All About Series of Children's Books

Fiction or Nonfiction - How to Make them Profitable.

Today, we’re going to talk about book series, a collection of books that have something in common, either character, plot, or idea.

To start, name your favorite book series!

One of my favorites is the classic Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper about the battle between The Light and The Dark. Book 2 received a Newbery Honor and Book 4 received a Newbery. I love this because I often hear skeptics warn that Book 1 of a series might sell, but not the next books in the series. Here, though, Books 2 and 4 received the major honors! It gives me hope for my series!

First, let’s look at WHY you might write in a series. From a writer’s point of view:

• Easier to Write. A series allows you to carry over the development process from the previous novels. You don’t have to invent new characters, new settings, or the whole history of a world. By writing in a literary universe you’ve already created, it’s easier to write.

• Easier to Market. Series are often easier to market because readers are familiar with the story, the characters, and the setting. If they enjoyed book 1, they are likely to buy into the next book to continue the journey.

• Better Sales. The reader’s familiarity means better sales. We’ll talk more about figuring sell-through for a series, and why it’s important that readers get hooked on your series.

• Collectible/Easy Gift. Series books often become collectibles. Boxsets are popular because they collect the print books into a box. One option is to create a collectible set of book covers that emphasize the series overall.

From the reader’s POV (and the teacher’s/parent’s who buy the book POV):

• Reading more. A popular series means it’s easier to engage a kid and keep them reading. If they like the character from Book 1, then it’s easy to encourage the second and following books. The result? Kids read more.

• Improved comprehension. Likewise, reading comprehension can improve through a series. The reader already knows the book’s universe, making the subsequent books familiar and easy to understand.

• Reading fluency. Similarly, reading fluency can increase through reading a series. Repeated elements such as names of characters or places make the reading easier.

• Community of readers. For popular books, kids chat about events in a book or book characters. This creates a community of readers, which adds to the enjoyment, which keeps them reading, which improves comprehension and reading fluency. Peer pressure in this case is a good thing.

  Let’s look at how to plan, write, and market a series of children’s books!