The Allure of a Mystery Series by James M. Jackson
One of my great pleasures of mystery fan conferences such as Malice Domestic and Left Coast Crime is the opportunity to talk with a wide variety of readers. When I get to chatting with a reader I usually ask about favorite authors to compare notes. After a while I’ll ask about how they approach series.
Writers and publishers like series because of the long-tail effect: if someone reads one book in the series and enjoys it, chances are good they’ll read another in the series, and another and another. Each new addition to the series not only has the potential to sell to fans, but bring in new readers who will ultimately want to read the entire series.
A couple of years ago my better half, Jan, and I were attending Malice Domestic. We wanted to read all of the books nominated for Best Contemporary Novel. Jan discovered that Julia Spencer-Fleming’s Through the Evil Days was part of a series. Rather than just read that book, Jan wanted to read the entire eight books in order. So she blitz read her way through the series in about two months’ time (while reading the other new-to-her books as well).
It turns out Jan is not alone. A significant percentage of people I’ve talked are like her. (I wish I had kept an accurate account so I could tell you the exact percentage.) They strongly prefer to read series novels in order—some so much so that they will not read a series out-of-order! Can you imagine how long it would take a reader new to Sue Grafton to catch up on Kinsey Milhone and the now twenty-four alphabet books starting with A is for Alibi and ending currently ending with
X? Not going to happen, right?
Well consider these Kindle Book rankings for Grafton’s series (early morning 9/4/15):
X — #19
W is for Wasted — #1,603
V is for Vengeance — #4,603
U is for Undertow — #8,886
T is for Trespass — #9,164
C is for Corpse – #7,685
B is for Burglar — #6,760
A is for Alibi — #3,137
Not only does Grafton have a top twenty hit two and a half weeks after its release, she has seven other books in the top 10,000 Kindle sellers: the previous three and the first three. People are catching up if they’ve missed a few books, and people are starting at the beginning. This long tail is why publishers like successful series.
To allow that piling on effect, publishing contracts were (and often still are) for three books.
And the three-book contracts are, I suspect, why I have found another phenomena amongst many mystery readers. They won’t start reading a series unless there are a sufficient number of books published. The oft-stated reason goes something like “I don’t want to fall in love with an author and then have to wait a year for the next book.”
When presented with the Catch 22 situation that if no one buys the first books in a series, there won’t be more books, the next response is something like, “I want to make sure the series will be there.” Particularly with small presses and self-publishing they don’t want to invest in a character for only one or two books. From my sampling of folks I’ve met, those with this attitude often require a minimum of three books, and preferably four or five in a series, before they will become interested.
So, two questions for you, dear readers:
(1) Do you prefer reading series in order? If so, must you start at the beginning, or do you read the most recent and then if you enjoyed it go back and start from the beginning?
(2) Do you have a required minimum number of published books before you’ll start reading a series, and if so how many?
For those of you who want at least three, my Seamus McCree novels are now eligible for your consideration. You can read them in order: Ant Farm, Bad Policy, and Cabin Fever. (Notice I subtly stole the alphabet idea from Sue Grafton?) For those who want at least four, I promise Doubtful Relations will be published in 2016.
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James M. Jackson authors the Seamus McCree mystery series. ANT FARM (2015), a prequel to BAD POLICY (2013) and CABIN FEVER (2014), recently won a Kindle Scout nomination. BAD POLICY won the Evan Marshall Fiction Makeover Contest whose criteria were the freshness and commerciality of the story and quality of the writing. Jim has also published an acclaimed book on contract bridge, as well as numerous short stories and essays. For more information: http://jamesmjackson.com
Hi, Jim —
Interesting post about series. I have to admit that I love series, and when I find an author new to me, I am delighted to learn that they have several books already out in that series. That way I don’t have to wait for another book to be published.
But that doesn’t prevent me from reading a first book in a series. It is fun watching a writer develop the series. And as fast as writers are having to put out new books in a series, it isn’t long before a new one is released.
LOL, I once read a book and it was so good, I actually decided to wait for the writer to finish the series before I read the next one, although I started buying all his books. My plan was interrupted when HBO stared airing the series (before the author completed the series). Naturally, I started watching it. Game of Thrones
I like to start at the beginning, but I rarely discover an author until there are more in the series, so it’s no problem to read from the beginning. For some authors, the series sags badly after the 10th book or so and I quit reading. However, some of those that I’ve quit picked up again and starting writing better later in the series, then I got back in!
Kaye — good for you that you persevered. I figure anyone in a long series can have one dud, so in my book that doesn’t count against them. Two in a row and I’m on to other authors.
TK — As I was reading your post I was thinking of Craig Johnson’s Longmire series — and then you hit me with Game of Thrones and I had to smile.
~ Jim
Grace — There is certainly pressure on authors to write faster now. A friend of mine was forced to go from once a year to every nine months. However, others like Julia Spencer-Fleming are able to keep the publishing number-jockeys at bay with her once every two year schedule.
~ Jim
I don’t mind starting in the middle of a series. If I like the book, I’ll go back and start at the beginning. The third in my Witch City Mystery series from Kensington–Look Both Ways–will be released tomorrow and I have a contract for three more. Murder Go Round will be out next fall. I found this article really interesting and encouraging to a series writer! Thanks!
Carol J. Perry
Glad you stopped by. Wishing you the best on your new book.