Standalone or Series?

Everyone I talk to I ask this question, and the usual consensus is that there isn't one answer. The Harry Potter books could not have been  just one stand alone novel--because it would be a BRICK! While Stephen King mainly writes stand alone novels.



I'm a series novelist--I have (let me count) planned 5 series which accumulates 27 books. I have planned all 27 books roughly, or outlined them--I lead a very indoorsy life, in fact I rarely go out. I planned 12 of those books when I was 14-16 and I was absolutely horrendous at writing, but I've grown a lot since then, both in maturity and in my writing style, and now that I am 18 I am going to write all of these (well, that's the plan anyway).



You might be asking, why have you planned so many series of books? Apart from staying indoors at all times, I like to make spider diagrams and brainstorm until the early hours of the morning (which I used to get told off about) and another reason why I like to plan and write them is because I'm no good at goodbyes and I did address how connected I am with my characters in an earlier post.



I also like reading series, they are my preferred choice--I like them because I know that when I've finished one book, I'm going to have another to read, whereas if it was a standalone novel I might want to read more of them, this is especially frustrating when you fall in love with a character, or absolutely hate a character and want to hate them some more .



I've enjoyed planning each of my series and so far I am enjoying writing them as well. I enjoy the character development that goes through the series and also the variety of characters that can be introduced.



And for all those people who are marketing savvy, writing a series is especially good because one book will lead to the next as one book alone out there might not sell as well, but that wasn't the slant I took on the different series when I was 14 because in all honesty I didn't have a clue about marketing and publicity. Now that I know, I'm sharing this little gem of information with you--so that's why I prefer series, both reading and writing!



-Joseph



Okay--Question time! From a writer's perspective, what do you prefer to write? And what do you prefer to read?