How Many Books Should Be In A Series?

By on July 9, 2018

Note: This post is about series that are self-published. If you are working with a publisher, that publisher will likely decide how many books are in your series. You might have series canceled early or the publisher might convince you to extend it. You have little control over this (which is one of the reason I currently prefer self-publishing).

When writers are discussing series, the most common question asked is… how many books should be in a series? The short and dirty answer is… as many as you need to tell the story you want to tell.

There are no rules to writing books or to crafting a series. If there is an overall arc (and there doesn’t need to be one in a series), that should preferably be resolved. It is one of the reasons readers are reading the series. But some gifted writers have broken that ‘rule’ also.

Do what makes sense for you and for your series.

I’ll, however, share what works for me. That might or might not work for you but it will give you things to think about when crafting your series.

Creating Stopping Points

The cyborg series currently has 12 stories in it. I plan to write many more. BUT if you analyze that series, you’ll see there are possible stopping points for it every three or four books.

I could have stopped the series after the stories for the three original cyborgs were resolved, for example. I could have stopped it after the mass cyborg rebellion as another example. I would have written those ‘last’ stories differently but I could have ended the series at those points.

This gives me flexibility. If I’m no longer passionate about the series or readers no longer enjoy the stories (I often judge interest in the series by pre-order numbers), I can pause or stop the series at these points.

Extending A Series

If I’m still loving a series and readers are enjoying it also, I will often extend it.

The Refuge/Dark Thoughts series was originally a four-story series (Dark Thoughts, Dark Flight, Dark Strength, Dark Fire). At the end of Dark Fire, the baddies introduced in Dark Flight have all been confronted. Kralj, Dark Thought’s hero, has traveled his complete character arc. If someone merely read those four stories, they should be satisfied.

But there are plenty of secondary characters whose stories I can tell. The Medic captured me in Dark Strength. I knew I HAD to tell her story. I see Dark Cure, that fifth longer story (Dark Warlord is a shorter story), as a bonus story. It isn’t part of the core series. (I also see it as a bridge story between the Refuge series and the upcoming Barbarian Warlord series.)

Ending (Or Pausing) The Series

Readers become upset if series aren’t completed. I make that a goal of mine.

If I love a brand new series but it isn’t (YET) appealing to readers, I will pause it at one of the stopping points. This might mean writing two more stories in the series, which won’t have huge numbers of readers (at the moment). I still write until that stopping point.

Why?

Because I don’t want to upset the few readers I do have. I feel I owe them a complete story arc. Also, some series take extra time to connect with readers (both the Cyborg series and the Refuge series didn’t really catch on until three books had been released). I’ll give any series two more stories.

How do you decide how many stories should be in a series?

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