Comments on Nathan Bransford, Author: All About Sequels

Maybe it's a little late to comment, but I'...

2011-01-17T07:34:44.820-08:00

Maybe it's a little late to comment, but I've written a children's book. It's been published (or it will be this year). At the time I submitted it to my agent I mentioned I was working on a sequel. I was VERY excited about it. Here I am two years later and no finished sequel. I don't know what happened. I've tried to get it together. I've written another book between times, but I can't finish that darn sequel! Anybody have advice for people who are struggling with a sequel? Thanks.

I am suffering from acute sequilitis. There. I sai...

2010-05-24T10:49:24.848-07:00

I am suffering from acute sequilitis. There. I said it. Now I just have to tie up those trailing loose ends (or pretend to tie them in my synopsis so that by the time they fall in love with the book they won't care I've planned a sequel.) Really, though, I otta tie 'em up, because I can't say, "But- But- I have so much more to tell!!" and burst into tears. Although it's true. And the seqel's written with the third in progress. And I can't combine them 'cuz it'll be too long.
Sigh. Here goes (wince at changing my "baby" beyond repair).

there's few bigger literary turns off for me t...

2010-03-11T03:44:44.491-08:00

there's few bigger literary turns off for me than the word series or sequel.

I'm not passing judgment, but almost none of the writers I enjoy take this path in any conventional sense.

There are 2 books by Haruki Murakami that illustrate the point of books in any nominal series needing to stand alone on merit. One of the books is in effect a sequel to the other, but has never been marketed as such and it's not even mentioned on their sleeves. I've known people who've read and loved the second book without ever realising it was follow up.

'...an un/self/under-published novel...' Y...

2010-03-03T03:49:26.210-08:00

'...an un/self/under-published novel...' You've coined an interesting compound word/phrase there, Nathan. One worthy of some meditation, particularly the 'under-published' part.

Hi Nathan, I found your blog today and I absolutel...

2010-03-02T20:59:19.151-08:00

Hi Nathan, I found your blog today and I absolutely love it! There's so many great resources for writers at every stage of the publishing process. Thank you for taking your time to do this. Somehow... eventually... I will go through all of these posts and read them.

Hope you had a spendid time in Mexico!

Yeah... I finally came to my senses and realized m...

2010-03-02T18:10:05.358-08:00

Yeah... I finally came to my senses and realized my "trilogy" would never get anywhere if I didn't have a stand alone. So I wrote a stand alone in the same world, then went on and wrote another book: new world, new characters, all new all the time. No more sequels in that world... not until the stand alone sells!

I have a bad habit of creating the sequels anyway,...

2010-03-02T13:34:55.070-08:00

I have a bad habit of creating the sequels anyway, but I've improved to the point where I mostly create them in my head and make brief notes. That way, if the original project gets picked up, I already have some clue about where I want to take the story, but I haven't invested (*cough* wasted *cough*) the time actually writing it. The "ideas" tag in my personal wiki may be the most used, but at least I'll never lack for possible stories.

I "wrote" my first book while I labored ...

2010-03-02T12:04:42.431-08:00

I "wrote" my first book while I labored on my BA.

My mother died.

Entropy ensued.

I'm better now.

I finished the first book, and now, I work on my Master's and have begun a new (manu)script.

I wanted to write a different timeline.

Because of its therapeutic value and exercise. I missed swimming in language.

Does that make me a writer who likes to write, or redundant?

I have no problems with sequel-itis, because I don...

2010-03-02T11:38:06.280-08:00

I have no problems with sequel-itis, because I don't love my characters. My characters feel "high maintenance," a lot of bother and work. It seems like with a sequel, you'd have to dig even deeper into the same characters. For some reason I think of the expression, "7-year itch," except maybe that should be rephrased, "the 100,000-word rash."

Seeing as I read mostly series novels, it seems na...

2010-03-02T09:57:39.881-08:00

Seeing as I read mostly series novels, it seems natural to me to want to write sequels to my books. However, I don't read exclusively series books, and I have a couple projects that will be stand-alones.

My biggest problem will be to find an agent who will accept me and the varied genres I write in, and the fact I like to meld genres!

While I'm willing to allow some of my characters to go into stand-alones as opposed to the series' I have in mind, they'll always live in my head.

Ahh, the question of sequels ... near and dear to ...

