Thread: Leaving loose ends

So, after years of making excuses, I'm finally working on my first full length novel. The genre will be young adult/sci fi (with a rather complex mythology). The story that I have in mind is too large for one book (in my opinion) and hopefully it will turn into a series of books. Now, given the genre I'm shooting for, is it presumptuous to not put the complete story in one volume ? Would a publisher see the tale as incomplete ? Thanks for your opinions and advice.

Publishers usually don't accept huge novels from first-time authors, so bear in mind that if you're thinking of making it into one volume and it finishes up at something like 250,000 words, your chances of snagging a deal drop precipitously. However, publishing houses love trilogies and series. They know that if there's a fan-base for your work, it makes books two and three almost instant sellers.

I'd keep it to a series, if it was me.

Originally Posted by Sam W

I'd keep it to a series, if it was me.

Ditto.

For all the reasons he said, and because it gets your name out there more as a series.

If you're forced to break your story up into sections, I think it's a good idea to make those sections feel like complete stories in and of themselves. Have some tension that gets dragged out and resolved at a climax. Otherwise, it will feel empty as a stand-alone.

I agree, each section has to stand on it's own. You might consider a strong sub-plot that you can successfully conclude, while still letting the main plot continue. Consider Lord of the Rings trilogy. First book, Fellowship of the Ring, ends with the failure of the fellowship, The Twin Towers ends with the fall of Saruman's tower, while Frodo continues the main plot as a separate story line, Return of the King chronicles the final battle to return Aragorn the throne of man, then merges the two as the final battle gives Frodo the opportunity to sneak in and destroy the ring. In the book, the struggle continues when the hobbits return home to battle Saruman once again, but it's anticlimactic.

Just a thought, it's not as easy as all that might make it seem.

Take care,

JohnB

Thanks for the advice. I'm happy to have a place where these sort of questions can be answered. I do have a few subplots that will be opened and closed within what I hope will be the first book, so I think I'll take your advice and keep it as an ongoing thing