Suggestion to authors

[whitearrow]

I agree, I really like to see this for series books. I'm reading Conn Iggulden's Rome series right now, and I've had to scramble around trying to figure out the order. In my experience, fantasy and sci-fi books generally tend to be better about this than, say, historical fiction.

[queentess]

Originally Posted by speedlever

Hmm. Interesting. When I went to his Kindle link in his sig I didn't see that info. Looks like I picked a bad example!

Amazon doesn't always list the series or the book number in that series. You can submit to Amazon a requested change where you can ask that the series name and book number be included in the product name. I've done it before and they've updated it.

However, for some series there are many different orders in which to read the books. I prefer to read mine in chronological order of publication. But you could also read them in internal chronology (for instance, if the author later writes a prequel). And if different series overlap and intertwine, sometimes it's ideal to read books from other series to get the full internal chronology.

Like other above, I usually rely on the wiki page for the series. If I'm in doubt, I'll start a thread here in the Reading Recommendations thread and ask for a suggestion on reading order, or I'll ask people over at goodreads.com.

[DiapDealer]

Like I said in the other thread; "Write more stand-alone novels"

I just get so tired of trying to find new books/authors to read (especially SFF) when almost everything seems to be "book x of y." The "Series" needs to be the exception rather than the rule.

[speedlever]

Well how about stand alone series?

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by speedlever

Well how about stand alone series?

Then you have to worry about which SERIES to start with... "can I read THIS series before THIS one?"

Then if you bring the whole "Shared Universe" concept into the mix... you've got Canon to worry about.

I don't mind the occasional series... I just don't want to have to do an hour's worth of internet research before I make a purchase. Like someone else said... if I can't tell at first glance where to start reading... I'm probably going to pass.

[speedlever]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

snip

I don't mind the occasional series... I just don't want to have to do an hour's worth of internet research before I make a purchase. Like someone else said... if I can't tell at first glance where to start reading... I'm probably going to pass.

That's a good counterpoint to LJ Sellers concern.

[starrigger]

I see my name being taken in vain.

First of all, thanks for raising the issue. It's an important one for authors and publishers to keep in mind. Second, thanks to the folks who pointed out where that information is available about my books. I always try to make the information clear on my website. But I know potential readers aren't necessarily looking at my website.

Sometimes it's a bigger challenge than you'd think. For example, my Star Rigger books published by E-reads are clearly labeled Star Rigger 1, Star Rigger 2, etc. on their website. And I was pretty sure that information also carried over to the listings at some stores. But it doesn't at Amazon, and now I see it doesn't at Sony, either. It does at Fictionwise, but not at Baen. I don't know why, but it can be devilishly hard to get the information you want to show up, to show up.

When I repubbed my Chaos books at Kindle and Nook, the publisher interface asked for series information and numbers, etc., which I provided. When I look at the Kindle product page, I cannot find that information. At Nook, I can find it but I have to look for the fine print in the product details. I could incorporate it into the title, but then the title becomes unwieldy.

I was able to solve the problem partly for my Chaos books by issuing an omnibus called "The Chaos Chronicles: Books 1-3," which is currently my best selling title.

Further complicating the issue, by the way, is the difficulty of indicating whether you really need to read the books in sequence. In my Star Rigger series, for example, only the two dragon books are sensitive to order of reading. The others you can read in any order you like. (Someday, when I have the rights back, I'll probably make an omnibus of those two books.)

Anyway, I sympathize completely with your plea. But sometimes it's harder than it looks.

[starrigger]

P.S. Again, this depends on someone actually going to my website, but on this page, I've tried to lay it all out as clearly as I can: http://www.starrigger.net/ebooks.htm. I'm open to suggestions on ways to improve it.

[L.J. Sellers]

And if an author puts up a backlist of books all at once on Amazon, for example, the publication date is no help at all.
L.J.

[speedlever]

Thanks for stopping by Jeffrey. Hope you didn't mind being used as a (bad) example for my point. I raised the issue about going to the author's site but then I used your Amazon author site to illustrate my point. Bad form on my part.

BTW, I d/l a sample to check out your work.

Edit: going to your linked site, I have no suggestions to improve. It's very clear what order the series are in. Nice job.

[mish]

Originally Posted by L.J. Sellers

I recently did just this, adding the number in the subtitle. So now, for example, Secrets to Die For has the subtitle "Detective Jackson Mystery #2." I did this as a convenience for readers, but I'm watching my sales to see if it has a negative effect. I worry that some readers who might be attracted to a single book or title might change their mind when they realize it's the third in a series. Which is why bookstores and publishers do not like to have the number on the book. It's a risk. As information: All my Jackson books can be read as standalones.

But think of how PO'd they would be if they bought the book first then discovered it was part of a series.

Also, I don't think it is a problem for your genre. Much like paranormal romance and fantasy, mysteries very often come in a series and I think most mystery readers expect it.

[DiapDealer]

Much like paranormal romance and fantasy, mysteries very often come in a series and I think most mystery readers expect it.

Expectations can kill.

I hate that a series is "expected" in my favorite genres -- SciFi, Fantasy and Mystery. Even my favorite authors of all time are hard-pressed to hold my attention with the same characters/worlds beyond two or three books. My penchant has led me to writers like DeLint, GGK and Tim Powers, so I can't really complain, but they don't exactly fill my allotted reading time.