2010-03-02T09:35:45.188-08:00

Ahh, the question of sequels ... near and dear to my heart.

After my first novel came out, and the pub date giddiness abated, I found myself longing to return to those characters in a second novel. I wrote a few (dreadful) pages, but (wisely) decided to pursue a completely unrelated storyline for my second novel. Given the particulars of my debut, I knew it was critical to make career choices that wouldn't brand me as a one-trick pony, so I set those pages aside, telling myself that once the other book was complete, I could return to them if I still felt drawn to do so.

Now, thirteen (!) years later, I'm working on a sequel to that first book. I use the term "sequel" *very* loosely, because there's an entirely new character around whom the entire narrative revolves, but those characters that I loved are still very much involved. Other than a few small details, the book looks nothing like those scribbled pages I wrote a decade ago, but it's my hope that old and new readers will find it compelling.

However ... I agree that sequels come with some caveats. So much is dependent upon genre convention and reader expectation (I write literary fiction, in which sequels aren't particularly common, so I'm certainly taking a risk there). And yes, the issue of how to make the second book standalone is a tough one -- for me, it involves constant calibrating of how much information and backstory to dole out (even more so than in non-sequel manuscripts -- you don't want to bore your previous readers with things they already know, but you also don't want to leave new ones going "Huh?"). Personally, I solved that issue (I hope!) by having the backstory come out in a high-stakes situation (a grueling interview) in which the revealing of backstory has a direct impact on the current narrative, but it took me a *long* time to fine-tune that mechanism.

Best concrete advice I got about writing a sequel, though? "Think story, not sequel."

Interesting. If you shelve the first book, I as...

2010-03-02T08:53:33.839-08:00

Interesting.

If you shelve the first book, I assume you could easily dust it off as a 'prequel' if the second novel turns into a successful series.

Good to know. I'd never thought about that be...

2010-03-02T08:35:35.646-08:00

Good to know. I'd never thought about that before. Though I think my first book is good enough to begin a series, I will take your advice and wait to begin the sequel.

Good to know. I'd never thought about that be...

2010-03-02T08:35:03.855-08:00

Good to know. I'd never thought about that before. Though I think my first book is good enough to begin a series, I will take your advice and wait to begin the sequel.

Thanks so much for writing this! I struggled when...

2010-03-02T07:27:01.304-08:00

Thanks so much for writing this! I struggled when I started my current WIP because there is a LOT I wanted to put into it so I did consider making it a series, but thankfully after rewriting bits of it - I can do one book. Why? Because I really want to write other things! Thanks again!

In the spirit of this thread, I am now posting a s...

2010-03-02T07:23:35.429-08:00

In the spirit of this thread, I am now posting a sequel to my post above.

In my previous post, I welcomed Nathan back. I then complimented him on his post, and added a thought or two. (See original post for more inforation about the original post.)

I shall now continue with my posting.

After reading the comments, I would like to add one thing. I agree with Nathan that it's good to be aware of the market if publishing is your goal. However I also think it's important to remember that creative vision is important. For example, J.K. Rowling developed plotting throughout her whole series. There was significant plotting that occured in the first book that supported all the following books. If she hadn't envisioned a series, she would have left all that important plotting out.

However, it would be very interesting to know if Rowling pitched her idea to agents as a series when she was first published. What you pitch, and what you're writing can be different things.

Thank you. I will now begin to work on the draft of my next eight posts in my 24 post series on this topic. (Please note that 24 is a modest estimate. It may morph into an on-going serial type of thing. Thanks for reading.)

I love to read sequels. I know that wasn’t what th...

2010-03-02T07:07:02.399-08:00

I love to read sequels. I know that wasn’t what this post was about, but it had to be said. I have notice that several of my favorite authors that do write sequels tend to write other books in-between. Their sequels are always fresh and exciting while established authors that write book after book after book in the same universe get stale.

"It's a little different when you've ...

2010-03-02T06:23:21.431-08:00

"It's a little different when you've indie published a book that your readers LOVE. Everyone tells me they can't wait for the sequel. So there is a little pressure to kick the sequel out."

Yep.

The fastest way to find out whether your book has an audience -- and whether there is demand for the second and third in a series -- is to e-publish (on Kindle you retain your rights and can still sell your book to a big publisher, if that's what you are aiming for).

The readers will contact you directly and tell you what they like and don't like, and what they want to read next . . . they'll let you know (in a hurry) if they like your book and if they want a sequel.

