How Many Series Do You Write At One Time?

[writeway]

I know some write multiple series at once. I am currently writing two at the same time, and I've never written two at a time before. One has already started releasing and the other releases next year, and I already have 3 on preorder for that one. One is romance and the other is erotica. I plan to do more series but don't wanna put too much on my plate. I have ideas for some spinoff series and then some that are not connected to these current ones at all. I know some authors write several series at one time but many also write more than one book at the same time it seems. I don't write more than one book at once. I'm a fast writer but I write one book and then move to the next. I can't write multiple books at once. Doesn't feel natural to me and it throws me off balance and I get plots confused, etc. So I could handle doing another series now since I won't be working on each installment at the same time but I still don't wanna get to where I end up burnout for taking on too many projects at a time. So i am debating when to start another series

Anyway, was curious how you guys do it. Do you do multiple series at a time or just finish one series and focus on another after that?

Happy Writing!

[idontknowyet]

I write all in 1 universe so this might not be quite the same.

Overall within that universe i've started writing 16 different series. I'm actively working on 4 different series. Of that readers only see me working on 1 at a time, because as a reader i want the next book NOW. 

[TimothyEllis]

I've had 3 going at once, but I don't like doing that.

One of the authors I read has been doing four series at once, alternating. So while he brings out a book every month, it's still four months between books in each series, and that's very annoying for me. Especially since 3 of the current series I've not been reading. I'm losing touch with his releases now as a result and the danger is, when the next book I want comes out, I won't notice it.

I've alternated 2 series, but in the same timeline.

In the 2 series I'm doing now, one is at book 5, with one planned book left to do. The other is releasing book 6 this weekend, and I'll be writing the next 3 back to back before going back to book 6 of the other series. But the only reason that one is not scheduled sooner is because it needs some time to elapse, and what happens now for a bit is boring. So the other series fills in the time.

Regardless, the recommended reading order is the order I write them in.

But having done alternating before, I'm happier doing trilogies in a series instead. Then changing series.

[cecilia_writer]

I've got 3 ongoing series and one that's complete (as far as I know). One of the series is in a completely different genre (it's sort of divided itself in two  but stayed in the same world) and the other two are in the same genre but not at all connected.

[alhawke]

Two at a time. I really only work on one, but when my book is in the hands of beta readers or editors, I work on another. The lulls between manuscript have to be filled with other projects 'cause I'm least happy when I have nothing is going on. No projects make me crazy.

I try to switch off with either different series or different standalone books. Different projects keep me going and avoid burnout.

Don't you guys get sick of the same characters? I do. I get that readers want to binge and read more and more, but we can't write that fast; even for those of us who are prolific. I, personally, need breaks from characters or worlds.

[cecilia_writer]

Yes - my readers would like me to write in the same series all the time - it's reached 25 books now so I have given in to them slightly - but I do need to write something different in between the books in that series.

[Crystal]

I've played with alternating series and sticking with one series and I really prefer writing one series at a time.

But that is assuming a short to medium sized series. Once a series gets past 4-5 book, I need to take a break and work on something else before I head to book 6+.

[Bill Hiatt]

The early part of my career was all one series. I started a second one because I wanted to be able to submit a book 1 (rather than book 7) to Amazon's brief experiment in crowdsourced publishing decisions, Kindle Scout. Then I tried again with another book 1 (so two series going).

I'd had moment where I was alternated among three series, but two is more typical for me.

[Writer]

Two series at once is usually all the juggling my memory can handle.

[LilyBLily]

I guess I've had three or four series going at one time, but usually I was only working actively on one of them and the others were on the back burner.

At present I have two finished series; I don't expect to go back to them. I thought I'd finished the third, but I keep coming up with new characters and situations that would fit into that world, so the current one is Book #8. Yikes. I may have finished the fourth series at four books, but I'm thinking very seriously about doing major surgery on the last one in the series and publishing a fifth book with the deleted scenes plus possibly a whole lot more. It'll be a sequel featuring the same main characters as before.

But first, the next NaNoWriMo novel.

[TimothyEllis]

Two at a time. I really only work on one, but when my book is in the hands of beta readers or editors, I work on another. The lulls between manuscript have to be filled with other projects 'cause I'm least happy when I have nothing is going on. No projects make me crazy.

I don't do lulls.

When a book goes into proofing, the next writing session starts the next book.

By the time the book in proofing is released, I can be 15-20k into the next book.

I've got the covers up for the next 3 books, and we're doing the model for a ship for the 4th at the moment as well.

Lull isn't a word for me. 

[Hopscotch]

The lulls between manuscript have to be filled with other projects 'cause I'm least happy when I have nothing is going on. No projects make me crazy.

