On Continuities, Series and Related Books

What a great question! I can find myself bounced right out of book by all kinds of little things. When a group of authors are working together I think it is very important that they are communicating well about where they are going so that timelines are moving forward. Do I think it indicates whether a team is working well together? I had not given this much thought, but at the least I would say that the editor is not paying as much attention to the little things as I would like. Who leads this team of writers? Is it one editor, is it a designated author?

There is one series I have been reading that includes 12 books. As long as each book is moving the back story forward and focuses on one couple I'm happy. There is another series I started forever ago and it is still going on. I no longer run right out and buy the newest book in the series and the ones I have are hovering at the bottom of my TBR pile. Can I stick with a series? I guess it depends on the series, but I don't think I have unlimited patience with a series.

This is a great question!!! I do notice. The two best series in terms of continuity that I have read are Secrets We Keep (HR) and the MR series Crocodile Creek. It is possible I miss tiny things but I just had this strong feelings that the authors incorporated the mini-series theme into the heart of the book instead of it just being a gimmick or plot device. I also liked the Dark Enchantments Nocturne series very much because they were thematically united so a timeline wasn't necessary for it to feel like a series.

In general, I like series but they irritate me a lot if they feel like a marketing gimmick rather than an organic series. I get resentful almost when I feel like it series are now the norm, esp. in long books... on the other hand, I am so looking forward to the next book in Beth Ciotta's Evie and the Chameleon Chronicles I can't stand it! I like the idea of series like Hotel Marchand and the Athenas very much but I like to be able to buy them all at once . I do not mind a mixed timeline when a second book goes back in time but sees the same event or part of it from another perspective or character's viewpoint. I actually love those very, very much. Mysteries are a great genre for many books because it's great to see sleuth solve more than one case, the more different the myseries, the better somehow.

What really IRKS me is when I discover a great series in the middle and I cannot purchase the first books from the same source if I am buying direct from the publisher. I am still annoyed about the Steeple Hill series Secrets of Stonely. I got all but one of them ( he first).  If books are going to be marketed as series, let the readers be able to buy the complete series all the way until through the publishing or shelf life of the last book. For new romance readers, the series thing is enough to drive a shopper crazy. 

I do not know the exact number of books is ok or too many but there can be too many.  Hannah Howell, I would like to read her someday maybe because she writes Medievals. My reaction, however, when I see HIghland this and Highland that in this long list of titles...well, I just feel too overwhelmed. Where do I start? Which are Medievals? I feel dread when I see this long list and I have no idea how they all relate.  I do not want to read her entire back list ---I just want to try her but so far I am too overwhelmed by the list.

I know the series thing is often a marketing thing, esp. seeing how MANY books are series. I guess for me it boils down to the question---is it an organic connection or a marketing one in name only. I would like marketing to address very much or keep in the back of their minds is the new reader ---a reader new to an author, a line, or even the entire romance genre. How do we best sell and market books/series to the newbie as well as the established reader and to keep that in mind through the entire series.

Great question Penn!

Me, I love a series.  Can't say I always notice the mistakes.  The ones I usually notice are wrong names and ages.  I would think most mystery lovers like book series, as most are written that way.  I also think a series can go on a fairly long time, as long as the main secondary characters are strong and new ones are brought in occasionally.  One of my new fav authors in mystery is Stuart Woods.  He has 4 series at this point, plus singles.  And he tends to combine the series, which I find very cool.  And you never know which characters from a previous book will appear. 

