first book (assuming you're going for an agent or traditional publishing). So, my usual process was to finish the first book, but make it mostly stand on its own, and shop it around. But then, recently, while rooting around in my old emails for tidbits of feedback from agents, I actually ran across an agent who told me my SF project only having one book done was a serious turn-off. I was shocked because I somehow missed this years ago when I got the email, and it's left me scratching my head...have I had it all wrong this whole time? Should I complete a sequel in a planned trilogy before I shop it around?
Of course, this was for an adult SF project, too. So I am here in YA (because that's what I'm writing primarily now) to ask AW's insight. I'm really confused, LOL. Perhaps what he said was true for adult SF, but not YA? Perhaps it's true across the industry? Or...maybe he was actually wrong industry-wide and it was his specific preferences. No clue, and I really want to know what everyone here thinks and how you operate. Thanks!

 

[Nether]

You'll get conflicting information. The prevailing logic is it always makes sense to not do sequels until you see how the first book does. Otherwise, you could write a beautiful sequel that nobody wants -- either because the first book doesn't get a deal or sells so poorly it doesn't warrant a sequel (although, in that case, you're *still* better off because you might reach the people who liked that first book). Conversely, the first book's reception might lead to an agent/publisher wanting a vastly different sequel.

However, different agents can have different opinions, based either on their experiences, their part of the industry, or their preferences. So, there can be SOME agents who see it as a plus while OTHER agents see somebody writing multiple books in a series as a possible red flag (because it suggests an author is committed to a certain direction rather than being flexible).

For fantasy and scifi, a publisher MIGHT buy multiple books in a series at the same time, but it's rarer than them buying either a single book or unrelated books. It's certainly not unheard of by any stretch, just less likely.

All that said, I suspect the real issue is that you're querying your book as a series rather than a standalone with series potential. If you're explicitly trying to sell a series, an agent or publisher might be concerned with an author never producing a book 2 in that series.

And, for what it's worth, I've mostly heard agents and authors recommend standalone with series potential. From a business perspective, that makes the most sense. But you also need to factor your personal investment in the project and how quickly you write. If you can draft a novel in a month or two, that's going to be less of an issue than, say, spending a year or two on a sequel. (Even though the overall impairment on your progress is the same, it's a relatively smaller investment from a years perspective and, honestly, we all only have so many years.)

Personally, I'm *possibly* a reasonably fast writer. Not super-fast, mind you, but I can finish a draft pretty quickly... sometimes. Less so lately. And when I went to query my first manuscript (which was a disaster because I knew almost nothing about querying, even less than I know now and I still have zero confidence in my querying), I already had a sequel drafted and a third book half-drafted. That book didn't get any interest (although, to be fair, I only queried 40-45 agents and, contrary to my source, some claimed to not rep the genre, so the 40-45 could've effectively been a much smaller number). And, as of now, I have one book that didn't get picked up and two books that aren't usable because the first one didn't get picked up. As a result, I'm never writing a direct sequel again (prior to a sale) unless it can 100% be a standalone. (Which is why I might write book 3 in one series before book 2.)

 

[Catriona Grace]

"Are you working on anything else?" was one of the things my agent asked me during our first phone conversation. I told him I had two books more books outlined and had started work on one of them. I summarized both plots, he said he'd be interested to read either one, and expressed satisfaction that I was sticking to literary work with a magical realism twist. He said authors sometimes decided they wanted to try and write in a different genre- try SciFi, romance, YA, for example- and "it doesn't work that way."

That's what I know about that, for what it's worth. He implied my past and continuing work was part of what made him consider me a good risk.

 

[Brigid Barry]

This is from Janet Reid's most recent newsletter entitled "How to Query a Series".

What to say about a trilogy (or intended series)
Felix Buttonweezer Rides the Range can stand alone, but I envision it as the first of a trilogy.
Key words: stand alone, envision.

Up until this, the standard language I've seen has been "standalone with series potential".

Most editors, therefore agents too, ARE looking for series. This makes sense from a marketing point of view. They're going to invest (not enough) money and staff time to launch Book One to rousing cheers. Why start all over again when Book Two can be "more of what you already love!"

Which brings us to the problem.
If Book One tanks, really totally tanks, Book Two will still be published. That's cause One won't pub before Two has been edited, copy edited, gotten a spiffy cover, and sent out for trade reviews.

