I went to his blog but really wasn't find much information on actually creating a series, but a helpful article on writing serials was posted on the same forum, which I believe was more helpful than the answers I was getting from the author of said 1000+ sales in one day.
There are many benefits to serializing your stories and just as many downfalls. If you would like an overview of serializing (this is geared specifically to romance, but there are other genres that you can serialize), check out the posting here.
The debate is whether or not serializing is right for you. If you are a writer and love writing the shorter stories, then serializing your stories may be the better way for you to go. If you really enjoy the longer novels and you do well with what is published, then maybe serializing isn't for you.
If you are serializing your books, the best way to think of them is as 30-minute to 1-hour TV shows. Each episode follows a complete storyline; your characters recur from episode to episode and sometimes you introduce new characters and sometimes you don't use all the characters; you leave your reader hanging, wanting more and they can't wait for the next episode to come out.
The genres that seem to work best as serials are romance, sci-fi, horror, to name a few. There are probably more genres that would work as a serial but I'm at a loss right now to come up with them.
The one thing I did notice from several postings is the difference between a "series" and a "serial". A serial is like the 30-minute TV show; a series is novel length books (over 50 or 60,000 words) where you carry your characters forward. Most series won't leave you hanging, in the case of mysteries, and most serials will rely on reading in order of being written/published. Serials are short; series are longer and probably involve fewer stories. You can have a 3-book series; and however long you want to make the serial stories. Serials have a minimum of three stories and usually expand out a lot longer than a series does.
If you are considering writing a serial or several serials, be prepared to put a new story out at least once a month. This seems to be the average timeframe from all sources with information on writing serials. Research and follow other authors' examples.
Good luck, if this is the route you are deciding to take. See you all in the postings.
Elysabeth Eldering, Author
FINALLY HOME, a Kelly Watson, YA, paranormal mystery
Elysabeth's Blog
