Pros and Cons Of Connected Series - Especially for unpublished authors!

Authors hear all of the time about editors really loving to offer multi-book contracts and even more, when those stories are connected as a series. True? False? 

Let's explore this for a bit.

First of all, multi-book contracts are actually a benefit for the publisher, especially for those big book contracts. Here is the rationale. If book 1 sells incredibly well, the additional books have now been bought at a discount. Remember that those advances are based on sales figures. Of course, this does mean it could turn on them if the first book doesn't do well, then they might be stuck with that second book. 

But, what about writing these as a series, in other words, a series with brothers? Again, there are some pros and cons here. Just like the example above, if readers are not a big fan of the first book, the odds are they will not want to follow the rest of the family or the series. Authors hope they love the first book, but this is a huge gamble. Even if you know the 2nd or 3rd book is amazing and incredible, there is a huge chance the readers will never get there.

On another level, if readers have to read the books in order to understand what is going on, this could become a detriment. If you have a reader who just hears about the series, but it is the time the later book comes out, will the readers go back to find the earlier book? Again a gamble.

I also find that many new authors run into another issue with trying to write a connected series. Because they have heard the news about how these are so popular, they make a decision to do so before they even start writing. That part is fine, however, here is where they run into the problem. In book 1, they spend so much time trying to set up the storylines for the later books in the series that they lose the focus they needed for book 1. This first book becomes cumbersome and awkward. It really becomes confusing as the reader tries to connect all of the dots and tie it all into the central story arc of book 1, which it is not supposed to do. The end result? Not good reviews.

So, should you write a connected series? There is nothing wrong with it. Personally, my recommendation is to focus on book 1, know that you "could" write other books connecting to it, but, DO NOT write those stories. When you are done with that one, start a new project. If an editor or agent totally loves book 1, you have plenty of time to work on that next book.