Where you'll run into problems is Three. If One tanks, it's entirely possible the publisher will decline to publish Three, or publish it only in paperback or just publish it and ignore it. That's why you don't end any of the books on a cliffhanger. Waiting a year for resolution is bad enough. Waiting for a book that won't be published means hordes of READERS coming to your lair with torches, burlap sacks of feathers, and the wafting scent of boiling oil. You want to avoid this, if only to avoid nude chickens.

That's one of the reasons I like duologies more than trilogies.

Someone on here said that their agent told them to get started on Book 2 so that they know what it is and where it's going and then move onto another project.

(I have no personal experience with it)

 

[Luzoni]

Nether, I'm not explicitly trying to sell anything as a series. I usually employ language similar to Brigid Barry said above, something like "Book Title may be a standalone novel or the first in a planned trilogy." I tend to write fast...or I did before I had a baby. So now my time is much more restricted, hence why this has bothered me enough to ask.

Catriona, I'm a little put off by your agent's assumption writers can't do different genres. I mean maybe I'm misreading that, but...I don't think I'd agree with him. Actually, I'd vehemently disagree and don't want to be placed in a single genre box. My ex-agent also asked about other projects so I think that's a standard question, but maybe his comment about swapping genres was that it didn't work FOR HIM, that he was relieved you hadn't swapped for that reason?

 

[Makkura]

Of course you can write in different genres. However, it makes it much harder for an agent to market you because that's not what publishers want. They want you to fit in a neat little round hole until maybe you're a big enough name to dabble in other genres.

 

[lizmonster]

Of course you can write in different genres. However, it makes it much harder for an agent to market you because that's not what publishers want. They want you to fit in a neat little round hole until maybe you're a big enough name to dabble in other genres.

This is a cynical way of looking at it.

The short answer is you can write what you want, and if you want to spread yourself over multiple genres, tell your agent up front and see if they'll rep you in multiple genres. (I've heard of writers having multiple agents, each representing a genre within their area of expertise. The most important thing is to be transparent about it.)

If you're lucky enough to have your publisher want another book - yeah, they'll probably look for more of what they know has sold. I'm not sure why that's bad. It also doesn't stop you from writing different genres and publishing with someone else.

 

[Cochisen]

I also have novels in the works that are in separate genres. A series in fantasy, a novel in history fiction, and a couple of novels in the mystery/suspense genre.

My plan is to self publish them all. I’m not confident enough in my query skills to find an agent. I might try though - before I publish of course

 

[Elenitsa]

When the story wants to be told in a series, I write the whole series before trying to publish it, because waiting for a second volume which might come after one year or more is not what the readers like. In one case I wrote first two volumes and a third one year later, but this was because the third volume was not planned then, it got written at the advice of the publisher (and his wife, a writer who is my literary mentor). When it got a second edition, revised, the whole series got published at the same time (and from three volumes, it got to four, able to be read each one individually, which the two first ones were not).

 

[Catriona Grace]

Catriona, I'm a little put off by your agent's assumption writers can't do different genres. I mean maybe I'm misreading that, but...I don't think I'd agree with him. Actually, I'd vehemently disagree and don't want to be placed in a single genre box. My ex-agent also asked about other projects so I think that's a standard question, but maybe his comment about swapping genres was that it didn't work FOR HIM, that he was relieved you hadn't swapped for that reason?

He didn't say writers are incapable of writing in different genres. He knows I've written everything from literary fiction to popular science. The consistency of writing novels within the same genre for traditional publishing smooths the way for establishing audiences and reputation, if nothing else. I'm not bothered by his preference for consistency. This is a job. The contract gives him first shot at any books I produce, but I'm free to write and market articles and short fiction in any genre without obligation to run it by him first.

 

[Sage]

It’s never a waste of time to write what you want to write.

Writing a sequel before getting published (if trade publishing is your goal) does have some risk involved. At some point for an agent or publisher, you’re going to have to revise book 1, & it’s entirely possible that you’ll have to edit out some foundational thing you needed for book 2 (it happened to me, but, lucky for me, book 2 was just in planning stages).

The other reason people may suggest avoiding writing a sequel is that you won’t likely be able to sell it on its own. So if the first book doesn’t sell, the second won’t either.

