When writing a series, when is a good time to do a re-write?

I can't see what the downside is of fixing the previous books. And it's probably better to do that before you release the third one. There's no reason to hurry, is there?

Sabrina Hartford said:

That's a good point. I guess my problem is that no matter how hard I try all my projects seem to take longer than expected. But I suppose if the quality is at stake, then that's just one of those things!

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Yep- quality beats quantity any day.

Good luck

I don't believe it's possible to reach a static level as a writer - with every completed project we improve, and we'll never (IMO) reach some God level in writing ability. So, it seems likely that we'll always look back over our shoulder at previous work, and cringe a little; we'll see faults we hadn't noticed before and have the urge to go back and fix them. You mentioned that your beta readers liked your first novel, and it must've been well received or you would not continue writing the series. SO - I'll go against the advise of my betters (Buffy and BethS) who are far more experienced and accomplished than I am, and suggest that you leave our older work as is.

My first martial arts teacher was an artist, a painter of portraits and landscapes. He was pretty well known, and was actually making a good living with his art. One thing he told me (it was relating to martial arts, but goes with all art), is that there are two distinct aspects of a painter; the eye and the hand, and they don't improve at the same rate. When you start painting, your hand lags behind your eye, and everything you do looks like crap. Then your hand improves and you're happy with your work... but then your eye improves and again everything you do looks awful. Improving in any art is a ratchet action, so I think that in a few years if you look back on your current novel, you'll want to fix that too. I say leave it be, let your readers see and enjoy your journey.

Again - just the opinion of a noob, so take it for what it's worth.

Only thing is if folks buy and don't like the first one (the one OP considers really needs attention) are they going to bother considering the next?

OP's choice.

Sabrina Hartford said:

I think part of me is worried that although I don't like bits, my readers might enjoy them so I could be throwing out good stuff by being overly-critical. But at the same time, I feel it would be better to throw it out. Maybe I need to think it over some more!

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I wonder this too. Even from morning to evening, my take on things changes radically. I use the same brain, but for whatever reason things read differently depending on time of day. New readers (or a slice of readers) might exactly prefer how your first book is. We are all so different from one another. Have strangers reviewed it online?

Sabrina Hartford said:

But I suppose if the quality is at stake, then that's just one of those things!

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Quality is definitely worth taking time for.

Sabrina Hartford said:

I think part of me is worried that although I don't like bits, my readers might enjoy them so I could be throwing out good stuff by being overly-critical. But at the same time, I feel it would be better to throw it out. Maybe I need to think it over some more!

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Readers are going to vary a lot, so what pleases some may not please others. That being the case, you're better off pleasing yourself by turning out what you know to be a better story.

So, if I reprint stuff - FREX: take a short story that was originally published elsewhere and put it into a self-pubbed story collection - I will sometimes tweak it a little. (Usually to add or flesh out a subplot that was cut short by market limitations. Or polish the odd phrase that seems clunky now.) I do not usually drastically change the story.

And, so far, even for things that I've only self-pubbed, I have not gone back after the fact to change them. One reason is just because that's really not how my other published work has been treated. Once it's accepted and published, that's the official version. (Barring, of course, smaller tweaks to add back in a half page or so if I self-publish later.) And, also, there's risk in having something not quite as polished out there, but there's also risk in work never demonstrating improvement over time. If you keep fixing books so they are constantly at your current level of skill folks will not see the same kind of progression over time that most authors display and that could work to your detriment. (Naturally, some fans will see the original and the updated book, plus - maybe - the later books, but new fans will see a kind of flat line in your series and that is not always good. While you don't want to have a lousy first volume, there is an appeal to readers to seeing books grow more complex, more skilled as they get further into the series.)

And, while I totally understand the urge to fix problems with earlier books, if you ever work with a trade publisher this will not be an option. You want to push toward producing the best work you can at this point, but also realize it's okay to move on and write the next book better without constantly going back to fix the previous one(s).

But, it's your series. If you feel like the whole thing would be improved by revising the first book, then you should do that. None of us can tell you which option is better.

Bufty said:

Yep- quality beats quantity any day.

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Great quote! Nice!

If you're talking about making substantial changes to book 1, and book 2 is already published, you also need to think about continuity. Do any of the proposed changes have an impact on the overarching story or characters that would carry over into book 2? If so, you'd need to edit them both at the same time, but even then there's a danger that someone will pick up version one of book 2 and version two of book 1 (or visa versa), and be confused by continuity issues.

I think once it's published, you're best off just making minor copy editing tweaks, rather than rewriting. Otherwise I think you'd have to launch as a whole re-release with new covers etc.

I did a revision of the first in my self-published series when I launched the second and was in the final stages of preparing the third for publication. A big part of the revision was to reflect the additional character development I'd done over the course of writing the following two books. Once it was done, I relaunched the book, and the series, with a completely new cover and trade dress.

Have you had any reviews on the first book? Has anyone mentioned those things being a problem?