Writing a Children's Book

Lesson 7: Climax and Ending.

Specific Level - Series Fiction.

Quite a big percentage of the books published for children belong to series of one kind or another. There are several different types of series.

1. An author-driven series is instigated by the author, who writes more than one book about a character or set of characters or, occasionally, more than one book set in a specific place. Author-driven series come in four major types:

Authors’ Series 1 comprise books that are practically parts of the same narrative. They may be trilogies. They tend to end on cliffhangers. Most of these are conceived as series from the beginning.

Authors’ Series 2 comprise books about characters who grow older book by book. They might have one adventure in spring of one year, and the next will be later in spring, or in summer. They remember things that happened in previous books.

Authors’ Series 3 comprise books about characters who age slowly, if at all. Anthony Buckeridge’s “Jennings” is, I believe, eleven throughout the series. These characters may, however, remember previous adventures and may learn from experience.

Authors’ Series 4 comprise books about characters that never age, or change. If the characters in Book #1 are Mum, Dad, Jenny (5) and the baby, Jenny will still be 5 in Book #45, and the baby will still be the baby.

Authors’ Series 1 and 2 are the ones that show the most character development. Series with a great many titles (such as the “A-Z” series to which “The Orange Outlaw” belongs), cater more for readers who want the security of “knowing” the characters and narrative pattern rather than active character development.

Your chances of writing (and publishing) a series about characters you have developed depend greatly on luck, the current publishing climate (which changes all the time) and specific publishing guidelines. Some publishers seem to like series, because they see a ready-made readership forming, while others will be anxious to “see how it goes” with each specific book.

2. A publisher-driven series is instigated by the publisher, which decides to publish more than one book about a character or set of characters or, occasionally, more than one book set in a specific place. Publisher-driven series come in two major types:

Publishers’ Series 1 comprise books of similar length, written by different authors, using different characters. This kind of series might be given the blanket title “Tadpoles”, “Merry-go-Rounds” or “Lunchbreaks”. Sometimes these are called imprints rather than series.

Publishers’ Series 2 comprise books about the same characters, often written by different authors using an umbrella pseudonym. These series usually go under the blanket title of the protagonist(s) names. “The Hardy Boys”, “Blinky Bill”. The characters are usually invented “in house”, and then each writer is given a “bible” to make sure details are kept straight.

Occasionally, a publisher will spot a gap in the market and commission one author to write a series or trilogy to take advantage of this gap. Sometimes the guidelines will be very rigid, but now and again the brief will be vague and open to interpretation.

Series Advantages and Pitfalls.

Writing for a series has many advantages.

A successful series has a built-in readership base. This saves time for both author and publisher as a proposal can be made much more simply.

Many readers love series. They like to know what kind of book they’re getting before they begin to read.

There are also pitfalls in series writing.

Sometimes it is difficult to persuade a publisher to consider a new author-driven series. The reaction is likely to be: “Let’s wait and see how the first one does”. “Wait and see” can take two years or more, as first there is the wait for publication, and then the wait for the sales figures to come in. If the author has to wait two years to get the go-ahead for Book #2 in a JCB series, and then wait another year for publication, then the original readers will be nearing the end of their JCB reading level. Many will have forgotten Book #1.

Sometimes, authors set out to write what they believe will be single books, but then realise there is another story to tell. Again, it might be a problem to pitch a sequel to the publisher of Book #1.

For a fascinating look at the ways series fiction can be handled, go to Jim Mackenzie's article at http://www.penrithcity.nsw.gov.au/usrpag...

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