Series

If I really like a series, I try to buy the newest book in it when it first comes out. The reason? Publishers are happy to drop authors if their numbers fall. And almost EVERY author’s numbers fall after enough time.

If your numbers are always huge, like Ilona Andrews, it doesn’t matter. But for most authors, it does. I don’t know if readers get bored and leave a series after a while, or if they get comfortable and think it will just go on and on whether they buy or rate it or not, but once a writer’s numbers start to sag, the publisher drops you and looks for the next big seller, because it isn’t you.

If you take the time to look at some of your favorite authors and look at the numbers of ratings they receive, you’ll be surprised. Most of them start out high and then the numbers keep getting smaller and smaller. Once they hit a certain spot, they’ll be lucky if their publisher wants to keep that series. Which makes me sad. And makes me review every book in a series I particularly like. I want it to stick around. I love Lynn Cahoon’s The Tourist Trap mysteries, so buy and review them faithfully. I’m going to be sad if she has to start a new series, because I LIKE this one.

Some of my favorite authors keep reinventing themselves. Their publisher gets rid of one series, so they move to another. Some of them have two or three series going at once. I thought about doing that when Kensington dropped my Jazzi and Ansel series, but I didn’t want to. I still had stories with them that I wanted to write. So, I self-published. But that in itself is a labor of love. Because then, Kensington doesn’t do any marketing for you. You’re old news. You’re done. You have to do everything yourself. And fingers crossed, you still make a decent amount of money in the process.

Just saying, if you have a favorite author who writes a series you love, take the time to buy and review their books. Or else, they may be gone. It’s happened to me too many times to count. I find someone’s writing I love, pre-order their next book the minute I know it’s available, and eventually….the series is gone. It stinks! I might not like the new series. I want the OLD one. But book sellers just crunch numbers. And if your numbers are dwindling, in today’s market, you’re toast.

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