There's no reason to wait for a publisher to filter and tell you this stuff -- there is now a direct line between author and reader (the "interwebs"), and it works.

Anna Murray

I agree with you on this one. I indie published my...

2010-03-02T05:54:03.960-08:00

I agree with you on this one. I indie published my first book. Now I have two works in progress, one a sequel and the second a completely different book with a whole new character in a whole new world...but within the same genre. I went back and forth about which one I'd finish first and decided to go with the completely new one. Once I'm done with it, I'll query it and then finish the sequel.

It's a little different when you've indie published a book that your readers LOVE. Everyone tells me they can't wait for the sequel. So there is a little pressure to kick the sequel out.

But over the long term, I think my career will be better served by writing something different. I think it will show that I have the talent to write more than one kind of character. And even if it doesn't get picked up, I can finish the sequel with three great books to sell. I feel like holding off on the sequel is more of a win-win for me. That's just MHO.

@ Kristen L, I'm in the same boat. Going to fi...

2010-03-02T05:39:17.188-08:00

@ Kristen L, I'm in the same boat. Going to finish the WiP so it could potentially stand alone and outline what *might* happen afterwards.

But I've heard the same advice here and elsewhere that while you're shopping around Book 1, work on something completely different. Refreshes the mind, and if an agent says "no, thanks" to a sequel (or two), you'll be less disappointed.

Here's hoping!

The obverse of this is the experience many of us g...

2010-03-02T05:28:30.419-08:00

The obverse of this is the experience many of us genre novelists have of selling a book only on the condition that it be the beginning of a series--when the book was written stand-alone.

Romance, mystery, and fantasy authors should take care to put in hooks that could make it possible to write a sequel if their book sells.

I can think of one mystery series, for example, where the cop sleuth is rapidly approaching his 80s based on internal evidence because the author never imagined he'd be writing him for 25 years.

My first Romance sales featured protagonists with no siblings or best friends and it has been a challenge to come up with the next book of the series my agent sold. (I did it, but it was much harder than it would have been had I known my first book would kick off a series.)

--Jenny Brown

When I finished my first novel manuscript, it was ...

2010-03-02T05:23:17.224-08:00

When I finished my first novel manuscript, it was over 200,000 words- egads! So, I divided it and worked on the "first half" - made it into a novel that could stand alone. While querying for that one, instead of working on the "second half" I wrote a completely different novel.

The "first half" book was pub'd in 2009, and since the publishers wanted the "sequel" to go next, instead of giving them the completely unrelated book already written, I just put down my head and re-wrote the "second half" and it is a stand alone continuation - it's coming out April. But I had options to offer- the "sequel" or the completely unrelated book.

The thing with writing connecting books-series, or sequels and prequels, is if you write and polish and refine the first one, it has to change what's coming in later books - I know mine changed tremendously- enough that I basically started over from scratch on the "sequel" and scrapped what I'd originally written because it just didn't work anymore.

I wanted to write a series about a world, so each ...

2010-03-02T04:12:38.609-08:00

I wanted to write a series about a world, so each book is mostly or all different characters in a different part of the world. Of course, it's mostly self-indulgence that decided to turn into real novels.

However, I do have another series idea. I only write little bits and pieces of sequel ideas when i I'm bored.

I love sequels. I love getting involved with the ...

2010-03-02T03:25:44.048-08:00

I love sequels. I love getting involved with the same characters and worlds. Both to read and write.

I'm an unpublished fantasy writer who has a couple of series in different writing and planning stages. But, you see, I feel that the economy is tough right now. I have time to write for myself first. And if it turns out my series are publishable, good. If the series aren't, good. After all, it is something I love and will learn from; it is something that I wasn't afraid to experiment with.

After all, there is nothing wrong with writing stand-alones to market, but writing your series books for yourself--to fuel your writing self. Who knows, down the line, maybe they can be published.

Thanks for reading,
Jodi

Is the same said for SF/F ? It used to be the norm...

2010-03-02T03:03:46.717-08:00

Is the same said for SF/F ? It used to be the norm for fantasy books to be pretty epic in volume, now they divide them up. There's so much to fit in a fantasy book. I tried to keep my current project as one book that 'could' have a sequel. It got too big & had to be divided... I want to tell the story, not just put 120k words together for the ease of acceptance. So where do I compromise?