Writing series can be a great way to level up your author career, create a more stable writing income, and create a devoted fanbase. It's also challenging, and can be overwhelming if you're not prepared. Series authors need to consider many things that standalone title authors don't have to worry about. And everything is exponentially more complex once you're tackling more than one book! You might be wondering:
What kind of series should I write? Which details do I need to keep track of? How much advance planning should I do? Is publishing strategy different for a series vs standalone titles? How can I get the most bang for my buck in marketing and promotion? Experienced series author Crystal Hunt will help you answer all these questions and more with this combination strategy manual and exercises that will get you applying what you've learned to your own series project.
Whether you're a seasoned series author, or just starting to explore your options and thinking a series might be a good next step for you, this book can help you write and publish your series smarter from ideas through publication and promotion!
This is the third book in the Creative Academy Guides for Writers series. Be sure to check out the rest of the guides for writers in this series.
Scrappy Rough Draft by Donna Barker Build Better Characters by Eileen Cook Strategic Series Author by Crystal Hunt
Writing and marketing a book series (versus a stand-alone book) presents unique challenges. The Strategic Series Author by Crystal Hunt identifies and addresses those challenges with a cornucopia of tools, resources and encouragement. Whether you’re writing a series by design or by happenstance, the Strategic Series Author will set you up for success.
This was one of those non-fiction books that just isn't for me. The Author's approach is very different from how I think and work and I had trouble getting into the book. It just made me antsy with how the book kept focusing on everything you had to track. The focus also seemed to be more on the practical parts of writing a series and I hadn't expected that.
The first one third is basically about how to set things up for success with your systems. Make sure you have a way to track things and it's chapters and chapters about what to track and ideas for how. Everything from how to back up your work, how to title it and then how to plan your series, plot etc and how tot rack everything about your characters, time line, places, world and more. If you're someone who likes tracking everything and wants ideas for how to do that this book will be great. I scrolled through the rest of the chapters and there just wasn't much that caught my eye, the publishing and marketing stuff is a lot of what I already know, so i just decided to DNF this one. Sadly another case of a book that just isn't for me.
My copy of Strategic Series Author is now dog-eared and highlighted (colour-coded) more than any other reference book on my shelf. My non-fiction book was released with a traditional publisher, but I still have a long list of responsibilities for which I have no experience such as keyword selection, expanding into new formats (ebook, audiobook), garnering book reviews, book promotions, marketing et al. Who better to learn from than a highly motivated and successful author who has published more than 40 books, single-handedly overseeing all aspects from book conceptualization to production to cutting-edge marketing. This is the stuff one can only learn from trial and error, unless they reap the benefits from someone who has tried, erred and paved their own way to success.
If you're ready to take the plunge in self-publishing, consider writing series. Crystal Hunt not only explores the reasons why series are a genre author's best bet, but also navigates the waters of the business end of publishing and takes readers along on her journey. With this guidebook, newbies to self-publishing can avoid the pits and traps that inevitably come with flying blind. Can't wait to apply all the knowledge I've gleaned from this gem. Can't wait to order the rest of the books in Hunt's series for authors. Highly recommend for any writer looking to take the next step with his/her novel--something in here for any level of aspiring novelist, from those just starting out to those ready to publish.
Not just series either but in general if you want to be a career author you should have this book!
That said know this is mostly about systems to have in place, how to set goals, how to choose publishing paths, launching and marketing books.
This is not going to show how to plot or outline a series but it will show you everything to have in place before you start writing a series to not lose your mind!
She also gives access to a bunch of resources and recommends books that are more on the craft than the system and business this book focuses on.
I will be referring to this book constantly as I write and publish. And it is going on the list of books I think every writer should read!
I'm a writer working on my first book and have been devoting some time each day to read craft books. This one is a gold mine of helpful advice and useful resources. It's organized and written in a way that is incredibly clear and simple so you can soak up every precious grain of knowledge. I love that the author takes the time to separately advise new authors like me and already established authors in each section so everyone gets the advice and information they need for their experience level. I rarely give out 5 stars but this book helped me too much to deserve any less. I'm now going to go read the rest of the series!
This book is an excellent resource, packed with information and additional resources to pursue. The content includes everything from planning your series through marketing after the books are launched. It's easy to understand, and the tone is warm and interesting. I wish I had this book before I published my first boom because I think the advice makes sense and will be super helpful once I put it into action. Now that I have finished my first read through, I intend to go back and work through everything.
