Series Titles...

[-K2-]

Thought I'd ask the experts;

So here is my situation (and I'm trying to ask this so as not to infringe upon forum rules, so please bear with me);
I wrote what I initially planned on being a singular novel, and once through I decided to expand it to three. The first had a fitting main-title and a sub-title. I decided that I liked the main-title and could apply that to the other two by simply changing the sub-titles.

IOW:
XXXXX XX XX XXXXX
aaaaa aaaaa aaaaaa

XXXXX XX XX XXXXX
bbbb bb bb bbbbbbbb

XXXXX XX XX XXXXX
ccc cccccccc cc cccccc

Already I can see that I'm going to run this much longer into a series of novellas (which is a LIE, I try writing a short story and 100k-words later I say "the end" ), so more than likely novels. However, in the next 2-3 after those original 3, I'll be changing the main-title and naturally the sub-titles, and so on.

IOW:
XXXXX XX XX XXXXX
aaaaa aaaaa aaaaaa

XXXXX XX XX XXXXX
bbbb bb bb bbbbbbbb

XXXXX XX XX XXXXX
ccc cccccccc cc cccccc

YYYYYYYYY YYYYYYYY
aaaaa aaa aaa aaaaaa

YYYYYYYYY YYYYYYYY
bbbbbbb bb bbbb bbb

ZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZ
aaa aaaaa aaaaa

ZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZ
bbbbbb bbbb bbbbbb

So what I'm looking to do is find a way to tie them all together (in that they're continuations of the original story), and this is what I came up with:

WWWWWW WW WWW WWWWW WWWW
presents:
XXXXX XX XX XXXXX
aaaaa aaaaa aaaaaa

WWWWWW WW WWW WWWWW WWWW
presents:
YYYYYYYYY YYYYYYYY
aaaaa aaa aaa aaaaaa

WWWWWW WW WWW WWWWW WWWW
presents:
ZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZ
aaa aaaaa aaaaa

Does that seem to you to be a reasonable way to do it? Is there another way you might suggest? (hope that's not too confusing).

Thanks for any advice!

K2

 

[Brian G Turner]

what I'm looking to do is find a way to tie them all together

I should think that comes under your author name.

 

[-K2-]

I should think that comes under your author name.

Just so I understand, are you suggesting:

XXXX XX XX XXXXXX
aaaaaa aaa aaaaaaaa

K2 presents (or other word)
WWWWWW WW WWW WWWWW WWWW

Thanks for your response!

K2

 

[Brian G Turner]

I mean, by these examples:

Series 1
Book 1
by Author Name

Series 1
Book 3
by Author Name

Series 2
Book 1
by Author Name

Series 3
Book 1
by Author Name

I would expect the blurb for the first book in any new series to describe very briefly how it relates to the others, ie:

"Two thousand years after..."

etc

 

[-K2-]

@Brian G Turner ;

Hmmm... I see what you're saying, and had intended on doing that nonetheless. That said, I'm still thinking I would like to have a common 'catch all' series title. One that very likely isn't upon the header/cover art, most definitely on the title page and would without question be used as the lead title in a general sweeping series introduction (that would be applied to each novel).

Does that make sense, or not really... Sorry that I'm just not getting it, I'm a novice at all of this and simply learning.

K2

 

[tinkerdan]

What I would suggest is

(in small print on the cover or inside and not on the cover)
Blah Blah Universe Novel
[this covers all books in the blah universe]
(in larger print)
Author Name
(In even larger print)
Present book title

(if there are other books in this series then in slightly smaller print)
Yada Yada (Series or Trilogy) [possibly include book number]


A. A. Author




Stunning Title
Stunning Trilogy : Book 1
A Blah Blah Universe Novel

Making the author and currrent title the prominent features

 

[-K2-]

Thanks for the input @Brian G Turner and @tinkerdan ;

Though it seems like jumping the gun I felt it would be wise to include it in the first, rather than have it be an afterthought in the second and beyond.

Any other thoughts and suggestions are welcome. Thanks again!

