The Power of the Sequel
In the world of Hollywood sequels are often viewed with trepidation, at best. One of the finest examples that immediately leaps to my mind is Starship Troopers. Great book by Robert Heinlein and an entertaining movie – though without nearly the same thought-provoking impact of the book. But then they went and made a sequel. And after that they made ANOTHER sequel, both straight to DVD release. They sucked.
Other movie franchises have similar stories, but occasionally a few will shine. With books it is a different story (pun intended). People want more out of most novels. They want to know more about the characters and see how they might act / react in different situations. An author never has to worry about compensating an actor, the character belongs to him or her already. The world and character are already familiar for the author, it's just a matter of coming up with a new situation or expanding on an old one. Easy enough, right?
Sequels can be tricky, and that's if you're lucky. They can also be downright difficult to write. There's continuity to worry about with the prior book, and then there's trying to advance the story arc and characters without ruining them. It can be downright daunting sometimes! I've had my share of times where I wanted a character to say or do something that made sense, but didn't fit with who they were. Sure that can happen in a stand-alone or in a series, but if the book stands by itself and doesn't have to maintain a persistent thread, it can be worked into the character. Heck, it can even increase complexity and make for an interesting character trait! Establishing a character and then having him or her behave contrary to their nature in a sequel, on the other hand, will get you slapped by an editor and shunned by a reader.
So why bother with it if it's such a hassle? Well the truth is the hassle isn't that great. Or at least it's not that bad compared to the positive reasons to go after it. Sure fact checking for consistency can be a pain, but it's not that much of a pain. You get to spend more time with characters and settings you love (otherwise why'd you write the first one?). And let's not forget the icing on the cake – sales!
Yes sales. I'm really starting to see some major impact from having more than one series of books available. Voidhawk, my first published book, has two sequels to it, but their success has paled in comparison to the first one. Or at least that was the case. In October sales for Voidhawk – The Elder Race, increased considerably over prior months. Likewise the third book in the series, Voidhawk – Redemption, saw a proportional growth in sales. I didn't do a single thing to advertise them, other than letting people know on the Voidhawk sites that it had a sequel available. In October I continued to bring new people in to read Voidhawk but for those who had read it and wanted more, they had an opportunity to do so! I expect November to be very similar.
Another book of mine is Wanted. It seems to be the crowd favorite amongst all my novels. Well I recently published the sequel to it, Ice Princess. For the past two months I've seen sales of Ice Princess come in at a very solid and steady 2nd place amongst my offerings (with Wanted firmly holding the top spot). Great cover and a decent blurb, sure, but by letting people know that it's book 2 in the series, readers who finish the first one are turning around and snatching it up to read it as soon as they're done.
That, my friends, is the power of a sequel. Persistent sales and presence. It's a win-win-win scenario. I get to write more about characters and environments I love, my readers get to experience characters and environments they enjoy, and I stray relevant and fresh in people's minds for when they're looking for a new book to read. For example, they're wondering what they should read next and they remember that I wrote book A, then book B, maybe they should check and see if there's a book C available.
I believe so strongly in writing a series of books that I'm working on additional ones. The first book in my Vitalis series, New Beginnings, has been available for a little while now. The second book will be out this year. The Lost Girls takes place in my Dark Earth setting, and will also have a direct sequel available this year as well called Traitor. For both of these new ones I have additional books planned (or already written and waiting for their time). And to help people discover them on top of advertising and promotion there's one final trick to use – pricing.
Wanted and Voidhawk, the first books in each series, are priced at $1.99 to encourage people to check them out. Once they've read them they can't help but want to come back for more, and that's why the following books are at full / normal price. For the record my normal / full price isn't anything outlandish or even comparable to a traditionally published print book. It's still cheaper than a cup of premium coffee and guaranteed to satisfy you considerably longer.
I'd be a fool if I didn't encourage you to go and check these books out to see if I know what I'm talking about.
Wanted, on Amazon
Voidhawk, on Amazon
To learn more about Jason Halstead, visit his website to learn about him, his books, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.
