If a short story collection is part of a trilogy should I call them #1, #2, and #3?

The Second Moon

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Okay, so the title sounds confusing, but I didn't know how else to word this:

Basically, I'm writing a short story collection called Barney and Mr. Thomas that features the same characters. I want this collection to have two more collections following it that are also about these main characters. It would be like how a TV show has seasons. This first collection would be season 1, the next one is 2 and so on.

But, I'm wondering if I should call the second collection Barney and Mr. Thomas #2 or should I call it something else.

I looked online and only found one example of a short story collection that has multiple books. I forgot the title, but they were called {Title} #1 and {Same title} #2. But these collections didn't have the same characters in each story and it was written by multiple authors, so those might not have been the best example for my situation.

Anyways, does anyone know what I should do?

Thanks in advance.
 

dpaterso

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Is there a theme that runs through the first collection and pulls the stories together?

e.g. and just for fun's sake,

Barney and Mr. Thomas Go To The Seaside
perhaps with a smaller subtitle,
The Adventures of Barney and Mr. Thomas #1

Just taking a shot in the dark!

-Derek
 

The Second Moon

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Is there a theme that runs through the first collection and pulls the stories together?

Well, there's a inventor antagonist and his wife that are trying to get revenge on Barney and Mr. Thomas. Maybe I could call the first one:

Barney and Mr. Thomas Versus Revenge

And then put Barney and Mr. Thomas #1 at the bottom as a subtitle


The second one will be about Barney learning about his past and why he changes into an alligator when emotional, so maybe I could call it:

Barney, Mr. Thomas, and the Alligator Creature

And then put Barney and Mr. Thomas #2 at the bottom as a subtitle

The third one is about Mr. Thomas' super-powered, evil mom coming to steal his inventions, so maybe I'll call it:

Barney and Mr. Thomas Meet the Super Thief

And then put Barney and Mr. Thomas #3 at the bottom as a subtitle.

BTW, this is Upper MG