But writing is writing, & doing more almost always makes you better at it. If you can’t think about a new world because the sequel is in your brain, write the sequel. There is something to be said for having a second book at the ready if a publisher offers a two-book deal or asks to see your next book after offering on the first. Writing a sequel before publishing means you can fix book 1 if something needs to change to make book 2 (3, 4, etc) work. I was grateful book 1 of my trilogy was unpublished when I developed books 2 & 3 because it allowed me to fix areas that no longer worked & foreshadow things that weren’t important to book 1 but needed to be to set up the rest of the trilogy.

 

[CMBright]

I'm wondering if agents wanting a single genre is more about the agent having contacts with publishers in a single genre than trying to control what an author writes? So if they rep a romance author who switches to thriller they don't have contacts to sell the thriller kind of situation.

 

[Catriona Grace]

I'm wondering if agents wanting a single genre is more about the agent having contacts with publishers in a single genre than trying to control what an author writes? So if they rep a romance author who switches to thriller they don't have contacts to sell the thriller kind of situation.

Not sure if you're off on a different conversational tangent or continuing the conversation I inadvertently set off above. Please excuse me if I've got it wrong. The agent I mentioned isn't a single genre agent. He's just pleased when clients are consistent. Could an agent financially survive by marketing a single genre? Seems risky, but maybe not.

 

[CMBright]

Not sure if you're off on a different conversational tangent or continuing the conversation I inadvertently set off above. Please excuse me if I've got it wrong. The agent I mentioned isn't a single genre agent. He's just pleased when clients are consistent. Could an agent financially survive by marketing a single genre? Seems risky, but maybe not.

Speculating on the tangent. No idea if I am right, but it would make sense for agents to specialize.

 

[Sage]

Another thread on series from the Roundtable: https://absolutewrite.com/forums/in...ns-on-writing-a-series-vs-standalones.357039/

 

[MJTennant]

This question has probably come up somewhere already (apologies!) but I've heard conflicting things about when writing a duology, trilogy, or pentology, or whatever. Traditionally, I heard it was a waste of time to complete a sequel, that your time would be far better spent trying to sell the first book (assuming you're going for an agent or traditional publishing). So, my usual process was to finish the first book, but make it mostly stand on its own, and shop it around. But then, recently, while rooting around in my old emails for tidbits of feedback from agents, I actually ran across an agent who told me my SF project only having one book done was a serious turn-off. I was shocked because I somehow missed this years ago when I got the email, and it's left me scratching my head...have I had it all wrong this whole time? Should I complete a sequel in a planned trilogy before I shop it around?
Of course, this was for an adult SF project, too. So I am here in YA (because that's what I'm writing primarily now) to ask AW's insight. I'm really confused, LOL. Perhaps what he said was true for adult SF, but not YA? Perhaps it's true across the industry? Or...maybe he was actually wrong industry-wide and it was his specific preferences. No clue, and I really want to know what everyone here thinks and how you operate. Thanks!

I write YA Romance books. I have done quite a bit of research on this in the past and I find that for this particular genre, a series sells the best. Usually because your reader is younger and has more time on their hands than people with families etc. and so they read more often (not always the case I am sure). I would also say a series that follows a happy ever ending at the end of each one is also a preference. As people can at times feel cheated into having to purchase the next installment. My books can also be read as standalone / either or.

For my first two series of books (trilogies), they follow one large story which is split into three separate books (that focus on three sets of couples). They all follow a similar timeline but the story is shown from other perspectives (and each couple follow their own path/journey and outcome). Due to this and keeping them consistent, I had to draft them all before I released the first book.

I work on writing and marketing at the same time. There are many balls to juggle in this game and I keep finding more as I go along. I am fairly new to publishing and so am still learning new things every day. Exciting and scary!

Good luck!

M J x

 

[Laer Carroll]

Of my 14 books, I've written two duologies and three trilogies. One factor sequel writers might keep in mind is that each sequel tends to be harder than the previous one to write. This is because we must repeat much of what appealed in the previous book but also add something more. Too, the last book has to have a satisfactory ending that satisfies not only that book but the entire collective.

I managed this in all three series but in two it was difficult, and in the third outright agony.

I should add, though, that the difficulties I had may have been because I'd begun the sequels too soon. I recently saw a way to add a sequel to a standalone book. So far work is smooth sailing, so easy it's almost as if it's writing itself.

 

[Emermouse]

Honestly I think the experience of writing a book is a gain all in its own. Even if you don't do anything with the sequels, you still learn a lot just by writing them.