Interval Periods

I’ve written a couple of novels that are set up for a sequel – Akeldama, Salvation Day…even Homecoming and Wrongful Death could have further stories set in their universes, even though they’re not primed for direct sequels.  Yet there have, to date, been no such sequels published.  In fact, I’ve written only one sequel, and it needs a complete rewrite before it’ll be ready.  So why so long between sequels?

Before I go into that, just know that long lag time between related stories is not an uncommon thing.  Any Game of Thrones fan will be familiar with the long time since the last GoT novel came out and know that The Winds of Winter has been delayed so long that it may never be here.  Arthur C. Clarke wrote Rendezvous With Rama in 1973, and then waited 16 years before bringing out Rama II.  Harper Lee went over 50 years between To Kill A Mockingbird and Go Set A Watchman.  Interval periods exist, frustrating though they may be.

There are numerous reasons why periods between novels may be lengthy.  The biggest is likely that the writer got into other things and hadn’t yet a chance to return to the universe in question.  They could be writing other stories, raising their families, or working at other jobs to put food on the table.  As much as readers may wish that writers cater to them and their desires for more of their favorite stories, life happens.

Another reason may be that the writer hasn’t yet flushed out a story, or maybe even seen the need for another one.  Perhaps he or she felt the story had concluded(To Kill A Mockingbird) and felt pressured into another one through demand.  I know readers like to have this idea that writers of their favorite books have everything mapped out and planned, but that’s rarely the case.  Very often, even within a book I’m currently writing, I’ll remember a throwaway line or character I used a few chapters back, and that’ll become a new plot point.  Sequels are often the same way – the writer has a general idea of what to do, but the route to get there may be based on something in the first book tat was never meant to be much.

Of course, the danger in sequels taking too long is that readers may lose interest in the story.  The best time for publication is always when the public’s interest is at its peak.  Usually that is shortly after the original is published, but not always.  Maybe a book took a while before catching fire, so that’s when a sequel would be most appropriate.  Either way, public interest can be a key component of publication.

So don’t just assume the writer is stringing you along.  Maybe he or she is, but more than likely other stuff just got in the way.