Indie Author Sequels: State of the Art ~ by Charles Peterson Sheppard

     Planet of the Apes.  Harry Potter.  Star Trek.  James Bond. 

Godzilla.  What do they all have in common? You have to count the sequels on more than one hand, and in the case of Bond (23) and the big lizard (30), you’ll need at least four hands. Sequels, prequels, trilogies, series, and more recently “reboots” are the life blood of the film industry. 
      Nowadays, if a successful standalone film fails to have a follow-up something, it is considered a commercial failure.  How can this be, if the singular production is a blockbuster hit, some wonder...

In the film world today, it’s about revenue, not creativity.  It’s also about notoriously risk-averse investors, who prefer decent returns from low risks over huge returns from high risks. All the movie franchises listed above have had their hits and misses, but over the long haul, they serve as good investments for studios and producers (and notably, the lizard doesn’t even get paid, which doesn’t bode well for A-list actors in our new age of advanced CGI, but that’s another topic).  
So, what about sequels for authors, those eccentric people who write the books which help create so many theatrical franchises? Wherein lies the magic formula for their ephemeral success? Well, in most cases for bestselling authors, that formula is quite similar to that of movie studios. 

Seriously, it’s a very brave and unconventional A-list author who chooses to delay a sequel for a completely new novel, or dramatically change the cast from the original story. Bestselling novels operate under the same principles as blockbuster movies: big-name authors don’t want to wait too long; they don’t want to change too much.  Like film producers, publishing houses don’t want to risk losing audience loyalty to diminished interest, loss of novelty, or to finely crafted derivative imitations.  
Of course, good storytellers have been doing sequels with arcing sagas and clever prequels since people first sat around campfires listening to tall tales, myths, creation stories and epic adventures. It’s only natural that when someone tells a fine story, the listening, reading or viewing audience wants to relive the experience in a fresh way, especially after fully digesting the first version.
Which brings me to my real questions… for Indie Authors, what makes a good sequel? What makes a great Trilogy?  How many novels comprise the perfect literary series? If we listen to Hollywood, it’s “the more money, the more fans, the least risk, the better.” Financial success justifies more sequels, and financial failure indicates time for a break.  It makes total sense from a strictly business, franchise point of view. These days, most new theatrical investments have the sequel concept built in from the ground floor.

For most Indie Authors, though, it’s different. I believe the early hopes and starry aspirations begin similarly, but eventually most Indie authors realize that financial success may be limited, and instead opt for more creativity and social interaction. They evolve, accepting that they are not in competition with one another, but can help one another through concerted effort and cooperation, in contrast to the financial model.  Considering these realities, if a sequel should arise, Indie Authors can forgo overused formulaic approaches seen on the bestseller lists, and instead place premiums on quality and innovation. The reasoning, rationales and realities, must differ from Hollywood and the Bestseller Lists because the financial outcomes disagree so radically.  
That said, I believe Indie Authors have more freedom to explore and change things up in a sequel. They can place their main characters in completely different circumstances, totally renovate the supporting cast, or completely stretch the envelope concerning the theme, the audience, or even the genre. Film critics often bewail the loss of creativity in blockbuster sequels, but Indie Authors are not hampered by big budget risk constraints. Indie authors can use this freedom (and should) to avoid milking an idea too far or simply running out of new ideas. 
     In my mind, an Indie Author should strive to create a sequel as different as possible from the original in some key aspect. They can age the protagonist, change the location, shift the genre dramatically, or create an altogether different key conflict. The key is to keep all the qualities of the protagonist true to the original, even if their outlook on the world has changed. 
     Readers will accept all manner of change if key characters stay familiar, or at least have that ‘change’ caused by events significant enough to swallow. Honestly, readers want their heroes to stay heroic!  
     I’ll provide an example… I will never forget how incensed I felt when the new Mission Impossible franchise (with Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt) used actor Jon Voight to portray the old television series IMF leader Jim Phelps (played then by Peter Graves) as an evil, embittered traitor.  It did not jibe with me, and to this day that decision tops many lists of “Movie Heroes Who Stupidly Turned Evil for the Sequel.” That’s not the type of sequel twist anybody should shoot for. The same can be said for a great villain. If you bring him back, bring him back, not someone else.

Another key concept Indie authors should keep in mind: ‘A good novel should cry out for a sequel-- not needfully beg for one.’ Don’t force the issue. Believe it or not, intelligent readers abhor contrived cliffhangers at the end of novellas and novels; in fact, they can see right through them. Given all the tasty entertainment alternatives currently available, who wants to invest time reading a decent novel, only to be teased with an uncooked, dangling carrot? That strategy might work for an established blockbuster (think: Han Solo, frozen at the end of Empire Strikes Back, what next?), but generally, a planned sequel by an Indie Author feels like a canned effort. Don’t shy away from completing the work and letting the finished piece stand on its own. After all, if it is written well enough, readers will want to come back, anyway. Trust yourself! The perfect sequel doesn’t really exist, so above all, don’t cheat the reader by getting there on the cheap. Don’t right a sequel because you think you are supposed to.
Pen-ultimately, and this may be the hardest part, shoot to be better than the original.  As a fourth-grade kid, I liked Judy Blume’s ‘"Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing." But I loved “Superfudge” (a sequel set three years later) even more. Why? Because the characters remained the same, but they were also very different, with a completely new set of realistic problems, tackled expertly by the author. There are many other examples, but my point is that a sequel must capture new readers at the same time it recaptures old readers. I dislike movie sequels that have me leaving the theater begging for explanations; I prefer the ones that make me rent the first movie out of curiosity, not perplexity.

Finally, don’t be afraid to move on to something else completely different if that’s your inclination. Don’t lock yourself in or ‘carve out your own writer’s block.’ Instead, spread your wings and take a look around if the wind feels right. Especially if you truly take pride in being an explorer. True explorers always look for new places to go and new things to see. And there is nothing more independent than that.

 Charles Peterson Sheppard is originally from Springwater, New York. He is a former public school teacher, prison educator, correctional counselor and California law enforcement agent. He currently lives in Southern California with his wife, Paz, and their dog, Tiko. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature and a Master’s Degree in Education & Public Policy. You may contact him by clicking on the links below.

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