Wednesday's Writer's Tip - More on Series - Connecting the books #MFRWauthor #Suspense #BooksWeLove

Whether there's a group of characters, a kind of plot or a particular setting when you're writing a series, letting the reader know there are other books they should read is a good idea. Sometimes when there's a trilogy a reader must read the first book before they read the second one in that series. So this is an easy thing to do, Just make sure you have Book 2 or 3 or 4 on the cover of the book or in your blurb.

There are other ways to do this particularly if there are books that rather stand alone but are part of a series. You could put a little forward in the book letting the reader know what went on in the other books of the series. This might work but it this is too long, the reader won't read past a few pages. I read a forward once that was setting up a book that wasn't part of the series but contained the back story of the half dozen main characters. I skipped that part and I don't think I missed it.

One way to bring attention to your other books in a series is to give hints about what went on before during the story but don't make them long. A character can see something that reminds him or her of what happened in the last book. There could be a conversation between two characters to give the information. Often the mention of a place used in a previous book will bring a hint to the reader there is a connection.

The purpose of these hints is to interest the reader in your other books in the series. So find a way to connect the stories and you'll maybe win a new reader or more.