Series vs Standalones

Even series writers crave variety

Welcome to the free newsletter of David (D. V.) Bishop, author of the Cesare Aldo historical thrillers set in Renaissance Italy. This time: Sophie Hannah’s sage advice.

How monogamous are you?

There are authors who write only single novels that tell a complete story and feature characters never to appear again – the literary equivalent of a one-night-stand. There are authors who write only series, each book containing a character or ensemble of characters who sustain novel after novel for years. Consider them monogamous.

Photo by Rafael Rocha on Unsplash

Lastly, some authors do both. They craft series fiction, but also grasp the chance to create standalones too. These writers shift happily back and forth, depending on what it is they want to write next. Sometimes that is driven by inspiration, sometimes by an outside suggestion, and sometimes by becoming a little weary with the familiar.

All three approaches have their pros and cons. A standalone is a kind of debut, a novel anyone can pick up without fear of not knowing what happened before. A standalone is a little like a lottery ticket, an opportunity to reach out beyond an author’s existing readership, to potentially find new readers and maybe more sales.

A standalone can be as experimental as the author wants; there’s no need to worry about breaking the boundaries of what readers expect, anything is possible. The book can be in a different style, a different genre, even for a different age group (an author of novels for adults switching to young adult, perhaps middle grade, or vice versa).

A standalone can be a calling card inside the industry. Few ongoing series shift from one publisher to another unless sales are blowing up or dying out. A smash hit might get headhunted by a new publisher, while a withering series can fall out of favour where it is and need to find publisher enthusiastic to continue with it.

Party of the first part

There’s another factor that shapes if an author might write a standalone: they are or soon will be out of contract. What does that mean? Generally, most authors will sign two-book contracts. That means their next two novels get released by that publisher, giving the author stability peace of mind. They are secure for a while.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

First contracts tend to be for an author’s debut and the follow-up book, regardless of whether the second novel is a sequel, part of a series in such way, or is a complete standalone. The deal done, the author knows what they will be doing for the next few months or years (depending on how fast they write and the publisher publishes).

Chances are, the publisher has a clause in the initial contract that you show them whatever you write after completing the books in that first contract. Pan Macmillan gets first look at my crime novels, for example. But if I chose to write a rom-com after Aldo 6, my agent could shop that around wherever. (Unlikely, but not impossible…)

A second contract mostly depends on sales of the first book in your initial contract. If it did well, another contract is likely. If it was an unexpected smash, the terms should be better; if expectations were missed, a new contract will be much harder to secure. Not just at your current publisher, either – all the publishers can check your sales.

As an author, you are basically as good as the sales of your last books or two. Winning a big prize certainly helps when it comes to negotiating a new contract, more so if that prize gave sales or overseas rights deals a boost. But, realistically, few publishers keep giving contracts to authors whose books struggle to break even.

Sophie Hannah’s sage advice

This summer I’ll deliver my sixth Aldo historical thriller. Once that’s accepted, I shall be out of contract and must decide what to write next. I have plans for Aldo books seven and eight, both of which I’m eager to tackle. But I will have written six of this series in succession and there’s a golden opportunity to mix things up.

Should my next novel remain still have a historical setting? If so, will it take place in Renaissance Italy or a different time/place? Would I rather write a contemporary crime novel, or switch to a different genre altogether? But if I jumped to a new time period or to modern crime or to another genre, would my readers follow me?

It often said there is not much crossover between different genres. Some readers are faithful to favourite authors no matter what they write, but that is far from the majority of them. If I swapped historical thrillers for dinosaur erotica I doubt many readers would follow (don’t worry, I suspect that is a very unlikely switch!).

Last year I subscribed to the High Five Festival, a series of online coaching events for writers run by the wonderful Sophie Hannah. She runs a much longer programme called Dream Author that has helped dozens of writers unlock their potential or level up their careers. The High Five Festival was a taster for that, and proved very helpful.

During one coaching session I asked Sophie what I should write after Aldo book six, outlining my ideas without extraneous context. Her response was essentially this: ignore industry wisdom and commercial imperatives. Write the project you are most excited about writing. Then, whatever happens, you’ll still love that project.

I’ve had two particular settings rolling around in my head. Both show potential, but one demands a terrifying amount of research and I’m not sure there’s a market for the other. The good news is I have a third idea, and it is the one I am most excited about: a standalone novel featuring Aldo’s frenemy, Contessa Valentine Coltello.

A Contessa standalone would be different from the Aldo novels. The tone would be lighter, for a start (Aldo book six is proving rather Gothic). They’d be written from a single narrative perspective – that of the highly unreliable Contessa herself. I’m picturing the novel as an excerpt from her memoirs, leaving the potential for more…

Of course, that’s all in the future. Right now I have Aldo book six to complete, and then the rest of 2025 must be devoted to my PhD. June 2026 is the final deadline for that, and I am not under-estimating how much work lurks ahead of me. At least it will give me a chance to correct some of the glaring errors in City of Vengeance. Onwards!

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