Is it crazy to publish 16 thick books in 1 series?

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Question:

I am a young author of 15, i am currently writing a book that is looking pretty thick to me!. My story starts out with th main characters in preschool at the age of 5, (prodigy children you know), and i was planning to write the whole series in different grades at different ages until they were outta college, so that would be from preschool to getting out of college!. Is it crazy that i wanna do that and write someones whole life chronicle!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

I have to say the idea is crazy!.!.!.crazy enough to work!. I mean I wish there were 16 harry potter books but i think i would get tired of reading much less writing those mammoth volumes!.
and i don't know how reading about 5 yr olds can be interesting but I await the end result!.
it just depends on how good you are and i have to say you are quite good :DWww@QuestionHome@Com

Suggest you make at least your first book also a stand-alone book, even as it's part of a series!.
This is because no reputable publisher will give you, as a new writer, a contract for a series until the first one sells well!.

Ender's Game by Card is like that!.!.!. it won two awards in its field as a stand-alone and it reads well as a stand-alone, yet it's part of a larger series!. Because it was such a good award-winner (it really is a good book, and is also, interestingly, about child prodigies), Card could (and did) add as many books to the original as he wanted to!.!.!. I think Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow are enough, but will get around to reading at least Speaker for the Dead someday!.

Each of Card's books can be stand-alones, that I've read, and that is always a good thing when writing a series!. Not every reader will pick up the story at the beginning, and to keep up both sales and reputation, it's good to give each one enough leg(s) to stand on, alone!.
Best of luck!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

My gut instinct is that not everyone will find their lives as interesting - in that much detail - as you do, unless you are a truly spectacular writer!.!.!.

The advice about making every book stand alone is excellent too!. A publisher will have to have an incredible amount of faith in you before he commits to a series that long!.

You also might have a problem selling a book about five year olds (and a book about six year olds, and a book about seven year olds!.!.!.) to the same audiences that will buy a book about 21 year olds!.

My recommendation is that you just concentrate on the writing, for the moment (you're still young, after all, and probably still have learning to do) and see how it goes!. If you want to tweak things later to fit a different pattern, that's easily done!. You can waste a lot of time planning, and if things don't come to fruition or you lose your enthusiasm halfway down the line (it's a HUGE project after all) you may wish you'd spent your time differently!.

Good luck xWww@QuestionHome@Com

Yes it's crazy!.
Condense it into one book - maybe leaving the end open in a mysterious ending (like midlife in the characters lives)
This way - if you have a best seller!. Then you can do volume 2 and continue your story!.
Keep in mind - Even people who love to read, want to finish the book & get on to the next one!.
A good example - the Harry Potter books!.She could have just left it with one book!. The first one!.
Good Luck!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Sounds like you need to put down the Harry Potter!. Even in the fantasy genre, very few series go that far, especially with the same characters, without those characters being unchanging in the style of the Hardy Boys, Tom Swift, or some such!.

Odd are, no matter how fascinating your series is, it isn't going to be good enough to keep people through such a regimented and lengthy saga!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Sounds like a huge project to me, and I mean that for the reader!. If you've ever thought having the whole Harry Potter series on a shelf was intimidating!.!.!. It was for me anyway, having all those thick books together!.
Right now it sounds cute, but you run a risk of it turning boring, you know!? If you can pull it off, you could have a hit on your hands, though!. Start with your idea, and see how it goes!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Hmm!. I dont think thats a good idea (the 16 books part)

Some poeple dont like series that are so long like that!. Because they dont want to commit theirselves to such a long series

I suggest that you do Two grades in each book so you can go: PART ONE and PART Two in each bookWww@QuestionHome@Com