Stand-Alone Or Series

Have you wondered whether it's better to write a stand-alone or a series?

This is the third in a series of interviews with Lee Fodi, prolific and successful children's author. In this article, Lee chats about the benefits and pitfalls of writing a sequel.

WH: You have stand-alone books and a series. What are the challenges and advantages of each kind of writing?

Lee Fodi:When I first wrote Kendra Kandlestar and the Box of Whispers, I wasn’t sure I would write a sequel, but the response to the book was quite strong and I had a wonderful idea about where to take the series.

The challenge in writing the sequel, Kendra Kandlestar and the Door to Unger, was that I had to stay true to characters and events that occurred in the first book. There were a few things that I wished I had written differently in the first book if I had known where the overall story arc was headed. On the other hand, it was quite liberating to have this world, already created, that I could just revisit and romp around in. The stage was already set for me, not only in terms of the setting and the characters, but also in terms of the narrative style.

I plan to return to Kendra’s Land of Een again; there will be between three to five books in the series. The number will just depend on how much more readers want to hear about Kendra—and what kind of ideas are floating around in my coconut.

Read more from Lee Fodi...
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Should I Self-Publish Or Use A Trade Publisher?

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