Today, "Nancy Drew," "The Hardy Boys," "The Boxcar Boys," "Goosebumps" and "Sweet Valley High" are all successful series fiction books. Series often consume shelf after shelf in the children's book section in book stores and libraries.
The majority of series are written for middle-grade readers, and feature girl groups. An example would be Ann M. Martin's popular "Baby-sitters Club" books.
Many series are produced by companies known as book producers and packagers. A company may come up with an idea for a series and presents it to a publisher as a total package. The company provides the series identity and a plan for a certain number of books, complete in groups of three or four and based on sales more books are added to the series.
The blandness and predictability of series books are based on the fact that they are often written by committee. There is no single author or voice behind the stories. Plots are brainstormed by several people and put together into an interesting story. Some series such as "Nancy Drew" and the "Bobbsey Twins" are written by several writers who write to guidelines created by the packager.
Some, however, set new standards for innovative style. The "American Girls" series is one. The girls live in different historical periods and each girl has their own series.
One of the keys to a successful series are the characters are older than the books intended audience. Even more critical is the absence of adults in any significant roles. Characters who act independently of adults is appealing to the young reader.
Series books are kept fresh by having different writers work on the books. Cultural likes and dislikes are also taken into consideration along with trends.
Series are a good place for a beginning writer to start. With the most popular series producing a book a month, the demand for writers is there. For the writer, there are many advantages in writing series books. There are other books for the writer to consult — the characters are already established and they are given an outline to follow by the publisher. If you think this may be something you're interested in, send for guidelines and other information. Happy Writing!!
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