The Second-Book Squeeze

[Peg Herring]

A comment from Dana on yesterday's post inspires today's topic: There is usually less time to write Books 2 through infinity than there was for Book 1. Book 1, according to the experts, is going to take an average of six years to get published. In those years we reread, rethink, and rework the thing, trying to get it just right for some agent or editor. Every word is considered, every sentence polished, at least if we're doing as we should.

Book Two starts the day Book One is sold, at least in theory, and can have anywhere from six months to two years' incubation. For authors with a hit series, pressure mounts to crank them out, and the result is often a little sloppy. The book I'm currently reading is well done for the most part, but there is the irritating tendency to repeat the characters' names too often, sometimes three times in one short paragraph. Since I am guilty of that myself, I know it comes from being plot-focused in early drafts. If it's still there in the final draft, I'm guessing that revision time was skimpy. Sadly, we can't count on an editor having the time to point such things out to us these days. More and more, the responsibility for a great second book lies with the author herself, no matter what the production schedule demands.

[I. J. Parker]

Not at all. Book Two starts when Book One is finished, regardless of its sales history.