If you’ve hung out on the indie forums or listened to the various self-publishing podcasts, you might have heard of new authors finding success with variations of Liliana Hart’s “5 down and 1 in the hole” technique (summed up on Hugh Howey’s blog):
The idea is this: Annual releases are too slow to build on one another. And not just in the repetition of getting eyeballs on your works, but in how online recommendation algorithms work. Liliana suggests publishing 5 works all at once. Same day. And she thinks you should have another work sitting there ready to go a month later. While these works are gaining steam, write the next work, which if you write and edit in two months, will hit a month after the “hole” work.
I haven’t tried anything like this yet (I’m horrible at holding stories back — I haven’t even tried preorders, because I like to get a book out there to readers as soon as it’s ready), but because I’m fairly prolific, I’ve definitely seen how much easier it is to gain momentum (sales and readers) when you’re publishing regularly with a series. When I was publishing my Emperor’s Edge books, I tended to get new novels out about every six months, and even though I’m not writing more books in that series (there might be some spinoffs down the road) and the sales aren’t what they once were, those books still account for the majority of my income.
If I had it all to do over again, would I have held back and released the first few Emperor’s Edge books at all once? Probably not, but I’ll tell you what: I am planning to release the first three novels in my pen name project within a couple weeks of each other (and maybe a novella to boot).
Why?
I’m not planning to announce the pen name, at least not at first (if it fails miserably and gets straight 1-star reviews, I would like the privilege of being able to sweep it under the carpet!), so I’ll be starting from scratch. Not only that, but it’s in a cross-genre niche, which is going to make it tough for advertising (people who like X may hate the idea of Y mixed in and lots of people who like Y wouldn’t touch X with a 10-foot-pole).
In other words, I think it’s going to be hard to gain traction.
So my plan is to make the first book permafree, right off the bat. And, going on the assumption that there’s not much point of having a free book out if there aren’t follow-ups for people to buy, I’ll launch the second at $3.99 shortly thereafter. I’m also planning to take this opportunity to check out KDP Select/Kindle Unlimited (since nobody’s waiting for these books, I don’t need to worry about upsetting Kobo, iPad, Nook, etc. readers). I want to put a third book (which can be read as a stand-alone) into KDP Select at $3.99 to see how that goes. The novella may or may not go into KDP Select too. I want to see how the borrows work for me and maybe try the countdown deals and such.
Now that I’ve blathered about my stuff, I would love to share my thoughts on the pros and cons of following this multi-book launch strategy. I would also love to hear your thoughts!
Pros of Launching 3+ Books in a Series at Once
- Possibility to gain traction and reach a “tipping point” more quickly — In case you didn’t guess, Liliana Hart and her technique are on people’s radar because she gained momentum and sold piles of books that way. From Hugh’s post: “Lila Ashe, Jessie Evans, Cristin Harber, and Marquita Valentine, are just a few who have used the 5 down, 1 in the hole release schedule. These are authors who just got their start and are already making full-time wages from their writing. Does that mean anyone who does this will have success? Absolutely not. You’ve got to have great stories, catchy blurbs, professional covers, quality editing, and the right metadata. But you are sunk without these things however you publish. Having them should be a given.”
- Utilize the power of free or permafree right out of the gates — Having a single book out there and making it free can work, insofar as building an audience goes (make sure to encourage newsletter signups!). In a niche I watch, I saw a book with a hideous cover and a so-so blurb skyrocket up to the Amazon Top 100 during its first week out, thanks to the fact that Book 1 had been free and out there for a couple of years, gathering hundreds of reviews and who knows how many reads. But why wait to make money? If you publish a number of titles at once, you can make one free, plug/advertise it anywhere you can, and hope people will be dying to read the following one.
- Ability to more fully flesh out the world/characters before going live — Some people do a lot of pre-planning before jumping into a series, but if you’re like me, you might just do a quick outline and then get going. Sometimes little character quirks and interesting details might be worked in during the editing or as the series goes on. If you wait to release the series, you can go back and do major world/character changes to Book 1 if you think up something cool and new as you’re working on 3. By writing the first three or more books before launching, you have the leeway to go back and tinker.
Cons of Launching 3+ Books in a Series at Once
- If the first book bombs, you may have wasted a lot of time working on a series that’s never going to take off — We all like to think we’re brilliant and that everyone will love all of our books, but the truth is that some series do better than others and it can hard to tell in advance which ones will be winners. When you’re publishing your first novel, in particular, it’s tough to be sure if you’re ready. Sometimes the feedback on that first novel can be eye-opening (or slit-your-wrists depressing). Either way, it’ll probably be a learning experience.
