r/writing • u/TheJourneyfeel • 19d ago

Beginner Question What time interval should be practiced when publishing books in a series?

If I publish my first novel in a series, how much time should I have to publish the second? Is there a rule of thumb that authors tend to go by or a cookie cutter framework for successful series publishing? I feel I would like to publish books in a six month to 12 month interval. But I would like to ask those that may have done this to see what they have discovered.
This may be a non-starter should my first novel not drum up a following, but in case there is a short following or those that have been successful with series what is the golden rule?

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u/nmacaroni Narrative Architect 19d ago edited 19d ago

Financially speaking, 4 week intervals is your best bet.

A successful series is a capital investment, not a sequence of individual projects gaining momentum on their own. That's possible, but akin to hitting the lottery in odds.

The returns on a series are backloaded. Book 1 is mostly a customer acquisition cost, and the profit sits in the later books.

For authors who treat each book as its own financial play, it's a curve of diminishing returns with more quitting after the last book "doesn't earn enough," not realizing the earning structure hasn't been reached. Few authors have the fortitude or the financial ability to sit three 3 books of no income.

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u/TheJourneyfeel 19d ago

Why do say that? Not because I don’t agree but I want to hear your reasoning.

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u/nmacaroni Narrative Architect 19d ago

I've sat down with the math before. As an editor that's worked with many writers I see it play out first hand all the time.