[philstern]

I released Aydia (The Aydian Series) three weeks ago, and branded it quite clearly as Book One in a series. It's had 23 sales/KDP borrows in those first three weeks.

Are there a lot of readers who won't read Book One in a series before Book Two comes out? What have been the experiences of other authors?

 

[Cheryl Douglas]

I had the first three books in my series ready to go before I released the first one. I released those three fairly quickly, within three months, but I didn't really start to get interest in the series until I had a successful Select promo or two. I release the books in that series now at a rate of one per month and people don't seem to mind waiting for the new releases. Good luck with your series! 

 

[dalya]

How many sands are on the beach?



But seriously. I guess some people will wait until the books are all out, yet others will be excited about some new thing. I think calling it #1 is smart, overall.

 

[Lefty]

May not be apples to apples, but Episode 1 sold 10 copies. Wait, I bought all of those. Well, except for the guy in the UK. Bam!

 

[wolfrom]

My Book One (clearly labelled) is selling really well despite its author. And if anyone's not one to instil confidence in the completion of a Book Two, it's me.

So I think you should definitely get Book Two out ASAP, but don't avoid promotional opportunities just because you only have Book One out the door.

 

[60911]

Obviously everyone has their own experiences, so this is a really clear cut case of YMMV. For me, the first book in my Girl in the Box series sold like...40 copies, total, I think before the second and third came out in August. Since then, book 2 has sold over 10,000 copies.

 

[Carol (was Dara)]

I guess some people will wait until the books are all out, yet others will be excited about some new thing.

What Dalya said. Personally, I don't like buying into a series until there are several books out because I worry the author will quit without finishing them. Also, I like to glom onto a series and read them all in quick succession, not wait months for each new book to come out. But there are plenty of others with different reading habits from mine. The first books in each of my series seem to sell fine, although none of them are a finished series, so I guess it doesn't scare away too many readers.

 

[vizzle]

This is something I've been thinking about lately... I've sold 59 copies of the first book in my series, Buried Hope, since release about 12 days ago. I realize that's a bit better than the average (or at least from what I've read) but I can't help but feel antsy that book 2 (which will come out next month) won't catch fire. I guess those fears are usual though.

 

[Becca Mills]

This is something I've been thinking about lately... I've sold 59 copies of the first book in my series, Buried Hope, since release about 12 days ago. I realize that's a bit better than the average (or at least from what I've read) but I can't help but feel antsy that book 2 (which will come out next month) won't catch fire. I guess those fears are usual though.

vizzle, that's a great start! Congrats!

Wolfrom, I just read the first few pages of Coyote. Almost -almostalmostalmost- got sucked in. Closed the tab just in time. (No reading allowed until my WIP is finished.) Really great. I can see why it's selling so well!

ETA: Sorry -- re the OP, I only have one book of my series out, and it's been like pulling teeth to get it to sell. Finally approaching 1,000 copies sold (it's been out since April 2012). Giving it away, on the other hand, has been pretty easy.