The penultimate edition of Holiday Heat comes out this Friday. Pre-order your copy now!

Since it’s November, and therefore NaNoWriMo, I wanted to give you a few “Writers, don’t do this” tips from my own experience.

Number 3: The Harry Turtledove Tip

You can write a stand-alone book. It’s almost impossible to find a stand-alone book these days. Either a book has a sequel hook that turns into a second and third story that aren’t as good as the first (sorry, Ann Leckie, but Ancillary Sword was the best book in that trilogy and it didn’t really need sequels), or you have a book that ends with a climactic scene and then drops off into a cliffhanger (like Worldwar: In the Balance, by Harry Turtledove — I didn’t know it was a series and I was pissed when it ended that way). Every time I see a burgeoning writer tweet about their new contract, it’s almost always a multi-book deal. But it doesn’t have to be.

I know that the big money is in sequels and series, but you have to start with one book first. Concentrate on your first book, and put all your energy toward that. Give it a solid, satisfying ending. Then go back and throw in a sequel hook that won’t annoy readers if it doesn’t pay off. For example, my superhero novel has a teeny tiny little hook in it, but since I don’t really want to write a sequel, I may just let it sit there, unused. But if an agent gets me a three-book deal, I’ll pay it off. Thing is, I started by writing one book, with one outline, and I didn’t focus on the long game because I didn’t have one yet.

More to come next week!