- You don’t get to make any money for books that aren’t published yet — If you’re prolific, have a good day job, or have another series that’s already earning you an income, this might not be a big deal, but every month you sit on a title that’s ready to go is a month that title isn’t making you any money. Will the hold-and-release strategy end up making you more than if you’d put the books out as they were ready? Maybe so, but it’s a gamble, and if you’re not prolific and it’s going to take you years to get all those books ready to go… well, who knows if Amazon’s algorithms will work the same way in a year or two?
- By the time you get feedback on the first book, you’ve already published several more — Even though you might have more solid characters and worlds built up since you waited until you’d written a few books before finalizing and releasing any of them, publishing the first X novels in a series at once means that you can’t take reviews/feedback you get on Book 1 and make changes to the following books. What if you did something awful to a character that people hated so much it made them put down the book (and the series)? Or what if you focused on a character that didn’t turn out to be nearly as popular as some side character? This kind of thing might matter less in romance, where you’re presumably focusing on different heroes and heroines in every book, but in an epic fantasy series? You may very well want to take an unplanned path in the road, based on early feedback.
All right, that’s all I have to say on this subject until I actually try it out (October, I’m hoping!). Do you have any related thoughts or experiences? Please let us know in the comments.
For my new series, I’m doing something similar to what you describe above, just a little slower. First book in October, novella in December, sequel in February (or sooner) with another novella and the final book before I’ve hit the year mark. So it’s not five at once, but five in a year is the most I’ve ever published, and I’m curious to see if that makes a difference. I’m not going to limit it to KDPS, though, because I put the first Matt Archer book in select this weekend and I want to see if it does anything before limiting my distribution.
I’ll be interested to see how it goes! It should be easier starting over, since a lot of your Matt readers should check out the new series. In the one I’m working on, most of the books won’t need to read in any particular order, so that’s why I feel I can tinker with KDP Select with one or two titles without disrupting anything. I’ll most likely take them out after the 90 days and maybe cycle another title in at that point (if I’ve seen any point in having books in there).
Good luck with the new series!
I have wrote a series of four books, fiction, called the the Second American Revolution. Had great luck with Smashword and its distributors, but not so much with Amazon. Found Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn were best avenues to get the word out. Friends do spread the word if they like your writing. Downloads exploded when I got a write-up in hometown paper, but most local papers don’t review books. Number 5 will be ready by December.
Nice summation, Lindsay. I like your idea of having the one independent book to float in KDPS and experiment that way.
I’m doing a half-measure. Book one (permafree) and book two will be released the same day, then books three and four as they come. Hopefully no more than 6 months between the two.
Cheers, and good luck with the new series.
T
I’m trying a variation of that strategy: releasing book 1 in October, with another already written to be published in January. Then every three months, thereafter.
You’ve definitely converted me to the notion of writing in series.
What I’m wrestling with is how long do you slog through a series hoping that it catches on? So many writers talk about have four or more out before getting good results.
I think Tim McGregor’s idea of launching books 1 & 2 together, with the first being permafree, has merit. Readers who like the first one won’t have to wait at all to grab up the second, and they’re far more likely to give the series a try if the first book is free.
I often look at my own book-buying habits when musing about other readers. I personally hate series where the individual books leave you hanging. I’ll tolerate it later on in a series if I’m already deeply hooked (sound familiar?) but if the first book in a new series doesn’t stand well on its own, I’m very unlikely to buy the second.
UNLESS
The first book was stellar, and the second is ready and waiting for me to snatch it up.
Even IF the first book resolves most of its major plot issues, I’m far more likely to purchase a second book while still infused with the afterglow of an enjoyable read. If I have to wait a year or more, there’s a good chance I’ll have forgotten about that particular book/author.
All in all, I don’t see how releasing books as fast as a writer can produce them has any downside. (The assumption being the author isn’t publishing before the the books are ready, just to get them out fast.)
I’m planning to do pretty much what Tim McGregor says above with my new books. I’m in fact writing them for this purpose — my first book (which I published in July) is a literary fantasy standalone, so prime for a slow word-of-mouth type of thing. The new series are much more commercial (I hope). I’m going to do the first two together in late October/early November and aim for the third in December, then four through seven as they come. First will be permafree out the gate.
This is all predicated on my efforts on writing faster and plotting harder working, of course. But I am having a ton of fun — and finding the fast plotting comes better when I’m fully immersed in the story. So that’s something.
So my plan is to make the first book permafree, right off the bat. And, going on the assumption that there’s not much point of having a free book out if there aren’t follow-ups for people to buy, I’ll launch the second at $3.99 shortly thereafter. I’m also planning to take this opportunity to check out KDP Select/Kindle Unlimited (since nobody’s waiting for these books, I don’t need to worry about upsetting Kobo, iPad, Nook, etc. readers).
