What's In A Main Title . . .

I've been thinking about my current WIP. It's a fantasy series yet not. It's a collection of stand-alone stories that can be read in no particular order, that rarely share same characters (except for the more legendary ones such as Sorcerers who may wander from novel to novel...) but set in one fantastical, mystery rich kingdom. Each story has it's own title and is independent from the last or the next - however, one thing keeps them joined together. One thing makes it a series.

The main title.

With all the works scattered out there, its the main title that keeps them all under the wing.

I've posted before about 'what makes a series' and even though most people see that a series of books should contain the same characters, this doesn't always have to be the case. Whereas it's great for the likes of Crime Thrillers and detective novels, it doesn't always work with other genres.

Anne Rice is a classic example. Her Vampire Chronicles is a series, yet many of those books are stand-alone with different characters.

Anyway, I'm not liking the main title I have at the moment. I knew it was a working one, but it stuck, and four novels later it still hasn't changed. I'm thinking it's about time I gave it nudge out the door, but I just need some inspiration first so I can replace it.

Some Examples:

1: The Dark Tower, by Stephen King (7 books in total, all with individual titles but same characters)

2: The Vampire Chronicles, by Anne Rice

3: Lord of the Rings by Tolkien (with the Fellowship, the Two Towers and The Return of the King)

4: The Demi-Monde by Rod Rees (With Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall)

Etc Etc...

So, throw some inspiration this way so I can finally give my working title the boot. What other series comes to your mind?

What Makes A Series A Series?

I found myself very confused the other week.

I read a blog post asking about book series. Do we like reading a series or prefer stand-alone books. Likewise with writers; do you prefer writing series or do you prefer writing stand-alone?

When a series is mentioned, what stories instantly come to mind? Harry Potter? The Dark Tower? Sherlock Holmes? These would be correct. A series is a collection of stories that follow the same character through their journey. We followed Harry Potter from book 1 to book 7. We followed Roland and crew in The Dark Tower from book 1 to book 7; Sherlock Holmes had numerous cases to solve.

All these are popular series'. But a series doesn't just have to follow the same characters. Here's a definition of a fiction series:

'Fictional series typically share a common setting, story arc, set of characters or timeline. They are common in genre fiction, particularly crime fiction, men's adventure and science fiction, as well as in children's literature.'

I only bring this up because when I commented about how I write my series (a set of stand-alone stories set in the same fantasy world) whether or not this was classed a series came into question. I began to panic as I was planning on marketing my work as a series, but what if wasn't a series after all?

I had to do some homework.

Luckily, to my relief I discovered that I am, indeed, writing a series. To be a series doesn't necessarily have to follow the same characters. A series, as stated above, is a set of stories that have something in common, be it characters, setting, story arc, etc. Because my stand-alone stories are set in the same fantasy world, where law is the same in each, as well history, currency, etc, it comes under the classification of a series.

Phew! Relief.

However, this doesn't apply for every genre. If you write thrillers, just because you have a collection of stand-alone books set in London doesn't mean you have a series on your hands. If that was case, then every book to be set in London could be part of a series. No, these books would have to have something else in common. Hence we go back to the original idea of following the same characters throughout.

What are your thoughts on this???