I guess it all comes down to personal preference.  Obviously series work for a fairly large number, as you see plenty of them out there.  I went to a Q&A Nora Roberts did a couple of years ago, and she said people always write to her asking for more books to either a series she's completed or some of her single stories.  When she's done, she's done.  And that night, at least a half dozen people asked about continuations on previous stories.  Which lead to that response.  You'd think they'd be happy with her In Death series, huh?

for that kind of thing. Some people love a spell checker but it's
not an oracle just a tool, and the predictive text thingy drives me
crazy

I don't mind continuities as long as the details are well done. One which I feel has been way overdone is the Montana Mavericks

Debbie - I can't imagine leaving one of Vaughn's books just sitting in my TBR and not finishing the Madonna Key series

Bad
style tends to get me more than occasional typos. As a translator I
tend to have a thesaurus beside me when I'm rereading, but maybe style
doesn't get taught in school any more. I mean I like Lora Leigh's
writing, but adjust, adjust and adjusted in three consecutive sentences
- that's just plain laziness (the editor's if it happened to slip by
LL's vigilance ).

Must go back to adding book reviews, now that I've filled in the gaps

Hugs

Sadhbh 

I am a series slut.  Love them.  However, I have gotten away from some of the multi-author series as there were too many errors in them. These 12 book series just are so large that the interconnection between authors just isn't there.  Madonna Key was an awesome series, you could just tell the authors totally worked together.  As for single author series books, I love those.  Getting glimpses into other couples' HEA, seeing the occasional small hiccup and how they deal with it. As for single couple series, it totally depends on the author - now I love the In Death series, but a big part of way is the growth of the characters, they all are constantly learning.  I walked from the Kay Scarpetta series partially because the characters never changed, Marino was a prejudiced annoying man, who never seemed to learn from his failures and I swear no one was ever happy.  I am also hesitant to read them when they never move the couple along - I can deal with a couple of books of are they or aren't they, but then I want it decided and please don't bring in someone else to muddle up the waters unless you plan on dealing with it within a book or two.

That's just my opinion though.

Cady

The their for there, or to for too, type errors I've blamed on proof-readers, or editors for not picking up on that error. Now (Penn was it you?) introduced the possibility of it being a printer (A PRINTER?) running a spell check. What the heck is a printer running a spell check for. Those errors can bounce me right out of the book for a few minutes, but I've never blamed the author for it. If I was in that author's shoes I would be so annoyed.

DH works for a big company that do the on board calculators and computers for Airbus

one
of their divisions is the Air Traffic Management division but because
the French language has a word "trafic" (which does not mean traffic),
the printer changed the English spelling to the French one

Great advertising - NOT - for a company's quality dept when the English, American and Russian bigwigs visit

I agree with you all that it shouldn't happen, but should not and does not are different tenses

I'm a sucker for the continuities, too, but the quality can vary wildly. The Ashtons a few years ago was great; I find the Fortunes overrated; and Harlequin has a weird habit of wrapping up the overarching story in Book 8 and then Books 9-12 are extras. Someone running spellcheck explains a lot of the stupid typos. In the first line of BREATHLESS they actually spell it Marine CORP! They may be trying to save money on proofreading that way, but it's going to piss authors off, something no decent publisher should want to do.

Sadhbh ... maybe you should suggest that to Lorie for a new challenge over on her Mini Challenge thread

I have quite a few series that I've been putting off and really should get into

great idea!

The only continuity I read straight through was the Fortunes one, but it was a couple years back so I don't remember if I came across many errors.

I enjoy reading series books.  I like revisiting characters and/or themes.  As for the length of the series, it depends on how well I like the characters, if I feel the same issues are being repeated (bc you're right, enough is enough), etc.  And I can (even prefer to) read several in a series or by the same author in a row.

One-reason-the-Elliotts-worked-so-well

was-that-there-was-a-meeting-of-all-the

authors-and-a-'lore-Bible'.In-other-words,

they-had-certain-facts-about-all-the-characters

that-were-set-in-stone..Each-author-had-to

consult-the-'lore-bible'-to-keep-their-part

of-the-series-factual.

Aurelene

I think that some series can go on too long.  The Fortunes series just keeps going and going.  I enjoy the series like the Wingman Warriors by Catherine Mann where you get new characters but also get to see others in some books but not all.

 One of the best series I read was Family Secrets - They kept the story going and the characters doing the same things.