Hellooo, everybody! Today I'm answering a question that frequently winds up in my inbox.
Should I write a standalone or a series? A standalone is a book that stands on its own,
it tells a story from conception to completion in a single book. A series is a group of books that
come together to tell a longer and more complex story. Both of these formats are engaging and
entertaining to read, and neither is superior to the other. But from a writer's perspective,
there are pros and cons to each format, which makes it difficult to choose one from the other.
That's where I come in. Per usual I am breaking down the ten things you need to consider before
you choose your next writing format, standalone or series.
Please note, these tips are not hard and fast rules. No one is holdin' a gun to your head.
"If you're writing sci-fi it has to be a series! Or else!"
Use this list as a general guide. The point is to get a better idea of which format may
be better suited for you. But I'm gonna ask you to pay extra close attention to points nine and ten,
because they are extremely important and extremely overlooked. Let's get into it. ​​
(The sound of a pen scratching. LOGO)
Before we dive in, don't forget to subscribe to my channel. I post new
videos on Wednesdays and if you wanna be alerted as SOON as I upload, ring that bell. We cover
so much interesting and amazing and awesome stuff here. So I don't know why you wouldn't wanna
subscribe and ring the bell, I know you do. I know it's tempting. Just come to the cyborg side, come
join me. We have fun here. The Savior's Champion and The Savior’s Sister are available in ebook,
paperback, hardback and audiobooks. So if you like yourself some fantasy, you like yourself some
romance, and you love a good book series. Hello, check it out right now. I've got it linked below.
I'll love you for it. Onto the topic. Today's video was requested by one of my patients over
on Patreon, Laurine Bruder. Laurine is interested in releasing her debut book and she wants to know,
should I start with a standalone or should I start with a series, which is a question
so many writers have. I'm happy to answer it and I'm going to do just that right now.
Number One (1): Is this your debut novel? Your debut is usually the hardest book you're going to write.
Some claim the hardest is the sequel, but they're wrong. Your debut is a challenge because it's your
very first book. You're diving into uncharted territory, you're taking on a monumental task
for possibly the first time. On top of that, there's a lot of uncertainty around your debut.
Are people gonna like the book? Hell, is anyone even gonna buy the book? Lastly, the debut is
an exploration. It's the catalyst that helps you determine your voice, your style, and what you'd
like to write in the future. Sometimes people write their debut and then realize that's not
exactly the kind of fiction they wanna to write overall throughout their career. All this to say
it's greatly recommended to begin your publishing career with a standalone. Some of the pressure of
writing a debut is lessened with a standalone because it's less overwhelming. Additionally,
if your debut tanks, that's less of a disaster with a standalone. You're not tied to a series,
so you can shake away the rubble and begin anew. And lastly, if you discover that the voice in
your debut is not really one you wanna continue, you're not locked down to a series where you have
to replicate that voice throughout. Number Two (2): Are you looking for a traditional publisher?
If you're hoping to land a traditional publishing contract for the first time,
standalones are typically considered a safer option. If this is your debut novel, or
you've published independently with little to no success. You're walking into the query processing
aka publishers are going to see you as a potential risk. That’s not to say you won’t get signed,
but the fact is you have zero proof of profit or marketability, thus opening with a standalone
tends to soften the blow a bit. The reason is what I already mentioned. If your book tanks the
publisher isn't tied to a series, they don't have to risk more money on an author who isn't giving
them results. All that to say, if this is your first go at traditional publishing and you’re not
a household name, then going in it with a standalone is considered the pragmatic option.
Number Three (3): Are you tryin’ to make money? This seems like a dumb question. Most writers
are trying to make money, right? That said, some writing journeys make cashing those checks a whole
lot easier. To put it simply, you have better odds of making money with a series because there
are more books in a series. Say you publish book one and it does well, you’ve attracted attention
and acquired an audience. This means you have a guaranteed audience for the sequel, and the next
sequel and the spinoff, and the prequel. This is why so many pros encourage writing a series.
They have better odds of marketing longevity because you have so many books that you can
throw at an eager audience. That’s not to say that standalones don't sell well, but if readers loved
your characters in book one, that does not really help a lot when selling book two, because it’s not
going to feature those characters. A series on the other hand continues a story that readers love and
lets you milk it for all it’s worth. Number Four (4): Is the series even doable? A lot of writer’s
learn about point three and say “That’s it, I’m writing a series.” But that doesn't work if the
story is literally incapable of being a series. Every book requires a structure. This includes an
inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. This is what makes a whole
and complete plot. And even if you’re writing a series, every book in that series needs its own
whole and complete plot. You can't get away with releasing a series about a story that cannot be
broken down into multiple plots. Your sequels will essentially be filler, and readers will
read you to filth. Be realistic about whether the story you wanna tell is even capable of being
stretched into a series. If you can't create a complete plot for more than one book, just accept
that this story is better set as a stand alone. Number Five (5): What are your genre expectations?
