Good books on writing series?

[Vidya]

A friend recommend this to me:

https://wmg-publishing-workshops-and-lectures.teachable.com/p/writing-series-classic-workshop

but it’s pricey, plus I don't love watching videos. Has anyone else tried it? Is it really worth it?

I’d prefer to read some good books on writing series. Does anyone have any recommendations? Thanks!

[She-la-te-da]

I haven't heard of any books specifically for writing series. Maybe Chris Fox has done one? You should be able to find a few websites that talk about series writing, I know I've come across some a while back. I looked through my bookmarks and didn't see any (I've got a few things for serials, which aren't really the same thing in most ways).

Edit: Just did a quick search, and no books came up, but several websites did that look interesting.

[angela]

I bought a book about writing a series (one of the few available) and the author talked a lot about her past issues changing publishers mid-series, etc., and didn't share a lot of information that was useful.

For me with my series, a big shift was when I got serious about a series bible where I noted everything about the characters, settings, etc., so I could go into detail on side characters and keep them consistent.

But I'm in no position to give advice, because my sell-through from book 1 to 2 and so forth isn't that amazing. Readers who stick become superfans, but I always lose a lot of people after my first in series.

The indie authors I've observed who have amazing sell-through from books 1-2 are actually the ones who split what I'd call one story into a trilogy. i.e. book 1 doesn't have a satisfying conclusion and doesn't stand alone. That will go against the advice most would give, about giving readers a complete book 1. Many of the indies who are selling buttloads of a trilogy just ignore that and split a story. FWIW.

[VanessaC]

Not a book, but I really like Rachel Aaron's series of blog posts on writing a series - first post here: http://thisblogisaploy.blogspot.com/2015/07/writing-wednesdays-how-to-plot-series.html

Lots of great stuff on her site. Always worth a look, IMHO.

Rachel Aaron talks about "closed" series - i.e. there's an overall arc to the series, and there's a definite end point.  At the moment, this suits me better than an "open" series which doesn't necessarily have an end point.