Bingo!  Btw projects, I sink into wild depression and consider, oh, blowing bugles from the rooftop at midnight to relieve the misery and annoy neighbors and police.  That's why I try to keep several mss running at once - when I run out of steam on one, I jump to another.  Saves wear on the bugle valves.  (If you think I'm kidding, then you don't live on my street.)

[sliderule]

I try to switch off with either different series or different standalone books. Different projects keep me going and avoid burnout.

Don't you guys get sick of the same characters? I do. I get that readers want to binge and read more and more, but we can't write that fast; even for those of us who are prolific. I, personally, need breaks from characters or worlds.

Same. I don't write two series in the same world, because I will get things confused. But I write different genres so it's not as likely I'll mix things up.

[Bill Hiatt]

Same. I don't write two series in the same world, because I will get things confused. But I write different genres so it's not as likely I'll mix things up.

Interesting! All but one of my series are in the same world. I don't get exactly things confused, but I do increasingly find myself having to look things up in the earlier books, to make sure I haven't gotten some detail, like the hair color of a minor character, wrong.

I suppose someone with a series bible (as in TV) wouldn't have that problem, but I've never been that organized.

[TimothyEllis]

Same. I don't write two series in the same world, because I will get things confused. But I write different genres so it's not as likely I'll mix things up.

Interesting! All but one of my series are in the same world. I don't get exactly things confused, but I do increasingly find myself having to look things up in the earlier books, to make sure I haven't gotten some detail, like the hair color of a minor character, wrong.

I suppose someone with a series bible (as in TV) wouldn't have that problem, but I've never been that organized.

I'm the same.

I got to the point with 2 of my series, that I put them all in 1 document so I could search them effectively. I got sick of trying to remember in which book I did or said something.

And I have a notes file. It just doesn't answer all questions.

[alhawke]

Interesting! All but one of my series are in the same world. I don't get exactly things confused, but I do increasingly find myself having to look things up in the earlier books, to make sure I haven't gotten some detail, like the hair color of a minor character, wrong.

Yeah, I'd argue it's sometimes easier to create totally new characters and new settings than matching characteristics from older books. I get lazy and prefer not to look back, but when writing sequels, I do the work because I feel like I owe it to my readers. This is why I really dread bringing back older books. I don't think readers realize we can't always recall stuff that happens from our own old books. It's a big reader complaint I often hear (fortunately, not my books in particular). A lot of writers don't match series books well with characters, particularly supporting ones, and they can come across as different people.

I got to the point with 2 of my series, that I put them all in 1 document so I could search them effectively. I got sick of trying to remember in which book I did or said something.

That's super organized. I don't jot this stuff down.

[TimothyEllis]

I got to the point with 2 of my series, that I put them all in 1 document so I could search them effectively. I got sick of trying to remember in which book I did or said something.

That's super organized. I don't jot this stuff down.

Not super, just semi. I take notes as I write, of new characters, what chapter a day clocks over in, and stuff. That gets copied into the notes file, and a master timeline is updated with the start day and end day of each book. I also track when various key days fall. Such as the next major one is Valentines day. Not sure yet who will be narrating that one. It will be my third (I think).

[cecilia_writer]

Part of my editing process is to write a chapter outline and establish what day of the week each  event happens on! I am hopeless at working it out as I go along.

[Post-Doctorate D]

I don't think readers realize we can't always recall stuff that happens from our own old books.

May depend on age of author vs. reader or both.

I used to remember characters and actions far better than I do now.  There are still scenes that are so embedded in my memory that I've thought for certain I had written them but then check and discover I hadn't.  Thus, I find old, incomplete stories that I thought were further along because I remembered so many scenes and events from the stories, but then discover all that was in my head and not written down.  That's bad when I come to stories I hadn't finished and had only very basic notes for because I figured I would remember the rest.  Nope.

So, years ago, yep, I'd remember lots of stuff.  Perhaps everything.  Now, I've done stuff like change a character's name halfway through a book because, oops, I thought that was the name I'd been using.  Or, I'll come up with a great new story idea and neglect to write it down because how could I forget such a great idea?  Then a couple days later, I'm like, I need to write that down and I go to write it down and it's like, um, what was that idea again?

[writeway]

Thanks for sharing all! I think I'm gonna stick with just these two series for now. I don't wanna get bogged down and I can do things now at a comfortable pace. I'll start more series when I've gotten these others off the ground more. Since these are new series releasing I need to put all my time and effort into them. Once I get a good amount of books out for these I'll look into doing more series down the line. Loved hearing about your guys' process!