Crystal Hunt has written a thorough and invaluable guide for anyone within or beginning the process of publishing a book series. She lists a myriad of possibilities for each step of the process (and I mean EACH step—steps that I wasn’t even aware of!), tools to accomplish those goals, checklists and “your turn” sections where you can apply what you’ve learned. I have a feeling I will be revisiting it many more times as I travel this road. And I can say, for as daunting a road as it can be, it is a comfort to have a book like this to clear the scary fog of the unknown.
This is the most comprehensive book on series writing I’ve ever read. Crystal Hunt takes you through just about every aspect of the author business from the specific lens of a series writer.
You’ll also get your deep dive into the different types of series, how to choose what’s best for you, etc., but this book goes so much deeper. Color me impressed.
I’ll definitely be checking out more books in this series based on the insane quality of this one.
This book will save your author life. Crystal Hunt has laid out my writing plan for my series. I was feeling overwhelmed by all I needed to know and do. Wellll as all the new knowledge in setting up an author brand. A lot of things that she wrote technically in her book I understand but doubted my feeling of How I can get everything I need done. This is the best refer guide I have read or studied so far. I' m a new unpublishedF author. Crystal's book gives me .ore faith if I follow each step she laid out I will be a success.
This “how to guide” for thoughtfully planning the writing, publishing, and marketing of a novel series is full of information, insight, and experience. You will learn a great deal while comfortably cruising through the pages. I know it will prove invaluable as I plan and create my fiction series. It is my intention to explore other volumes in this teaching series as well. If you want to write and publish a book series, you must read this.
Helpful for those looking to write or grow their series
I have written stand alone novels but want to try a series. This book was just the guide I was looking for. The information in this book is broken down in helpful chunks. I read it through as she suggests and I will be going back to re-read parts, like the marketing section, when I get to that point. There are suggested action steps at they end of every chapter that focus on your current stage.
Crystal is one of the smartest self-published authors in the market today. Her book is full of honest tips and ideas that will help any writer make the decision of whether to self-publish or go the traditional route. I love her business webinars on the Creative Academy, and the book provides a handy record of her best ideas and suggestions. Highly recommended.
I’m really glad I read this book before starting to write my first book series. The book points out to a lot pf details I hadn’t consider that are very important. If you’re planning on writing a series, do yourself a favor and read it. It also has some great goodies to help you organize!
I loved this book! I have been slowly working my way through this craft book the last few months and each time I’ve picked it up I’ve had something tangible to do with my writing project. I definitely recommend every new series writer to read this one. I am working on the first novel of my series and it has been so helpful.
This is one heck of an awesome read, not just for anyone writing a series or a stand alone, packed with tonnes of how toos and interesting information for all aspects of novel writing. I would totally recommend this boom to everyone contemplating writing a series and wished I'd read it before I published my first book.
No matter what stage you’re at in your writerly journey, I highly recommend giving Strategic Series Author a read. Prepare to highlight the majority of text and take notes, because this is pure gold!
I love this book. Such an awesome resource to have if you're considering writing series. Some stuff i was already doing but a lot of it was new info. Plus the creative academy is an amazing resource. Will definitely be reading the rest of the books in this series.
This had some good information but felt like I was reading someone's transcription of a podcast or powerpoint. Light and conversational but not earthshattering information. Lots of things I read, I jotted down to research in more depth later. Good starter book for new authors.
I couldn't believe how much information is included in this book. If you're serious about building a career as an author, this is a must read. It's easy to understand with clear examples and tons of business building advice. I loved how the author used many examples from her own career as well as many other authors. I'll definitely be revisiting this as I progress with my books.
This was exactly what I needed to figure out what to do with a bunch of chaotic book ideas I had no idea how to tackle.
Let me tell you this book will blow you away if you need advices on how to prepare, plan and publish a book series that will rock your author's life.
I cannot say enough good things about this book. I was offered to beta read the book and I am very happy I accepted.
'Strategic Series Author: Plan, write and publish a series to maximize readership & income' covers everything you need to know in order to set up your series for success.
One of the most valuable things in the book is the way is organized. It contains short, digestible chapters that always come with a different resource you can use to jump start your author's carrier. It forces you to ask yourself questions and to answer at your very best. It invites you to think hard, before doing anything you might regret. It is designed to save you time and to avoid mistakes.
The author's first-hand examples and case studies were also very helpful to get a general idea on what works and what doesn't when it comes to plan a successful book series launch (or relaunch).
If you're thinking of writing and releasing a book series, look no further. Strategic Series Author is the book you ought to have in the most visible spot of your bookshelf.