When I first started writing, my books were all standalone.
I wrote one story and moved on to the next, leaving those characters behind. It
didn’t even occur to me to consider writing a series until readers started
asking for more of the characters they loved so much.
Encouraged by my readers, I took what I thought would be a
standalone young adult novel and created a new adult spinoff that turned into a
four book series. That series spawned another four book series, which
ultimately led to me writing a trilogy. All because the readers liked the
characters and wanted to hear each person’s individual story.
I am currently working on two different series, which I’ve
never done. I had finished the first two books in my six book, New Beginnings
new adult series when I was struck with the urge to write a gay romance novel
that I realized would be the first in a five book series. I hope to have the
first draft of that book finished by the end of this week. Then I’ll move on to
my third New Beginnings book while my first m/m romance is being edited.
The plan is to alternate my releases between each series.
The next book coming out will by the first of my m/m romance series. After
that, I’ll release my third book in the New Beginnings series; a new adult m/f
romance entitled Coming Back Broken.
Then it will be my second m/m book and so on and so forth.
I understand this will mean a lot of time in between
releases for each series, but I’m hoping readers not reading both series will
think it’s worth the wait. So far, I’ve never started a series that I didn’t
finish. Too bad I can’t say the same for all writers, which I say as a reader
and not a writer. As a writer, I’m not going to be critical of my peers. As a
reader, it irks me when authors start something they don’t finish.
The reasons for abandoning a series can be everything from
losing inspiration to not being able to secure a contract for the next book if
the last one didn’t sell enough. Whatever the reason, it feels like nothing but
a flimsy excuse to those of us who have spent the money in faithful support of
our favorite authors.
And I’m not talking about taking a long time in between
releases. I read a lot authors who aren’t always good for more than one or two
books a year. Do I get impatient? Sure, but I’m not usually disappointed when
the next book finally does come out.
My irritation stems from writers who give us a few good
books that are clearly part of a series and then nothing more. I don’t know
what’s worse. When a writer quits a series and seems to drop off the face of
the earth, leaving fans to wonder what happened or when an author tells you
they’re going to be releasing that next book soon and then it never comes.
I recently saw what I thought were two disturbing Facebook
posts from authors. The first was an author announcing he was quitting because
not enough people liked his work and he was sorry to those who did. The other
was an author who went on an extensive rant because a reader took exception to
the fact that the author’s last book in a series ended on a cliffhanger and
it’s been years since then. The second author felt like she was being bullied
to finish the series and thought it was pointless when so many people have said
they didn’t like her, didn’t like the way she ended the last book, didn’t like
the darkness of the series, etc. The author made it clear no one was going to
tell her what she could and could not write and she was not going to write that
last book no matter what anyone else wanted.
All I could say to both of these was ‘Wow, really?’ I guess
I have a different attitude. I don’t think it should matter if you have one
reader who loved that series or one million. You started something that people
became invested in. Maybe it wasn’t as big or as great an investment as you wanted,
but someone cared enough to buy your books. You owe it to them to finish what
your started, and as long as I’m standing on this soapbox, I might as well say
one more thing. Don’t start something you can’t finish.
