You all send in so many great questions, we thought it might be fun to start answering them on the blog, because let’s face it. If you have a question, odds are someone else has the same question. So, looking at some of the incoming emails, I thought this question was a good one on a topic we haven’t discussed much on the blog. I also thought it would be good to discuss it because the answer is likely not what you might expect. The question comes to us from Jessica, and she asks:
I’m writing a series and I got the first book done and ready to be published, but when you don’t have a deadline, and I’m self publishing, how long should I wait till I publish book 2? Should I wait until after the first book has been out for a while to publish the second?
In the traditional publishing world, books in a series often release one year apart until the series is complete. I have seen books release much slower as the publisher waits for the author to finish writing the next book. And I’ve experience for myself a much quicker release of nine months between each book when my Safe Lands trilogy came out.
That’s how it works with traditional houses. Publishers need to have time in between book releases to prepare for the next one. They have a system that has proven to work, and they stand by it. One book releases, then they start working towards the next in that series.
The world of self-publishing, however, can be quite different. First let me say, there is no right way or wrong way with self-publishing because the beauty of being your own publisher is that you get to choose! Still, allow me to share some of what I’ve learned from my own endeavors and those of my indie-published friends.
Contrary to traditional publishing, there is no need for a book to get in line with all the other books releasing that season. Sure, indie authors can release their serialized books one per year. The problem is that indie authors don’t have the help of a publishing house to build buzz, get reviews, and promote several months ahead to bookstores and libraries. So when indie authors pour a lot of money into promoting their first book in a series, it’s often best if they can publish the next book in that series very quickly after the first. Why? Because if a reader loves book one and gets hooked, that reader can pre-order book two the moment she finishes reading, while the book is still fresh in her mind. If book two doesn’t come out for a year or more, it’s likely the reader will lose readers, and the author will have to invest more money into finding them again when book two comes out.
I have several indie author friends, and most of them either publish their books regularly six months (or fewer!) apart, or they write (and have edited) the first two or three books in the series, so that they’re complete and ready to go. Then they stagger the releases, maybe a month apart. Some authors even release the first two books at once with the third to follow a month later. Then if there is a book four, it can be promoted at the end of book three, and it might be scheduled to release a bit later because after three books, if readers are sticking around for all three, they’re likely going to stay for the duration.
Why release those first two or three books so close? Authors do this for the reason I already talked about of not losing readers and/or word-of-mouth momentum, but they also do this because indie readers read differently from traditional readers. People who binge read indie books that are primarily sold on Amazon Kindle look for long series that are already out that they can read, read, read without having to wait. They do NOT want to wait for your next book. They want it yesterday. So if you self-publish a book one without any mention of when book two is coming, you risk either losing the sale for book one up front or losing that reader and having to promote to them again when book two comes out. (And just to clear up any questions, I’m talking ebook sales here. Print books don’t make a lot of money for indie authors. Around 70-80 percent of self-published fiction is sold in ebook formats.)
All that to say, if it’s possible, my advice is to publish sequels as quickly as you can. That’s not to say you can’t find success by publishing the book you have ready while you write book two. You certainly can do it that way, and many people do. In fact, if you have no idea when you might get book two done, publishing book one now is the way to go. That way you’ll have something to promote and get in the hands of readers and work on building an audience now, rather than to wait a year or more until you to finish the sequel. Just know that there will be readers who will wait to buy until the series is fully published, you won’t be able to build the momentum with such long gaps in between book releases, and you might end up investing more for advertising and marketing purposes in the long run than if you were able to release the books more quickly.
I hope that answers your question, Jessica. How about the rest of you? Do you have any questions on this topic? Any insight to add? Share in the comments!
Jill Williamson is a chocolate loving, daydreaming, creator of kingdoms, and the author of several young adult fantasy novels including the Blood of Kings trilogy. She loves teaching about writing. She blogs at goteenwriters.com and also posts writing videos on her YouTube channel and on Instagram. Jill is a Whovian, a Photoshop addict, and a recovering fashion design assistant. She grew up in Alaska without running water or electricity and now lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and two kids. Find Jill online at jillwilliamson.com or on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.
