Planning a Novel Series: The Early Stages

Posted by Jennifer Mattern in Fiction

When I mentioned my plan to draft four books in eight months, I noted that three of those books would be fiction — mystery novels to be more exact. Those three novels are all planned to be in the same series. Today I’d like to introduce you to that series, how I’m going through the early phases of planning the mystery novel series, and why I’m hoping to draft multiple novels in quick succession.

Why Mystery Novels?

I’ve always had a passion for two genres of fiction: horror and mystery novels. I’d love to publish both some day, but my interest in mysteries is stronger at the moment. So that’s where I’m choosing to start. I actually have three other novels already outlined (70-80 pages each) — horror and comedy. But those are really better-suited to one-off projects. And I wanted to kick things off with a series. Mysteries are a great fit for that.

About This Series

While I’m not willing to give away the premise of the series just yet, I will tell you a few things:

• It’s tied to event planning (from my PR days, although far more fun than fundraisers and press events).
• It will be of the fun, quirky variety of mystery novels — nothing too dark.
• Research involves parties. What’s not to love about that?
• The series lends itself well to ancillary products which I intend to develop and sell alongside the books.
• While the marketing and distribution plan is far from finished this early in the game, I can tell you that it will involve heavy online and social media promotion, including blog serialization.
• Although I intend to take the indie publishing route for my nonfiction book, The Query-Free Freelancer, I do plan to pursue a traditional publisher for fiction.
• That said, if I don’t find a publisher or fail to find terms I feel are satisfactory, I have absolutely no objection to going the indie publishing route with these as well. I’m not someone who will wait around forever on a publisher. That’s a perk of having a strong online platform and a background in PR and social media specifically for creative professionals. I can “do it right” on my own perfectly fine, bringing in an independent editor, designer, printing company, etc. And let me tell you, that’s a nice place to be when you know you don’t have to fall in line with traditional publishing protocol. It would be nice, and that’s my preference. But I’m smart enough to keep my options open and not solely rely on third parties to make or break my business (or in this case my books).

That’s all I’m willing to spill on the series right now. I’ll likely share progress updates on the first novel’s first draft when I begin writing it in January. Between now and then I’m finishing some research and outlining the book.

Why Write Three?

Why would I plan to draft three novels in the series in such quick succession? Why not pursue a publisher for the first book before moving on to others?

Basically, I consider it all a part of the research. The last thing I want is to publish a successful novel and find out that my characters have run out of steam. For my own sanity I want to know that I have at least three good stories in me for those characters before I pitch the idea to editors.

So sure, it might sound silly to some. But I’m not exactly known for building a business just like everyone else. This is my process and it’s what I think will work best for me. And I’ve always been successful when staying true to myself. So that’s the plan.

Besides, there’s really no loss in my case should I draft three books and not find an acceptable publisher. As I mentioned, I’m fully prepared to go the indie publishing route if needs be. So those three books will be polished and released no matter what. The real question is whether or not I’ll actually finish three drafts in the time planned. And I really don’t know. As I mentioned at All Freelance Writing this week, I intentionally set extremely ambitious goals knowing that some won’t be reached. Anything else isn’t challenging enough to be worth pursuing. And setting those ambitious goals at least guarantees I’ll finish the first draft — the most important of course.

It’s still early. There’s still a lot of work to be done between now and beginning the first novel’s draft on January 3rd. But that’s the gist of the project and my plan for the next few months. I’d say “wish me luck,” but I’ve found hard work to be far more rewarding.