Lifespan of a Series.

[guest819]

I'm really pleased with the sales of my series this year on top of the previous four years I think the whole series has earned me a good living. However, after four Bookbubs on the four books in the last 12 months I'm thinking of giving it a rest for a couple of years until new readers come along to make it worth the effort and cost.

If I choose to do this it means I'm going to have to seriously finish the other three series I have in the works to make any headway in 2019. I can't think of any other way without seeing the law of diminishing returns apply. What's your take?

[Simon Haynes]

After 19 years and 8 books in the same series I decided to branch out for a bit. I started, and then finished, two new series. Now I'm back to writing book nine in the original series.

They all seem to do the same, sales-wise, so I'm not missing out on income by writing more of the same.

[Amanda M. Lee]

It depends. Genre expectations are key. In cozy mystery, for example, readers want long series. In UF, not as much and there are diminishing returns after book three. You have to know your audience. I'm a firm believer that the more series the better for entry points. However, it's a balancing act. You still have to feed the beast.

[David VanDyke]

What Amanda said.

[angela]

... You still have to feed the beast.

I MUST FEED THE BEAST -- is my new slogan. :-)

[Morgan Cole]

It depends. Genre expectations are key. In cozy mystery, for example, readers want long series. In UF, not as much and there are diminishing returns after book three. You have to know your audience. I'm a firm believer that the more series the better for entry points. However, it's a balancing act. You still have to feed the beast.

Not sure that's true as a rule. How many Dresden Files are there? Not enough, in my opinion.

[Rick Partlow]

I haven't been able to stretch a series out longer than four books.  Just prefer a goal they can reach in a reasonable time and then end them.  I get around that by setting a lot of my books in the same universe and using characters from one series in another.

[angela]

My theory is there's a dip then a lift.

Many people agree 5 books is a good length and interest dips at book 6. I found my launches after book 6 were smaller. The rank didn't hit as high. However, it was only after 6 books that I noticed new releases had a positive effect on earlier books. Not enough to make up for the loss of the earlier books getting old, being pushed down by algorithms, and having exhausted their niche audience, but enough that I could see how carrying on to book 20 might not be so crazy.

My fans might not like this other theory I have, but here goes: trad-pub might be onto something with their 1 book per year (per series) release schedule. If someone binges through your books in a week, those characters aren't going to set up permanent residence in their heads the way they would if the books were meted out one per year. The brain doesn't retain crammed information the way it does information that's repeated and reviewed over time.

[AnneRTan]

My fans might not like this other theory I have, but here goes: trad-pub might be onto something with their 1 book per year (per series) release schedule. If someone binges through your books in a week, those characters aren't going to set up permanent residence in their heads the way they would if the books were meted out one per year. The brain doesn't retain crammed information the way it does information that's repeated and reviewed over time.

I believe this is true. When you binge, it’s not as satisfying as when you have time between books to think about the characters and build up anticipation for the next book. As an avid reader myself, I might binge in a particular series for 3-4 books back to back, but then I need to move onto another series to cleanse my palate. Sometimes I might not come back to a series for a year or two because in mystery, 20+ books series are not unusual.

[Amanda M. Lee]

My theory is there's a dip then a lift.

Many people agree 5 books is a good length and interest dips at book 6. I found my launches after book 6 were smaller. The rank didn't hit as high. However, it was only after 6 books that I noticed new releases had a positive effect on earlier books. Not enough to make up for the loss of the earlier books getting old, being pushed down by algorithms, and having exhausted their niche audience, but enough that I could see how carrying on to book 20 might not be so crazy.

My fans might not like this other theory I have, but here goes: trad-pub might be onto something with their 1 book per year (per series) release schedule. If someone binges through your books in a week, those characters aren't going to set up permanent residence in their heads the way they would if the books were meted out one per year. The brain doesn't retain crammed information the way it does information that's repeated and reviewed over time.

Honestly, in about half my series, each new book debuts higher than the previous. That includes series that have well more than five books. I pay close attention to my series but my minimum is nine books before I end something because I've found that's the sweet spot for complete read through for a series that doesn't quite hit the highs I want to keep it going. I have about 16 different series to play with right now and the one thing I've found under both names that long series can keep growing with releases for a really long time. I'm about to launch the 13th book in my most popular series and I bet it hits in the top 40 (probably top 20) of the entire store. The last book in another series, which was probably my second most popular series, topped out at 39 with the last book and the first book in the spinoff series, which launched two weeks later, hit 27 (although it was on a slow day in the store).