To Be Continued . . .

“I started with eight books—that was as many as I had in me,” Osborne says. “Then I started visiting kids in schools. I would talk about the series and have them vote on places they wanted the [characters] to go. I got tons of letters and the enthusiasm inspired me to do more. I got so excited about all the possibilities. I’m now up to forty Magic Tree House books.”

Another series aimed at young readers (seven and up) is the Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi. It tells the story of three siblings coping with their parents’ divorce while out-maneuvering faeries, goblins, and other spritely creatures. The series launched in 2003 and includes five chapter books, most recently Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles: The Nixie’s Song released this month.

“One thing I really focused on was making a book pitched younger than a lot of the fantasy coming out at the time,” says Black whose previously published fantasy novel, Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale, and just-released Ironside: A Modern Faery’s Tale are aimed at teenagers. “We wanted to make this accessible to younger readers.”  

Black and illustrator DiTerlizzi, who hails from picturebooks, met in the middle to create the petite editions, which run about 10,000 words each and with the shorter, more condensed story arcs that are increasingly popular with publishers.

How Authors Choose Your Adventure
How do series authors manage to keep their books fresh over the course of several books? Strong characters and convincing settings often help hold together multiple plots and editions.

“One reason the series is a joy to write is because I change the environment with every book,” says Osborne who sends her characters to different lands and times in each book. “I don’t think I could have done it if I were writing about same place each time.”

“The characters are everything,” says Black, who stays fresh by working on multiple books at the same time. She wrote Ironside, for instance, while also working on a Spiderwick book.

Aging characters is another way authors keep things interesting. “I knew I wanted to take Percy from age twelve to age sixteen,” Riordan says. “I didn’t want him to get much older than that because that’s the age group I know.”

Riordon uses foreshadowing to give readers room to imagine their own scenarios for the characters, but also to keep them coming back. “I’m pretty evil with cliffhangers,” he says. “The second and third books have satisfying conclusions, but include little teasers. The main trick with a series is keeping it fresh and knowing when to end it.”

If a writer wearies of the characters, readers will invariably sense it. “It’s important to say, ‘This is the end,’ and end on a high note,” Riordon says. “The last thing you want is Percy Jackson number 25—oh, here comes the minotaur again.” Which may explain why Riordon’s Olympians series will end with book number five, due out in the spring of 2009.