I am a planner to the point of over-planning which is why I'm concerned about this now.
The first book is one of those could be teen/YA, could be adult rating (because of violence, language and themes) fantasy books. There are no planned sex scenes (or even spicy ones) and I don't see how one might end up happening when I pants things; the only exception is putting in a non-consensual one but I don't want things to be that dark. There is mentioning of sex happening in the past, but the focus is on the consequences of it, not the act/actions themselves.
But there are definitely (consensual! and enthusiastic!) scenes in the second and third books. It's character and relationship development, and those relationships move the plot. Theoretically I could do a fade to black or otherwise censoring things but it feels disingenuous.
So my concern is: would it be too much whiplash for readers for one book to be R and the next to be NC-17? Would that blow up my relationship with an agent? I know when you do pitches that mentioning it's a series can be part of that, but is this worth mentioning, too? Is there something else I should be considering that I'm not thinking about?
The only thing I can compare this to is the Earth's Children series, but considering how thick those books are kids/younger teens aren't going to pick it up. The one act of sex in the first one was non-consensual and plot relevant, while (imo) the scenes in the subsequent books were mostly porn without plot. It was a big surprise how it changed from historical fiction to romance novel (and I read them way after they came out so I don't know if there was any sort of fallout/drama from that).
The first book is one of those could be teen/YA, could be adult rating (because of violence, language and themes) fantasy books. There are no planned sex scenes (or even spicy ones) and I don't see how one might end up happening when I pants things; the only exception is putting in a non-consensual one but I don't want things to be that dark. There is mentioning of sex happening in the past, but the focus is on the consequences of it, not the act/actions themselves.
But there are definitely (consensual! and enthusiastic!) scenes in the second and third books. It's character and relationship development, and those relationships move the plot. Theoretically I could do a fade to black or otherwise censoring things but it feels disingenuous.
So my concern is: would it be too much whiplash for readers for one book to be R and the next to be NC-17? Would that blow up my relationship with an agent? I know when you do pitches that mentioning it's a series can be part of that, but is this worth mentioning, too? Is there something else I should be considering that I'm not thinking about?
The only thing I can compare this to is the Earth's Children series, but considering how thick those books are kids/younger teens aren't going to pick it up. The one act of sex in the first one was non-consensual and plot relevant, while (imo) the scenes in the subsequent books were mostly porn without plot. It was a big surprise how it changed from historical fiction to romance novel (and I read them way after they came out so I don't know if there was any sort of fallout/drama from that).