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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/31342
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/31342
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

It's a balance. When readers look forward to the next book in a series, they're looking for an experience that's both new, _and_ similar to the previous installments. That's a tough line to toe -- and you're never going to keep _all_ readers happy.

Some thoughts and observations:

## Start By Writing A Book, Not A Series

It's easy to get swept away by the thought of a grand epic and the awesome gradual progression you'll have through the series. But never lose sight of the fact that **your first book has to be awesome** , or there might not _be_ a second book.

It needs to work, and be gripping, and stand on its own right -- without the promise of "oh if you keep reading, then by Volume IV it starts getting _really good_." And if the book stands on its own, it doesn't _matter_ where the rest of the series goes -- you've got at least one awesome book to sell!

What's more, you need to **keep doing this**. You want your second book to be awesome too, not just coast on the momentum of the first. And so on. If you are capable of keeping this up, you will have a series of worthwhile books. Maybe they'll appeal to different audiences. Maybe this will be a hard series to sell. But if you work to make each book good in its own right, there are plenty of readers who will appreciate that and be willing to follow you.

## Make The Right Promises

If your series is going to be full of cataclysmic events and changes, _that's fine_. That probably means you need to take care that your subsequent book doesn't look like "Like the previous book, but a new storyline"; instead, you're aiming for "See what happens next after that last earth-shattering volume!"

If you're truly _capable_ of making such huge changes to the world on a regular basis, and write stories that _reflect_ those changes, that's _awesome_. It just means you need to be clear, in your writing -- set up the right expectations; make the right promises. For example, maybe don't start out with grizzled adventurers, veterans of a dozen quests and known as heroes -- that might make your setting feel like one where one adventure is pretty much like the other. If instead, you focus on, say, somebody who realizes there's a huge threat and _nothing will be the same again_, then you'll be promising the "right" kind of story, and drawing in readers who _want_ to see a world reshaped.

## Establish the Pattern Immediately

If your books are going to be all different from one another, make that clear _from the very second book_. Don't write, say, a fairly-consistent trilogy, and _then_ try to shift -- readers will have gotten used to your world and style as being _consistent_.

Instead, make sure the second book demonstrates how you're going to be varying things from story to story. Yes, you'll lose _some_ readers, who don't want to go from an epic fantasy into SF. But anybody who _is_ willing to make that leap should know upfront what he's getting into (and, that might be exactly what those readers might really love!)

So, **demonstrate how far you're willing to jump,** as early as you can. Change the genre, the characters, the style. Change _is_ the style. _DO_ keep some clear links and common elements; have the second story be a clear offshoot of the first -- but make very certain it doesn't feel _the same_, because "the same" isn't what you want to do.

* * *

It's not easy. Formula and repetition are easier. But if variety is what you want, then 100%, go for it :D

Original score: 2