Question: Why would you wait to publish three books in a series all at the same time?
Answer: Netflix In November 2015, the Collins English Dictionary chose the word “binge-watch” as its word of the yeari due to the cultural phenomenon, not started by but certainly refined by, the streaming service Netflix. In my day, when we used to rent VHS tapes and watch all three Star Wars movies (or Back to the Future or Indiana Jones) back-to-back-to-back, we’d call them movie marathons, but it was the same thing.
When Netflix (originally a mail-based renter of DVDs) began to offer digital streaming services in 2007 (it came to Canada in 2010), its offerings were generally older television shows and movies. But it noticed something interesting. People were watching full seasons of shows within a very short timeframe—sometimes in one sitting. When the streamer started to produce its own content, it defied traditional broadcast wisdom and “dropped” entire seasons of its shows at one time and encouraged its audience to “binge,” which it happily did.
So, what’s the appeal?
Certainly, there is the general inertia that sets in when you reach the end of an episode and Netflix’s autoplay kicks in, making it more work to avoid continuing to watch than it is to sit there and binge a whole season. But it’s more than that. The more you watch, the more invested you are in the show and its characters. These are two key areas (to be discussed in reverse order) where Netflix can offer guidance to series authors and their publishers.
Lesson 1: Don’t Rush to Publish; Patience Is AN AUTHOR’s Friend
Writing and publishing a book is a long process. Once an author completes a manuscript it is understandable to want it out in the world as soon as possible. This can be a mistake. Very few first books in a series are ever successful—certainly not with a lesser-known author.
It is generally accepted that it takes four or five books before an audience becomes fully invested and the series, if it’s going to, takes off. Take, for example, the Harry Potter series. As shown in the figure below, it wasn’t until Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (book 4) that the series gained momentum.
Another example, closer to home, is Louise Penny’s very successful mystery series, set in the Canadian village of Three Pines and featuring Chief Inspector Gamache. The first in the series, Still Life, was published in 2005, but it wasn’t until book 5, 2009’s The Brutal Telling, that she began making the best-seller lists. That book peaked on the USA Today list at 146ii. Each book has been steadily building an audience and garnering more and more success. Her sixteenth book, All the Devils are Here, released this past September, was an instant Number 1 New York Times best-seller.
It takes time to become invested in a series and if there is a lag between the first book and the second, the author risks losing the reader to other books, interests, or activities.
Lesson 2: remember the kiss principle
The second lesson from Netflix is to make it ridiculously simple to catch the next episode. Unfortunately, there is no autoplay feature to allow a reader to seamlessly move from one book to the next without effort, but there are ways an author can ease the transition.
I need to take a step back here and explain a few things about my series.
1. These books are historical (cozy) mysteries. This is important because after romance, mystery is one of the most popular genres of fiction, and its readers are voracious.iii
2. Each book is relatively short—between 40,000 and 50,000 words.
3. Because of #2, they are available as eBooks only. At some point, I may package them in pairs for print distribution, but that is an entirely different marketing proposition.
4. I am self-publishing this series, meaning I have full control over its content, timing, and distribution.
At the end of each book is the first chapter of the next book along with a buy link that will direct the reader to my website where there are full details about the book and links to where it can be purchased. Ideally, the buy link in the eBook link directly to the seller’s website. I have chosen not to do that at this time. My biggest audience is American, however, as I am Canadian and the series is set in Kingston, Ontario, I wanted to have country-specific links available. This is something I’ll be monitoring and may change in the future.
What did I do & how is it going?
When I first began developing and writing my Charley Hall Mystery series, I intended to write five books before publishing any of them. The first four books were to have been released in early 2021 with the fifth a month following. Then Covid-19 struck and we were all self-isolating at home and looking for ways to entertain ourselves. Physical books were side-lined due to bookstores being closed and shipping delays from online retailers. As a result, eBook sales surged as readers turned to convenient and immediate delivery. The mystery genre was one of the beneficiaries, seeing its sales rise by 13 per cent. iv
I decided to publish books 1, 2, and 3 on October 12 (Canadian Thanksgiving) with book 4 coming out six weeks later (avoiding the US election and before American Thanksgiving). Book 5 will be released in early 2021.
The first three books in the series have been available for only one month, so these are very preliminary results.
Total first-month sales are about what I would expect for an indie book. But to the point of this article: the read-through from book 1 to the second book is close to 50 per cent with 90 per cent of those going on to book 3. And of those, 50 per cent have pre-ordered book 4. It will be interesting to see how many of those are ready to commit to book 5, which will be several months away.
Ninety-three per cent of sales are to the U.S. market, six per cent to Canada, and one per cent to the U.K. and Australia.
As this is my first foray into self-publishing, and my first time writing a mystery series, it will take another six months or more to have reliable figures, but so far so good.
A Bit About Me
Life is messy and I try to reflect that in my stories while still leaving readers with a feeling of hope. I want them to see themselves and people they know in my characters.
You could say writing is in my genes. My paternal grandmother was a formidable diarist; my father was a journalist and poet; my sister and cousin are both published authors; even my son has shown a talent for putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) to tell awesome stories. So, it came as no surprise to anyone when I returned to my love of fiction after more than 20 years in the world of corporate communications–although some might argue there was plenty of opportunity for fiction-writing there, too.
A fan of many genres, I find it hard to stay within the publishing industry’s prescribed boxes. Whether it’s romantic suspense, women’s fiction, or mystery—my greatest joy is creating deeply emotional books with memorable characters and compelling stories.
To keep up-to-date on me (and all of Charley’s shenanigans) subscribe to the Gayle Gazette.
I would be pleased to answer any questions you have on my approach to publishing or indie/small press publishing, in general. You can send them to me at brendaheald@rogers.com.
www. BrendaGayle.com
i https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-34723515
ii https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2017/09/06/louise-penny-scores-first-no-1-usa-today-best-seller-glass-houses/634019001/
iii https://bookstr.com/article/book-genres-that-make-the-most-money/
iv https://www.writtenwordmedia.com/ebook-market-covid/