Dear O'Abby: Ooops! I wrote a sequel.

Dear O'Abby,

I've had this idea for a book for a long time now.  I even tried to write this book about ten years ago, but ended up writing a YA about the characters as teenagers instead because that backstory seemed really important to understand.  Now I feel like I'm finally ready to write the book I intended to write originally.  The YA was never published, but as I set out to write the adult book about these characters 15 years on, I'm wondering if it would make sense to publish that first book? The new one is, essentially, a sequel.... Or should I keep it as a marketing tool for when the new book comes out?  I could give it away as a free gift with purchase or something.

Any advice on this will be gratefully accepted.

Yours,

Unwritten

Dear Unwritten,

It sounds to me like the YA you wrote was something you did for yourself as a way to discover your characters and their personalities and voices, and how they came to be the people they are today.  I don't know if that book has a compelling storyline or arc or any of those things, so I can't really tell you if it's something you should publish, or give away.  That's something only you (and maybe your agent, if you have one) can decide.

It sounds like the new book is going to be an adult book, so I'm not certain a YA about the same characters will even be a useful marketing tool because the target audiences for the two categories are different.  It is certainly an interesting idea.  I've never heard of something like that being done before, but that doesn't mean it hasn't.

To be honest, I think you're putting the cart before the horse a little here because it sounds like you haven't even written the new book yet.  And writing a new book takes time.  So I don't think this is something you need to be worrying or even thinking about at this stage.  Just get your butt in chair and write that new book.  When it's done, that's when you can start thinking about the marketing and how this earlier book could be used to sell the new one.  Or if it even can be.

Do any of our readers have any input on this one? Have you ever seen a YA book used as a marketing tool for an adult sequel?

X O'Abby

Kara Analyzes Pixar Movies: TOY STORY 2

I was 8 years old when Toy Story hit theaters. I remember eating the chocolate bars my mom smuggled into the theater in her purse while marveling at how darn cool the movie looked. Unlike many movies I loved as a child, Toy Story holds up for me as an adult. Amazingly, so does its sequel, released in 1999.

Sequels have a hard job to do, whether they are books or movies. If the sequels aren't as strong as the original piece that we loved, we as consumers may abandon the franchise, our memories of it tainted.

Today I'd like to examine Toy Story 2, and what makes it such a strong sequel as well as an enjoyable movie in its own right.

1) You don't have to watch Toy Story to enjoy Toy Story 2. We learn a lot about the characters and where they are coming from emotionally in the first movie, which certainly adds to our appreciation of them in Toy Story 2, but you can still understand the plot perfectly without having watched the first movie. It's a complete story all on its own.

2) At the same time, it builds off of what we learned about the characters in the first movie. For example, Woody understands Jessie's pain at being cast off perfectly because of what he went through with Andy and Buzz in the first movie. We as readers/watchers enjoy seeing how a character's experiences inform their choices as they move on through life, which is why so many of us love series.

I think these are important points to keep in mind as we consider writing sequels. Is the storyline of the sequel strong enough to stand on its own? Do we get to see the outcome of the character growth that we showed in the first novel?

What are your thoughts on Toy Story 2 and creating strong sequels? Please share in the comments!

Half Finished Old Projects and Last Day of Giveaway!

First of all: How do you like the format of our Mystery Agent Contest so far? Pretty cool, huh? Hope everyone is giving our participants some great feedback. If you haven't yet, just scroll below and check them out. 

Now... on to the post.

Recently I turned in my 2nd book in my series for Month9books. I'm excited to hear back from my editor to see what she thinks. This project was especially rewarding to me because I haven't finished anything for a really long time. Years even. Now, don't get me wrong. I've done some short stories. I've started several other projects, but always got sidetracked. I've written, but have never FINISHED them. It felt really, really good to finish a project again.

Now that I have this contracted book out of the way (at least until I get my first round of edits back), I am pulling out an old project, one that I think is probably the most publishable work I've ever done. The problem is that I haven't written on it in a while, and it's hard getting back into it. It's half done and quite an organic work, meaning I've written a lot by the seat of my pants and I'm not even sure how it's going to end. Drafts are always very difficult to me, especially now when it's been so long since I've connected to my story.

It's 1st person instead of 3rd. It's also a Middle Grade book, whereas my upcoming release, as well as it's sequel, is YA. Different style. Different world. Different characters with different personalities.

So how do YOU switch gears when your current WIP is so very different than one you just finished?


Oh! I also wanted to give you all a reminder. My giveaway is ending TONIGHT. The post for my cover re-reveal for The Emissary is HERE  My cover is pretty sweet. Please take a peek and let me know what you think.

You still have time to enter for a copy of my book and an amazon gift card.


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On Writing a Sequel

When I wrote Deadwood, it was a standalone. The story was resolved at the end, and I didn’t see how it could continue. Some readers asked if there would be a sequel, and the answer was no.

Martin Cruz, from Deadwood (Credit: Shawna Tenney)

Then I found another story for Martin and Hannah. I had other projects before it came to the surface, and it simmered for a long time (nearly burning dry and setting off the fire alarm along the way). But now, with the Spencer Hill Middle Grade release of my debut approaching June 24, my thoughts have turned back to the world of Deadwood and my 12-year-old characters. I want to be in their heads again, and at last my Deadwood sequel moving off my story-ideas list and into a work in progress. and not just another item on my story-ideas list.

It's a new mystery, not a part two, a duology, a trilogy, or a series. It's fun to be in the world of Deadwood again, and so familiar seeing it through the eyes of Martin and Hannah. But I'm finding a new set of challenges.

I went looking for some sequel wisdom, and here are four rules I found.

1. "Plan ahead of time."

Miss Literati - How to Write a Sequel the Right Way -  "Though some can get away with creating a sequel at the last-minute, it may be a better idea to plan ahead of time." Oh well. Too late for that. Hopefully I can keep my threads straight.

2. "Guts are mandatory."

Caragh M. O'Brien, Writing the Second Book: Not Any Easier -  Caragh O'Brien, author of the brilliant Birthmarked trilogy and upcoming The Vault of Dreamers, didn't started planning her trilogy while editing book one, so she was able to avoid writing into a box -- but she still had a lot of work to do in creating new challenges for book two. Guts were mandatory for everyone too: "In fact, my earliest draft was such a mess that it frightened my editor, Nancy Mercado." The published book, however, improved on the first.

Hannah Vaughan, from Deadwood (credit: Shawna Tenney)

3. Don't let "back story and infodumping take center stage."

Lydia Sharp, On Writing Sequels -  Lydia Sharp (Twin Sense) talks about writing and reading sequels -- specifically, the sssue of backstory and infodumping. How much do you need? How do you remind both readers of the first of what has happened without beating them over the head? I've decided that while  drafting, I'll backstory and infodump my heart out. I'll include it all now, then edit out what isn't necessary. Easier to delete some things than not write them at all...

4. "Don't let acute sequelitis happen to you."

Nathan Bransford, All About Sequels - Nathan Bransford, former agent and middle-grade author of the Jacob Wonderbar books, says that Acute sequelitis means being too attached to your characters and world so that you write a sequel to a book when no oide dreams of a massively long series when the first book in the series doesn't work out."

As a writer approaching release of my first book, point number four is a little touchy, so I'm going back to number two -- Caragh's advice. Now that I think about it, I'm one for four on this list.

Guts may be mandatory, but nothing else in writing is.

From reading or writing sequels, what advice do you have? I could use it...

About Kell Andrews:  Kell Andrews writes picture books and middle grade novels. Deadwood, her middle-grade contemporary fantasy about a cursed tree, comes out from Spencer Hill Middle Grade in June 2014.