A 'trilogy' or...

(23 Jul 2012 10:22 PM)Terrafuego Wrote:  Andy, as a reader (and this is a personal rather than general view) I'd expect a trilogy to have a common theme and to be sequential.

If you need to split a single story into three different vols. it's helpful for a reader to know that at the outset. Book One would work for me,the suggestion being that there's more to follow. Would the blurb explain how they are to be published? Would all vols be published at same time?

The point I'm making is, if you publish no 1 ( whatever you call it) can a reader buy that as a satisfactory stand alone experience? They may wish more and the choice would be whether to buy all 3 in one go or each as a stand alone. If a reader buys the first vol and finds, unexpectedly, that two more are needed to complete the story, they may feel cheated.

It's also important that they are read sequentially in your scenario. A reader would need to know that to avoid buying separately and reading out of order. Happy to offer a Devil's Advocate viewpoint if you want to test further.

(24 Jul 2012 04:40 AM)Trace Wrote:  Hi Andy,
I experienced exactly the same situation with my novels, The Witchcraft Wars. It was first written as a single novel but I found, at around 240k that it was really too long for a single volume. I did a little re-writing to make it a trilogy but also make it clear up front that each novel is a part of the whole - i.e. books are labelled Book One etc

I think your blurb should give you ample opportunity to explain the format to potential readers.

Good luck and wishing you many sales

(24 Jul 2012 06:41 AM)LindaGruchy Wrote:  Or perhaps ask if it needs to be that long.

Lord of the Rings is in three parts, but each has a natural stopping point, though you don't get the whole story until each part is read. (Though Tolkein's style isn't to be recommended nowadays for modern thrillers.)

(24 Jul 2012 08:13 AM)Jennie Lee Wrote:  From what I understand by cruising less friendly forums than this one all books in a series should be standalone stories.

Themes and threads are carried into the following books but readers get very annoyed if they feel they have been cheated by a taste of what's to come rather than a tying up of threads in the current plot.

Quote: I know what you mean when you ask if it needs to be that long, but it does. I could shorten it by chopping out one of the main characters and his story, but it would detract massively from the story I'm trying to get across. I've chiselled about 30k words from it but it's still too long for one single book.

I'm quite lucky I suppose, in that each book (apart from the last, obviously) ends on a cliff-hanger and a fairly natural stopping point.