I’m still working on polishing the first novel in what I hope will be a trilogy, but I’m planning to self-publish soon so this is really interesting! I’d never even thought to ask this question, but I’m glad to know the answer. Thank you for posting!
You’re welcome, Jerah. Whatever you choose, it’s good to understand the pros and cons of both sides and go forward with a solid plan.
Thanks so much for answering my question Mrs. Williamson! I’ve learned a lot from the post, and the people commenting too! 😀 I’m hopefully going to be publishing my book Evidence for Angels soon, and I’m already working on book two. And, as if I’m not crazy enough, I’m also about to publish a shorter book that will be turned into a trilogy, called the Assassin’s Remorse. Again, thank you for the help. 🙂 I love reading your blog posts. 😀
You’re welcome, Jessica! Thank YOU for the great question. Congrats on finishing your first book and working in book two! You’ve done so much hard work, and that is amazing. So exciting!
You’re welcome. 🙂 And thanks. 😀
I’ve actually self published two books in a series so far (the final book in the trilogy is written, but in the middle of a major edit/rewrite). The first two ended up being about eighteen months apart. If you can publish them closer together, it’s great, but unless you already have a following built the sales aren’t going to sky rocket enough that it will be a huge issue. For me, I decided to spend a majority of my time on the actual writing before they are all done. When they are all done and published, I’ll turn my attention to promotion more. There are some perks to publishing before you finish them all. One is once you have published one, you’ve made a public commitment and you are less likely to be tempted to drop it. The second is, you can be completely done with a book and you aren’t as tempted to go back and endlessly edit. If you do publish far apart though, have a website and email list or a Facebook page where people who read your book can follow your progress with future books or where you can post other things to keep people from forgetting you.
This is great, Katiemarie. Thanks so much for sharing your perspective on this. Public commitment can be a very powerful motivator!
I have a friend that indie published a series of seven novellas within weeks of each other. Doing that built faster reader rapport. The more someone reads about our characters, the more they (hopefully) grow to love them, which in turn leads to more word of mouth about the books.
Having more than one ready for publication also helps with marketing incentives. Whether that’s offering the first in the series as a free ebook to draw readers in, or giving discounts for bundle buys.
Wow, seven! I’m impressed. Great points, Samantha. This is exactly the kind of stuff my indie friends are talking about. I think it is a great way to go if you are patient enough to save up those books and not release them! LOL I always get so excited to release my books. Another interesting idea would be to make a Goodreads page, then start offering ARC PDFs of book one while you continue to work on the series. That way you can start building up reviews and word of mouth while readers wait for the actually book release. I’ve noticed that happening more and more with traditional books. They release ebook ARCs early to get those Goodreads reviews.
Ooh, yes, another good idea! I know advanced reviews have influenced my own purchases, especially for an unknown author.
Very interesting … there’s one Indie author I love, but her books are so slow at releasing (I never know when the next book will come out, but that doesn’t keep me from hoping and waiting ;d
keturahskorner.blogspot.com
I’m glad you’re a faithful reader, Keturah! That is awesome. <3
This was very helpful, thank you!
Follow up question, if you don’t mind. 🙂 What if you’re self-publishing stand-alone books? Should you release them close together like you were saying about a series or does it not matter as much?
Allison, from what I hear from my indie author friends, standalones are another animal altogether. If your standalone books were similar in theme or style like how Melanie Dickerson’s books are all fairytale romances, then you could likely release them more quickly. Otherwise, if it were me, I would release them one at a time and promote them one at a time. That would be my advice because the quick-release idea is designed so that each book sets up the next one and draws readers to preorder that next title, which doesn’t work the same with a standalone. Anyone else have something different to add?
Thank you!