K2

 

[The Judge]

If it's of interest, Elizabeth Moon's 2017 novel Cold Welcome has Vatta's Peace: Book 1 on the cover and the spine, but nowhere either inside or out does it explicitly say it's taking place in the same world and with the same characters as the earlier books in what I see are called "The Vatta's War Series". Having said that, anyone who's read the original books will undoubtedly recognise the name of the protagonist and understand there's a connection, and the list of her other books has this one named directly under the War Series, implying the link.

Iain M Banks has "A Culture Novel" or somesuch on his covers, to show it's set in the same universe, but he doesn't have to worry about it being Book Whatever of the series, so there's more room to play with. The danger of shoving "A K2 Novel" on the front cover of your books is that you're already fighting for space with the novel and trilogy name and your name. It therefore might be best relegated to the back cover, eg for later books perhaps under a heading something like "Praise for previous books in the K2 Universe Series".

Inside, the Moon doesn't have any indication of the previous books on the title page, nor does it show that it's part of a trilogy there, it's simply the novel title and her name and the publisher logo, and then a second title page (there's probably a proper name for it) with just the novel title. I don't see why the Universe name couldn't crop up there, though. But also you'd want it on the list of published books eg :

In the K2 Universe​

​

The Terrific Trilogy​

The Terrific​

The Terrifying​

The Terpsichorean​

​

The Marvellous Trilogy​

The Marvellous​

The Miraculous​

The Manchurian​

​

Just one small point, a "general sweeping series introduction" sounds perilously like a long info-dump setting out your universe and all the characters/planets etc in it. Unless it's very short -- ie only a couple of hundred words so can fit easily on one page -- and very interesting I'd suggest you might want to leave that for any website you have where people can learn more about your worlds at their leisure. Long intros setting out whys and wherefores can be very offputting.

 

[Ihe]

If these are all going to be sharing a universe, just grab the most grand, recognizable, and interesting element in that world/set of stories, and use it as the umbrella title for all your books and series, like Bank's "Culture" novels.

 

[tinkerdan]

Ideally each story is going to be so complete that it won't matter that you leave out the excess descriptive titles and subtitles.

A.A. Author

Stunning Title

Should be all you need on the cover.
Anything else and you need to keep in mind that it will most likely clutter the cover. In fact, it will probably clutter anywhere you place it. So keep in mind what you need it for and go from there as to where you might want it to be.

This is a good question because I'm presently working on, and deciding upon, what I want to do with three novels I'm preparing for release.

I think that an established author with an established series or universe probably has more cause to want something on the cover--it might work as just a tagline that is only readable when the cover image is large enough to see the smaller print.

 

[-K2-]

Thanks @The Judge, @Ihe and @tinkerdan ;

Your points as well as everyone else's are noted and I'll weigh them all equally. Here is where I note that I didn't explain very well in my lead post.

The original novel set in 2029 is simply where the series starts. Regardless of the main-title and sub-titles, they're each a continuation of the first (in fact, the protagonist in the first will be replaced by the deuteragonist in the following, and will continue to be a steady figure (though not always the protagonist) in each following.

Perhaps a better way to say it would be; Novel No.1 is 2029, No.2 is 2030, 3 is 2031, 4 is 2032, etc.. They each are continuations of the last wherein there is a re-evolution of 'law enforcement' as the nation rebuilds itself. What I didn't want to do is insert this all inclusive series title on the cover (or if so have it be a small footnote at the bottom).

Thanks again!

K2

 

[Plucky Novice]

Hi K2,

I'm no expert either but if there is a common theme running through your books why not have a common theme running through your titles?

You could then keep it simple and just have a single book title on each one. The obvious example is "Harry Potter and..."

In your case you could use the year as the differentiator. E.g.

Enforcer 2029
Enforcer 2030
Etc

If you're feeling really bold you might just call the first book 2029, the second 2030, etc. I guess that depends on setting and plot and what you want to convey with the title.

 

[-K2-]

@Plucky Novice ;

I understand both points you're making, both valid and reasonable. That said, I'm really liking what I have title-wise and how I have it. What I'm unsure of is how to incorporate in that all inclusive series-title without overshadowing or dominating over the others.

Sorry this is not making a lot of sense, without disclosing the titles and the why of each it loses the logic of the series one (however that will have to wait until I reach enough posts).

