TO BE OR NOT TO BE A SERIES…

TO BE OR NOT TO BE A SERIES…

And in essence that is the question as well. What is a series? I’ve decided to pose this question to be pondered over because of the frequency of remarks I often see in reviews left by readers (for our own series but have also seen the same comments left towards others)

In the literary book world, Series refers to a set of books telling of an ongoing story that is tied together in varying degrees of sequence, continuity and succession. (See bottom for Random House Dictionary listing)

 

 

A series in the book world is more than just a set or a collection (though an author may release those as well), a series standardly holds a continuity of story &/or character content as it evolves. Even if the author tries to have each book capable of being read as a standalone, there are always going to be elements in it that will have started from a previous book, or will be resolved in a later book.

This includes sharing of scenes, where as a particular scene is revisited but told from another perspective without having to copy the entire scene verse for verse, because a series isn’t trying to retell the exact story over and over. Authors will usually try to paraphrase substantial supporting characters as best they can to explain why or who they are in the overall scheme of things, but if you feel there are some missing elements it’s safe to say those are in one of the other books in the series. It is after all the purpose of the series.

 

But I must chuckle that on the occasion when I feel like making my eyes twitch, I browse the garden of reviews, and the comments I often find…. perplexedly,  I’m left wondering…. did they forget it’s a series?

 

 

 

 

 

To give you some examples I’ll share; (paraphrasing of course):

“… gawd I hate it when there are secondary characters that don’t seem to be relevant. It makes for too many unresolved loose ends.”

 “Just a reminder, it’s a series.”

 

 “I hate this book because it didn’t have an ending, but continues…”

“Must have missed the part about it being a series.”

Not happening yet… Not until the end of the Series…

“I loved the sexual aspect, but at the end of the day I was left wanting more… story.”

“Buy the other book. This one was already at 300k words. Had to start a new book.”

 

 

“OMG, I hate cliff hangers!”

“dun dun DUHN!”

 

“The MC in this didn’t really do it for me, I think the book should have focused more on the two supportive characters instead.”

“Buy their book next.”

 

“God, I hate it when I read a book from a series and the next one isn’t out already.”

“Yes, we authors purposely write slow and only one at a time. When we could so

do the whole series in one sitting and in our sleep”

 

Of course we understand that last sentiment rather well.

We’re readers too, and chances are there’s a series out there we are waiting on the next release. But down times are not a new thing, Jean Auel fans waited 10 years, twice, for the last two books to come out in the Earth Children series. It happens, we’re humans too, (see: Fun useless faqs you never knew)  

 

Of course some readers handle the wait better than others.

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So before you go loading up the assault rifle because the latest book left some content and characters to be explored in the next book in the series, stop and remind yourself….

 

It’s a series… it supposed to have all those great awesome loose ends and side characters to pique your interest. After all we really want you to buy the other book.

So go ahead… buy the other book… you know you want to…

Next one isn’t out yet? Well, Gosh Darn… guess you’ll have to wait.

 

 

series
[seer-eez] Spell Syllables


Synonyms


Examples


Word Origin


noun, plural series.
1. a group or a number of related or similar things, events, etc., arranged or occurring in temporal, spatial, or other order or succession;sequence.
2. a number of games, contests, or sporting events, with the same participants, considered as a unit:
The two baseball clubs played a five-game series.
3. a set, as of coins or stamps.
4. a set of successive volumes or issues of a periodical published in like form with similarity of subject or purpose.
5.  Radio and Television.


a daily or weekly program with the same cast and format and a continuing story, as a soap opera, situation comedy, or drama.


a number of related programs having the same theme, cast, or format:


a series of four programs on African wildlife.
6. Mathematics.


a sequence of terms combined by addition, as 1 + ½ + ¼ + ⅛ + … ½


infinite series.


7. Rhetoric. a succession of coordinate sentence elements.
 
adjective
11. Electricity. consisting of or having component parts connected in series:
a series circuit; a series generator.
 
British Dictionary definitions for series
series
/ˈsɪəriːz; -rɪz/
noun (pl) -ries 
1. a group or connected succession of similar or related things, usually arranged in order
2. a set of radio or television programmes having the same characters and setting but different stories
3. a set of books having the same format, related content, etc, published by one firm
4. a set of stamps, coins, etc, issued at a particular time
5. (maths) the sum of a finite or infinite sequence of numbers or quantities See also geometric series
6. (electronics)


a configuration of two or more components connected in a circuit so that the same current flows in turn through each of them (esp in the phrase in series)


(as modifier): a series circuit Compare parallel(sense 10)


7. (rhetoric) a succession of coordinate elements in a sentence
8. (geology) a stratigraphical unit that is a subdivision of a system and represents the rocks formed during an epoch
 
Origin
1605-15; seriēs; akin to serere to connect
 
Related forms
multiseries, noun, plural multiseries.
subseries, noun, plural subseries.
superseries, noun, plural superseries.
 
Synonyms


Series, sequence, succession are terms for an orderly following of things one after another. Series is applied to a number of things of the same kind, usually related to each other, arranged or happening in order: a series of baseball games.Sequence stresses the continuity in time, thought, cause and effect, etc.: The scenes came in a definite sequence. Succession implies that one thing is followed by another or others in turn, usually though not necessarily with a relation or connection between them: succession to a throne; a succession of calamities.


 
(source: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/series?s=t)
 

Don’t mind him, he’s just a loose end for the next blog…

                                             ~ The Twins: Talon ps & Princess so

 

ABOUT THESE AUTHORS

Princess so and her twin, Talon ps love to torment their editor with a nefarious world of foreign-lang, slang, local dialect, stretched/outside-of-the-box definitions, and have even been known to throw in some con-lang at times. This, of course, is all thrown in there with the dyslexia soup stock they both suffer from that makes editing with them a joy {joy: n see mental illness}. But the final product comes out as richly detailed holographic worlds of Paranormal, Sci-fi, and Gay/MM Erotic Romance; War-time Romances; and along with Prin’s favorite works of Post-Apocalyptic Dark Fantasies.

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