As I review my spring publisher catalogues, I've noticed that there are a large number of series continuations releasing this summer, and this led me to think about series fiction.
I love a good series, but as much as they publishing gold, for the fans, they can be incredibly frustrating. One of the most commonly asked questions on author websites is "when is the next book coming", and for the fans, it's never fast enough. As soon as we finish one book, (particularly the kind that end on cliff-hangers) the long, torturous wait for the next book begins. Fans of Katniss in The Hunger Games couldn't wait to find out how her story would conclude, and by the magic of internet and social networking, these fans had a place to rant and speculate about what was coming next. Having read book 2 in manuscript format, it was an even longer wait for book 3, and trust me- it wasn't easy! Finishing the series was more of an exception for me than the norm- I don't usually have enough time to keep up with the volume of series released. But this got me thinking.
The Hunger Games series released all three books within a couple of years, meaning that for the most part, those who were teens when the first book released were still teens when book 3 released last fall. On the other side of the coin, Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle, concludes this November with book 4, which will mark 8 years since the first book released.
The print run for this book is 2.5 million copies, and they continue to show strong sales. But with so many series on the market competing for readers' attention, what is it about books like these that still draw readers after so many years?
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