Lindsay, can you clarify the statement above for me? If you’re planning on using KDP Select, how will you get your first book priced FREE? My understanding is that it must first be FREE somewhere else, then Amazon price matches it.
Is this not correct any longer?
Hi Erainna, I’m only putting one of the three novels (and maybe the novella) into KDP Select. The first novel that kicks everything off will be available everywhere for free (and I’ll hope that Amazon won’t take too long in price-matching to free), and then the second one (also not in KDP Select) will be 3.99 everywhere. The one I’m enrolling in their program will work as a jumping-in point, so if people first stumble across it in KDP Select, it won’t matter that they haven’t read the others.
Thanks Lindsay for a quick answer and for clarification. I just wanted to thank you for your guidance and to let you know I think you’re an amazing author. I’ve even turned my hubby on to your books… 🙂
Thank you, Erainna!
I actually considered doing this with the series I’m working on, then I decided against it. I pretty much thought of all the cons you suggested and it was enough to deter me. It’ll be interesting to see how it works out for you, though.
I’m not a big fan of launching books in a series all at once, but I would launch them in successive months, the same time of the month. Say I have a trilogy. The first book comes out September 1st, with an ad in the back announcing the launch date of book two on October 1st, along with a snipped from the second book. October 1st comes along, and I launch book two, along with an announcement and snippet of book three. I would also take preorders on books two and three. Just a thought.
Dear Lindsay, reader feedback re: Cross genre novels and acceptance.
Isn’t the EE series a Steampunk/Romance cross?
I think it did pretty well, it certainly hooked me.
I was just thinking about about getting into some steampunk, and the first EE book was pretty attractively priced. I gobbled it so quickly, it wasn’t until I had finished the second and reread them while waiting impatiently for the third that I realized it was also a cross genre with the dreaded romance (dense guy here). Because what I came for was well done, and the other was well done as well, what could have been a bug definitely became a feature.
My conclusion, based soley on my own experience, is that if the cross genres are both well done, and marketed as A to the A crowd, and B to the B crowd, the work will be accepted, even more so for the depth that the cross genre gives.
I think that ebooks should be released on a quick schedule, and that if the author has to have some in reserve, before releasing the first, then that is the way to go. A book dump of all at once, seems a little overwhelming.
Just my reaction based on how I did react.
Also, when is new R and R coming out?
Thank you for the comments! The love story is secondary in EE and takes 7 books to get anywhere. 😛 I can advertise it as epic fantasy or steampunk. Even if it’s not a tidy fit for either of those categories, I doubt it’s going to offend readers of either.
The problem with most of the places where you can advertise is that your book has to fit nicely into one of the categories they have slots for. If it doesn’t, you’re basically just out of luck. I had this trouble with Wounded earlier in the year. Kind of a romance, but probably not romancy enough to plug it as one. Kind of a mystery, but pretty atypical for a mystery. Anyhoo, let’s just say that it’s easier when you write something that fits very well into genre expectations. 😀
R&R2 is with beta readers now. Hope to have it ready at the end of Sept/first week of Oct. 🙂
As a prolific reader who enjoys series and trilogies. I can offer some insight about my buying habits if that helps. I buy a book about every other day and sometimes read two a day on the weekend. I spend a lot of time waiting at soccer practice, appointments and such so I have lots of forced free time that I chose to fill up with reading. What is interesting is you reference the author Liliana Hart. I found that humorous as I have actually not read Liliana Hart’s novels specifically because there were so many published at once. It turned me completely off. I tried a sample of one, it had some grammatical mistakes and the choppy wording, and I’ve never looked back. Maybe the rest of her work is better, but I probably will not find out until a friend personally recommends them at this point. On the flip side, I have not bought books that were clearly part of a trilogy or ongoing series where there isn’t a second book (or clear plans to release a second book in the future) unless the first book was free. This is because I’ve gotten tired of trying new authors, falling in love with the work and then never seeing a follow up and the story wasn’t even close to resolved. Cliffhangers should be a no-no for newer authors early in a series unless you have already finished the next book! What hooks me with new authors is a free first novel (or part of a book set) and another book released in the series or at least on pre-order. Or a modest priced novel ($0.99 or $1.99) with a second novel already out there at a reasonable price (less than $4) also with good reviews. I do spend time going out to blogs and websites, so if there is a first book with good reviews and plans to release the next book in a month or two, then I may be willing to check it out. I no longer buy independent authors with the start of a series with one or two books who do not have a website/blog with recent updates. I may add them to my watch list, but as I’ve said, I’m tired of investing time/money/interest only to never see another book from the author again. So my advice to hook new readers in would be to have one book ready to be released after launching the first and have some details on your website/blog on the second book and hopefully the third. That way, you release the first book, get a little interest, hook them in with a quick release of the second book, but don’t wait too long for releasing # 3 either. There are many short attention spans out there. But there is no need and it is counterproductive to release 5 at once. Getting the flow going and the tub partially filled is good, flooding the bathroom is bad!