Certain genres lend themselves to series, while others lend themselves to standalones. Sci-fi and
fantasy are two genres that lend themselves really well to series, because they typically involve a
lot of complex moving parts, and some traveling or journeys. It may make sense for these adventures
to be broken down into smaller individual plots, because it might be too much content to contain
in one book. Then there are genres like mystery or romance, that lend themselves really well to
standalones. In a mystery novel, the story ends when the mystery is solved, and the mystery is
solved at the end of the book. Additionally, a romance ends with a happily ever after,
and that happens also at the end of the book. A sequel to that would just be the day in the life
of the happy couple, which as we already covered is filler. Of course there are exceptions. I'm
sure you can think of plenty of sci-fi and fantasy standalones, and romance series absolutely exist,
especially when it comes to fantasy romance. But understanding your genre expectations is helpful
when deciding which format you wanna go with. Which brings us to Number Six (6): What about
episodic possibilities? Say you really, really wanna write a series, but your genre isn't exactly
built for it. Fear not oh dutiful writer, because episodic series exist. The standard series, where
a bunch of books come together to illustrate one long, all encompassing. However, in an episodic
series, each book is its own unique story. For example, in a mystery series, each book could
illustrate its own case, all solved by the same detective. Book one is, Detective Buttercup and
the case of the Mysterious Doorbell Ringer. Book two is, Detective Buttercup and the case of the
Missing Sock. Spoiler, she was the thief the whole time! The same can be done with the romance genre.
Maybe the episodic series revolves around a group of friends, and each book features one of those
friends falling in love. This is extremely common in lots of genres. Just make sure that that is
one common link between all the books within that series. In the first example the common link was
Detective Buttercup, and in the second example it was the group of friends. Again, you are by
no means required to write a series, but if that is your goal it is definitely possible even in
genres that don’t really lend itself well to the series format. Number Seven (7): Are you trying to
create a backlist? A backlist is a list of books you’ve previously published. Having a backlist
is great because the more books you publish, the more money you can make. If you release a book and
your readers absolutely love it, the first thing they're going to do is look to see if you have
any other books available. If you don’t have any. they might wait for your next book to come along
or they might forget about you completely. This is why a lot of writers strive to create a backlist
and there are several ways to do this. One is to write a series which as we already discussed has
extensive marketing benefits. The other is to write a bunch of standalones and throw
them online. This method is popular because as we already covered, standards are considered easier
to write. They don’t have complicated plots and subplots that take multiple books to complete.
Thus it may be quicker to create a backlist out of a bunch of shorter standalones versus one beefy
series. Number Eight (8): What are your readers passionate about? Just like certain genres are
better suited for particular story formats, it’s also common for certain formats to go on trend.
For example, I mentioned it briefly but fantasy romance is rife with long, thick series. See what
I did there? Similarly contemporary romance is a mixed bag. Episodic series are really common
among indie authors. Whereas standalones are really common among traditionally published,
contemporary romance authors. Paying attention to these trends will not only help you market
your work, it may be the determining factor in choosing your format. It'll be a lot easier to
promote your story if you know there's already an audience chomping at the bit for it. Number
Nine (9): What are you passionate about? This is probably the most important point on this list.
If you are absolutely obsessed with your fantasy world, and you wanna tell as many stories within
it as possible, then a series might be perfect for you. If you want the freedom to move to as many
new ideas as possible, then the standalone format might be a smart move. Despite what's marketable,
pragmatic or on trend, you are the one writing this book. You are the one putting in the physical
and emotional labor to bring this story to light. So at the end of the day, you have to
be happy with the decision you've made. There is no point in dragging your feet to pump out a story
you don't give a shit about. You're just writing it because standalones are preferred for a debut,
or because series make more money. What the fuck ever. That's stupid. Passion bleeds through the
pages. So if you don't care about your story, readers will be able to tell. Write the story
you want to read, that at the end of the day should be your number one priority.
And Number Ten (10): What's the bottom line here? There's room for standalones and series;
they both have their strengths and weaknesses. You might need fitting multiple points on this list,
which may leave you confused. Maybe you're writing a debut, which is better suited for standalones
but you're writing a fantasy, which is ideal for a series. This is why point number nine is
so important. You want to make a logical business minded decision, but not at the expense of your
passion. This is not to say you should throw logic to the wind and release a completely purposeless,
unreadable pile of trash just ‘cuz you wanna. The point is no matter which route you take,
there are going to be benefits and pitfalls. No business decision is 100% infallible. That's
why it's important to educate yourself on your options and couple the research and statistics
with your passion and joy. Choose the path that is best for both your business mind and
your artistic heart and you will be good to go. So that's all I got for you today. A huge thank you
to Laurine for requesting today's topic. If you'd like the chance to have a video dedicated to you,
or if you want access to tons of other rewards, check me out on Patreon. We've got early access
to videos, we have a monthly live stream, there’s signed books, there's an exclusive writing group.
I have it linked below, definitely check it out. Don't forget to subscribe to my
channel. I post new videos on Wednesdays, and if you wanna be alerted as SOON as I upload,
ring that bell. The Savior's Champion and The Savior’s Sister are available in ebook, paperback,
hardback and audiobooks. So if you want yourself a dark fantasy romance series that has tons
of bloodshed, and swoonworthy characters, check it out. It's linked below. And be sure to follow
me on social media. I’m on Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook and BookBub.
And of course you can tweet me @JennaMoreci! Bye!
Confident Female Voice) It’s Delphi
Get off your lazy bum and subscribe to Jenna's channel! Ring the bell while you're at it!
I know you were thinking about it already. I see it in your eyes…Come on, live a little. Subscribe!