Double or Nothing

One of the first things that those in the business want to know when you submit a novel to them these days is, "Is this a standalone book or is it part of a series?"

This is less so if your book's of a particularly literary quality though. It's as if it's all right for those high-brow works to be one-offs but if you've written a mass-consumption tale, an easy airport read or a story for children, teens or young adults then these will only be picked up by publishers or agents if they show potential to be an on-going money-spinner. It used to be the realm of bad sci-fi but now it seems that every new novel that isn't in the running for the Man Booker Prize has to be part of a trilogy or a seemingly never-ending series.  It can work out really well - Mario Puzo's 'Godfather' novels, 'A Song of Fire and Ice' by George R. R. Martin, even E. L. James's 'Shades of Grey' trilogy have all been massive sellers and rightly so. They all captured something of the times in which they were written (for good or bad) and presented it in a way that huge sections of the reading public wanted. But for every 'Harry Potter', 'Brother Cadfael' or 'Biggles' there are a hundred remainder bins clogged with "a rollicking comedic space opera… volume five".

It makes perfect sense, of course. If your paying reader likes your novel and forms an attachment with the characters that you've slaved long and hard over then naturally they'll want to read more of their adventures. And from a publisher's point of view there's a lot less risk involved in printing and publicising a novel if the author is  already a proven seller and can be signed up to provide five, six, seven books in the same vein. It's simply good economics to milk that cash cow until it squeaks.

But, like a soap-opera actor moaning about becoming type-cast, does a successful trilogy or series stifle an author's creativity? Does it restrict them to one genre, one core set of characters and basic premise? Sir Arthur Conan Doyle famously said, "If, in 100 years, I am known only as the man who created Sherlock Holmes, I shall consider my life a failure."

Of course, sales are all-important. However much writers might assert that we need artistic fulfilment, we need food, liquid and a roof over our heads even more which is why, even though my first novel isn't even available for purchase through Amazon yet, I'm already working on the sequel. And I've got a file full of notes about a potential third book in what may yet become a never-ending series.

Never let it be said that I don't give my public what they want. As long as what they want is easy, brainless page-turners.

© Shaun Finnie 2013