Selling the First and Planning the Second Book by E. B. Davis

I’ve written the first book in my series. It’s taken a long time—too long. My writing life took a hit when I relocated three years ago. But I’m back on track because my situation has changed and due to WWK writer Grace Topping urging me to get moving. Thanks, Grace, I needed that kick. But more, I also needed to hear that you remembered my book fondly from beta reading it four years ago. Knowing just one other person thinks my book has value soothes those insecure and emotional fears that lurk just below my carefully engineered façade of professionalism.

The Writers Who Kill blog has created a community for writers regardless of their position on the ladder to fulfilling their writing career goals. I learn from the experiences of my blogging peers. Case in point: Grace Topping. She found an agent, who sold a three-book deal to a publisher. Her first in the series will be released at the end of April. What’s she doing now? Writing the second book.

What have I learned? Plan the character arcs of your characters before it’s forced upon you by deadlines. Plan the series, at least a rough outline, of each book to take your characters through the experiences they need to grow. Plant the seeds of the second novel in the first or at least make nonspecific situations in the first so you have a clear slate upon which to build the second plot.

Why didn’t I think about this sooner? I’ve had plenty of time. But the fact is that when you haven’t yet sold the first book you wonder if your time was wasted. If you invest more time creating the entire series, are you building yourself another black hole of wasted time?

Grace’s experience has taught me the answer is no. Whether or not you sell the series, the process of planning the series, building your characters arcs, and developing plots for subsequent books is a crucial skill set that will serve you well even if you end up selling a different book and perhaps a different series.

What am I doing? I’m going back through the first manuscript, tweaking characters to set them up for their development and taking out specifics that may hamper the plot of the next book.

What I have to do next? Get my promotional pieces to sell the first book as much as I hate writing about my work. What will entice an agent or publisher? I find making comparisons of my work to others problematic. I don’t want to misrepresent my book, and I also feel boastful comparing my work to the success of others. Do I have to do this?

Similar to Lucy Burdette’s Key West Food Critic mysteries,

my cozy main characters meet at a Naples, FL resort,

a la Neil Simon’s California Suite, which is hosting the set and crew of a movie,

where the murder of a screenwriter takes place, much like the Red Carpet

Catering mystery series written by Shawn Reilly Simmons, and solve the

murder along with hotel detectives, as per Alan Russell’s Hotel Detective series.

Really? Elements of those other works may occur, but as a whole, it’s not like them at all.

Have you ever compared your book to others? If so, how do you feel about it?