All right, I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it, though. This lent itself to be a pun-worthy title.
Over the years, I’ve heard rumblings now-and-then about some readers getting tired of long, drawn-out book series. The phrase “you know, standalones are OK, too” thrown out there as a small, pleading voice in the midst of the thunderous multi-book blockbusters.
It has me thinking, what do readers prefer?
Personally, I love series. Especially in the genres that I tend to write. (Middle-Grade and Young Adult Fantasy/Sci-Fi). However, I do have a few standalones brewing in my ever-growing list of Works-In-Progress. And, I do like to read standalones, too.
Indies Unlimited has some great insight into the whole question. Their answer, of course, is: it depends.
Writersedit.com also weighs in and tells how genre plays a big part in the whole question. Makes a lot of sense to me.
Ava Jae on Writability gives a personal look at it, which offers a pretty good look into common buying habits of readers (even if it seems a bit biased).
But, I would love to hear from you. Which do you prefer? Do you like getting to know characters over the span of multiple books, or do you get burnt-out and wish they would resolve the problem already?
Leave a comment below. Can’t wait to hear from you.
Russell J. Fellows 