One of the great debates in writing is stand-alone vs. a series. There plenty of cases for both but I definitely have a preference. But before we get to that, let’s talk about the difference because it isn’t as cut and dry as it might seem. (And admittedly the pros and cons are my own opinions and not solid fact.)
Straight Stand-Alone
The entire world that is created in the author’s mind, begins and ends in this one story.
PROS: A sense of completion at the end of the book. These books are usually fully satisfying and they wrap up all loose ends – at least, as much as the author intends them to be wrapped up. Books like Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers take this approach and had been very successful.
CON: When I read a standalone by the author I am not compelled and rarely tempted to grab another book by them. (Redeeming Love is the only book I ever read by Francine Rivers – I know it is a tragedy and I expect comments below on how I need to change this.) But the stand-alone story is complete and picking up another book by the author would be meeting all-new characters so in my opinion, why not try a new author. Many people disagree with me on this point. Many readers will find a voice that they enjoy and search for more of that author. That does happen for me on occasion but more often than not, I skip to another author. If I really enjoyed the book I will eventually circle back to that author, but not before trying a few new ones.
Stand Alone with Connecting Characters (Some time called anthology series)
These are books that are a complete story but are connected to another story by the setting, or the characters. They can be read out of order but more satisfying if read in order.
PROS: You end the book with a satisfying ending yet also tease the reader with people they want to know more about. This works well in romance. You can button up one romance while giving the reader hints of other characters they want to know and come back for.
CONS: Some people don’t like to have to wait for the next book so they won’t start the story until they can binge them all. (I fall into this category – I just love connected stories but want to read them one after the other and not wait.) Another con is when writing them, you have to keep true to the town and people you created in the first book. My books fall into this category and you have no idea how many times I have written something in the third book only to have to change it based on what happened in a previous book. For example, in my second book, someone announces they are pregnant. Yay! But I realized the other day that would mean the baby is born in the third book. I can’t very well ignore the event since it is my heroine’s sister who is having the baby. Now I need to tweak the scenes to accommodate a niece. It gets complicated and can feel a bit claustrophobic as a writer.
Series
There are two other types: Dynamic and Static.
Static refers to like Sherlock Holmes but I am not going to touch on those for sake space.
Dynamic: These follow the same character or group throughout the series as they try to accomplish a large goal. Think of this type of series as an epic story taking place over multiple books – it’s more like a mini-series or set of movies.
This category I personally divide into two categories and I will deal with them each separately.
Dynamic Series Category One:
Each book has its own arc and a semi-satisfying ending in the midst of the larger story.
PRO: The author can tell a large story that is too big to be contained in a single book. They are able to deal with big moral and life questions because they can cover more time and space. And once the reader picks up the first they are compelled to find out what happens next. Think of Harry Potter. Each book wrapped up its story but the reader was compelled to find out what happened next.
CONS: It can be rather intimidating to series to start. The reader isn’t committing to reading a book but a series and some readers won’t devote that much time unless they have faith n the author ahead of time. Many readers may also not want to pick up the first until the last is available. Binge reading is a thing but can slow initial sales. It is also the recipe for gaining a cult following and those readers to develop very strong opinions on how the series should end. (especially if the there is a large gap between the releases) if you don’t give them the satisfying ending they want they will crucify the author on social media.)
Dynamic Series Category Two:
A series that leave a cliff hanger at the end of each book. These are books that could be all one book if you had a binding that was big enough. They leave the reader turning the page and expecting more.
PROS: If it is a good enough writer the reader will be compelled to find the rest of the story and it is a sure sale to the second book.
CONS: Leaving the reader without at least a glimpse of a satisfying ending may make them lose faith in the author and give up before the series is done.
So what do I prefer? Probably Stand atones with connecting characters or Dynamic Series Category One. Cliffhangers kill me. That is actually what inspired this post as I was watching a new show the other day and the seasoned ended with a terrible cliffhanger. Ahhh. How could they do that do me?
What other PROS and CONS do you see in each category?
What Secrets Are Hiding Behind the Doors of this Small Town?
Real estate agent Hannah Thornton loves the historic community of Heritage, Michigan. Unfortunately, selling houses is not one of her fortes. She sees each house and the larger town of Heritage as something to be valued, not sold-off to the highest bidder. When a business mogul arrives in town determined to exploit the land and build a new strip mall, Hannah is determined to stop him from bulldozing her town’s past. At first no one supports her efforts—not even her best friend, Luke. Can Hannah help the town of Heritage see that true value lies in the things you cannot put a price tag on?
Even though Luke Johnson has grown up in Heritage as a foster child, he never truly felt like he belonged. Anxious to earn his place in the town and in Hannah’s heart, Luke applies for the job of assistant fire chief. But Luke does not anticipate the interview process to unearth secrets from his past he has kept carefully hidden. Will the pain of being honest be worth the risk? Can he pull down the walls he’s erected around his bruised heart?
Tari Faris has been writing fiction for thirteen years but has been creating fiction in her head as long as she can remember. She signed with Revell for her debut novel – You Belong with Me – which will be released in September 2019. She is represented by Wendy Lawton at Books & Such Literary Management and is a member of ACFW and My Book Therapy. She was the 2017 Genesis winner, 2016 Genesis finalist, and 2014 Genesis finalist. In addition to her writing, she also works for My Book Therapy as a special project manager and blog coordinator for LearnHowToWriteANovel.com . When she is not writing or working, she spends time with her amazing husband and kids. In her free time, she loves coffee, rock hounding with her husband and kids, and distracting herself from housework. You can connect with her at www.tarifaris.com