Stretched Too Thin??

by Daryl Wood Gerber

The setup:

I’ve had a number of fans ask me: why, when you have a successful series, do you add another? Are you ever afraid that with multiple series, you might be stretching yourself too thin?

Daryl Wood Gerber

 To answer this honestly, authors often don’t get to decide when a series ends. If a publisher kills a series and an author still wants to write, the author adds yet another title or series to her repertoire. Sometimes authors come up with new stories (before a series is canceled) because authors are concerned that the publisher might not pick up the series.  Is the author in a state of panic? No. The author is being realistic.

Act I:

Let’s get a sense of scope here. It takes a new series about 18 months to get off the ground. The author sells the idea, writes the book, and turns it in. That takes about 6 months, give or take. Then the “new” series meets the publisher’s PR and art staff, who go to work putting together the overall design of the series, the initial cover, the blurb that will go on the back of the book or on the inside cover, placement in all their sales magazines, arranging blogs, and reviews, etc. That takes about 12 months. At the same time, the author is receiving pages from the publisher with notes, edits, and final copyedits.

While all that is taking place, the author has to do her own PR work, e.g., getting the new series (book) up on her website with excerpts, answering reader questions, and the like, as well as setting up any promotional materials, blog tours, Facebook posts, etc., that she thinks will enhance her sales and her brand.

Act II:

Let’s say the author is writing one series that will, for example, debut in 2017 and a second in the series is coming out in 2018, but a third is not guaranteed. Hmmm. Dilemma. That’s when the author should be looking ahead to 2019 and deciding what she wants to have ready for her fans. Fans like to be loyal to authors, but if there is a scarcity of books, fans will go find other authors. They’re not fickle; they’re readers. Readers…read.

Act III:

Sad to say, not all talented authors experience a career like James Patterson. That’s why an author is always thinking about the “next best thing” she could write. Remember, authors have to be ahead of the curve at all times. We can’t write what was popular last year. We have to write what might be popular in 18 to 24 months from now. To give you some perspective, the publishing industry is similar to the movie industry and the clothing industry. A movie gets sold, but then it takes 2 years to come to fruition. Will the audience be interested at that time with the theme? Or a dress designer comes up with a design. Will it be au courant in 2 years? Who knows? There are no guarantees. So authors are always thinking outside the box, planning ahead, coming up with the next “big” idea.

Stretched too thin? If everything an author ever writes is sold at one time, then maybe. Could that happen? Ha! An author can dream.

Do you plan ahead and prepare for the unexpected?

BY THE WAY, don’t miss out on the French Bistro-themed BOXES I’m giving away on my Facebook Author page or the set of books I’m giving away to someone who receives my newsletter! Sign up now. Social media links below.

Daryl’s latest book, A Deadly Éclair, the first in the French Bistro Mysteries, debuts November 7.

A Deadly Éclair Jacket Copy

Mimi Rousseau’s dream to open her own bistro has seemed beyond her grasp ever since she was chased back home to Nouvelle Vie in Napa Valley by her late husband’s tremendous debt. Fortunately, her best friend Jorianne introduced her to entrepreneur Bryan Baker, who invested in the promising restaurateur’s project. So Mimi works the bistro and inn until she’s able to pay it off and call it her own. Now, Mimi is throwing the inn’s very first wedding—the nuptials of famous talk show host Angelica Edmonton, daughter of Bryan’s half-brother, Edison.

This wedding will be the talk of the town, but anxious Mimi is sure the bride’s puffed-up expectations will collapse, especially when Edison gets drunk and rowdy at the out-of-towners’ dinner. By the evening, things are looking sweet again…until the next morning, when Bryan is found dead at the bistro with an éclair stuffed in his mouth.

All the fingers point at Mimi, whose entire loan is forgiven if Bryan dies. So it’s up to her to éclair—er, clear—her name before the killer turns up the heat again in A Deadly Éclair, Agatha Award-winning author Daryl Wood Gerber’s scrumptious series debut.

BIO: Agatha Award-winning Daryl Wood Gerber writes the brand new French Bistro Mysteries as well as the nationally bestselling Cookbook Nook Mysteries.  As Avery Aames, she pens the popular Cheese Shop Mysteries. A Deadly Êclair, the first French Bistro Mystery, comes out November 2017. Daryl also writes stand-alone suspense: Day of Secrets and Girl on the Run. Fun tidbit: as an actress, Daryl appeared in “Murder, She Wrote.” She loves to cook, and she has a frisky Goldendoodle named Sparky who keeps her in line!

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