I have a problem and maybe you can help. I’m going to be appallingly frank, more than an author is supposed to be, but this is an unspoken problem common to many authors, and maybe they’ll chip in, too.

I tend to write in series. I have Richard and Rose, the Secrets series, the Triple Countess series in historicals. In paranormals, I have Department 57 at Loose-Id, STORM at Ellora’s Cave, and the Pure Wildfire series, which is the only one I’ve completed, at four books, and for which I can say there won’t be any more.

I create a ‘world’ or a situation and become fascinated by it. And I’ve found I can deepen and enrich characters if I revisit them, and give them minor roles in other books. As the average length of books drops, it gets harder to write in depth. Under 100,000 words is normal these days, whereas in the past, 150,000 was common.

Okay, so here’s the problem. Which do I do, standalone books set in the universe of the stories, or series set there?

When I tried to do a small series set inside a world, in this instance Dept 57, sales dropped. That was the Crystal series, and I plan to wrap that up soon with the final book. I had an overarching story arc, that lasted the whole of the series, and separate stories within each book. I enjoyed writing it, but it seemed that people didn’t enjoy reading it as much. It happened again with the Red series for STORM, although not so much and I think that was because the Red series was shorter, and the individual stories were more prominent than the overarching one. And of course there are other variables, like how much the characters appeal, the publisher the series is with, even the time of year the stories come out.

Richard and Rose has been enormously successful, but that is the only series I’ve written which has to be read in order. It features the same two characters at the centre of each book, and I loved, loved, loved writing it. I got to describe what happens after the wedding, after the honeymoon, and follow the characters through the early part of their marriage. Their love never fades, but their situation changes, sometimes dramatically.

Most of the series I write are connected by characters, and the nature of romance is that you pretty much know who is going to end up with whom, so I just try to keep spoilers in each book to a minimum. That means readers can read them out of order, if they want to. But sales for Richard and Rose have dropped with each book, and rise slowly as new readers catch up with the series. Richard and Rose was a labour of love. I’ve just written the last book in that cycle, and it’s taken me months and months. It’s really hard, keeping all the threads together, and working for the ending the characters deserve, but writing that series has taught me so much. And like Rose, I fell in love with Richard at first sight. I might do a separate post about that series and what I’ve learned, as well as what the series has done for me.

When I release standalones or separate books set in the same universe, sales are great. That makes my decision kind of obvious, you’d think, but it’s not that clear cut. It’s not a simple commercial decision. I don’t want to let readers down, and I love writing connected stories about groups of friends or agents working together. So for the immediate future, that’s what I’ll try.

I’ve recently branched out into contemporaries, but already there are characters in the books that I want to know more about, write more about. I try very hard to make the books I write these days standalones, and reintroduce characters who’ve been there before. I also have “cheat sheets” on my website, introducing the worlds, and the recurring characters in the books, like Cristos in the Dept 57 series. I should put the characters up there, too, I guess.

That’s great, but it’s the falling sales that makes it hard to cope with. I want to write for love, I really do, but I need to eat as well. I love writing all kinds of books, series and standalones, so that’s no problem for me.

So over to you. What do you prefer, and do you buy a series all the way through? How long before you tire of a series and decide it’s time for a change?