K2

 

[-K2-]

@Brian G Turner ; Would you mind me zipping out a quick PM to you regarding this?

K2

 

[James Bridie]

Maybe it's just me, but it seems a lot of planning in advance before the first one is finished. If the first two or three are successful, then maybe everyone will already know these are in a series of sorts, and will know to anticipate the next one even if the X changes to Y. If the first two or three have less than stellar success, then starting afresh with a new YYY couldn't go amiss either - but when the Y series becomes super-successful, avid readers will be checking back the K2 back catalogue and make the connection that way?

 

[-K2-]

@James Bridie ;

I'll definitely consider that! Though if 1 & 2 were a flop I'd still run with 3-4 & 5 (in that I write these pretty much for myself, never having published anything past forum posting). Frankly, much of my stuff given the audience to date doesn't even get read (if it's (anything by anyone) longer than 1,000 words, it taxes the attention span of where I have typically posted. My stuff ranging from 40k-211k words). So it has never been much of a consideration, pass or fail wise.

That said, I think I'd still run with it in that it is entertaining to me... then again, grass growing to me is pretty neat In any case, I think rather quickly in a lot of detail. The last novel (in re-edit) at 90k+ words I pounded out over two-months, and with rough re-reads and edits actually only had all told perhaps a month of normal work hours into it.

So, as to planning in advance, my ideas and storyline already spans out I'd "guess" what would end up being 500k words. Sure it changes, adds and subtracts in the process, yet for the most part I have the entire storyline mapped out.

(JFTR, when I'm really focused, I'll actually perform math equations or sing in my head simultaneously 2-songs as I write... It helps slow down the ideas I have way out there before I get the sentence written I'm trying to get down).

Nevertheless, it's a suggestion worth noting, and I thank you for taking the time to make it. I'll keep it in mind!

K2

 

[-K2-]

So now back on this project, I think I've decided upon what I'm going to do... Yeah I know, you all have been losing sleep over it and chewing nails just waiting. Anywho...

Some background first (otherwise, I can't drag this out into one of my typically longwinded posts). Initially, the titles were going to run like this:

Title
Subtitle : Year
Series Title (in small print at bottom of the page)

Considering the suggestions above I have decided upon:

Title
Series Title : Year

I liked having the subtitles, like 'To Raze a Fallen Star,' 'Reaping the Harvest,' 'The Violence of Lambs,' etc., however, they were more when I was seeing "Lest ye be Judged" as a series title, to reside in the 'Title' slot. Once the series shifted tracks from a Dredd based deal to a whole new one, that's when forming a new series name and layout (with it at the bottom of the page) needed to happen. However, I think the new system will clean it all up.

So now it will run:

The Abolitionist
L... S... 2028

Lest ye be Judged
L... S... 2029

The Violence of Lambs
L... S... 2030

The Measure ye Mete
L... S... 2031

etc... (in that I've already thought it out 3-more novella/novels worth... At which point if it continues, I'd rather they run as novelettes).

So, now you can all rest easy, whew! Thanks for your help and letting me bounce ideas off of you

K2

 

[The Judge]

Looks fine to me, though I'd probably have the "L... S..." title in bold, too, just not as large as the book title. But I dare say you'll see how it looks when you're fiddling about with fonts and spacing and colours and shading and... (As far as I can see, writing the novel is the easy bit!)

 

[-K2-]

Looks fine to me, though I'd probably have the "L... S..." title in bold, too, just not as large as the book title. But I dare say you'll see how it looks when you're fiddling about with fonts and spacing and colours and shading and... (As far as I can see, writing the novel is the easy bit!)

Well, let's not get kooky now Coming up with the story and writing it out is one thing... Making it readable to anyone with a half-a-brain is quite another. Whole-brained people are beyond my grasp I'm afraid

In any case, I would layout the text exactly as shown in these two examples (so it is bold actually): To Cover Art or Not... With the exception of the date. The L... S... would be compressed to make room for it, and then the date's top edge will align with it.

EDIT: Here, I worked up a quick mockup of it instead;

Thanks for the feedback!



K2