Thank you for the thoughts, Kelli!
I agree that as a reader, I’m unlikely to pick up a Book 1 if there aren’t a couple more out there. Book 1s just never seem to stand alone well in fantasy, laugh. I don’t want to wait who knows how long for the second to come along.
I suppose if the author has five books out when I discover him or her, it doesn’t matter one way or another to me if they were published in the last month or the last two years. I’m just glad that more are available if I like the first. 🙂
Thanks for this post, Lindsay. Always something new and interesting going on in the world of indie publishing. I think 2 points in particular would sway me against holding onto my books: the one that says “unpublished books don’t make money,” and the last one (how you can’t make changes to Books 2, 3, etc., if you do something in Book 1 that readers hate). Esp. the last one. I always like to learn from readers. One surefire way to keep them coming back is to give them what they want! 😀
The pros and cons are really strong for this. Usually when I read pro and con lists, I still have a gut feeling for one over the other – not so this time. Yipes!
Hi Lindsay,
I’m about to try this strategy out on Wattpad, (but releasing all the chapters at once) which I’ll be interested to find out how that works. I’ve found that with my other stories people have read the first chapter and then readings have trailed off, so I think this way people will be more likely to keep on reading. I know as a reader it can be frustrating waiting for such a small amount!
This is totally unrelated, but I was also wondering whether when you write you put the chapters in as you’re writing or do you read it through later and add the chapters then?
Good luck on Wattpad. I have heard that some people won’t wait to try a book there until it’s marked as complete. When I write, I focus on scenes more than chapters. I will make chapter folders as I go (in Scrivener), but I often end up rearranging things after the first draft is done.
Thanks!
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Hi Lindsay!
Thanks for posting this! Not having heard of Liliana’s method before, I’d planned to do what she is advocating. So it is very encouraging. Hopefully in November I will put out 4 novels. One will be a series. Two of the others will be series characters. Then I will hopefully have another two out in December. And then another in March. By then I’ll be retired and can devote my time fully to writing! At least that is the plan. It’s one way to dump the day job and write full time. 🙂
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. I have my first book ready to go, book 2 is drafted but not revised, and I’ve started drafting book 3. I’m going to hold on to book 1 at least until I finish the first draft of book 3, for the reason you mentioned — in case I think of something amazing for book 3 that I need to set up for in book 1. After that, I’m not sure if I”ll wait to release them all together or stagger them a month or two apart.
One point that someone on kboards raised that I thought was worth considering, was that you probably won’t get many sign-ups for your mailing list if you release them all at once. People sign up to find out when the next book will be out, but if it’s already out they’ll just buy it. That may not be the case if you have a long series, but in my case, with just a trilogy planned for my first series, it’s something to think about.
Right, I think part of the 5-1-1 strategy is to release the first few, but then keep releasing books regularly. If it’s a trilogy, then perhaps one each month or two would be a better strategy. There is something to be said for reader anticipation. 🙂
I’m wondering if the quick release strategy might make more of an impact in categories like contemporary romance where readers DEVOUR books and then move onto the next one quickly.
For series with readers who are a little more patient, like fantasy and sci-fi, I think that there may be more flexibility in this. I think if you write an intriguing world, people will remember it for a long time, and want to go back.
Susan Ilene (another veteran!) publishes slowly, 2.5 novels a year, and she is doing quite well in Urban Fantasy: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B0RSNG0/
Of course, Rosalind James does well in contemporary romance too: http://www.amazon.com/Just-This-Once-Escape-Zealand-ebook/dp/B0094KJ70G/
And she publishes “slowly” for that genre, 3 novels a year. She did START her series quickly though.
I’ll probably publish my next trilogy over the course of 3 months. It’s sci-fi romance, an even smaller genre than I’m in now, and I’m afraid if I don’t write them all at once I’ll probably lose my momentum.
Good point, C, and I almost mentioned that one of the perks of publishing more slowly and leaving readers on tenterhooks between books (muhaha) in a F/SF type of series, is that you get more engagement between readers and each other and between readers and you. I know I got a lot more fan art and the like when people couldn’t just run out and buy the complete series. I imagine there’s less of that with romances, where each novel is a complete story (in most cases).
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