Why do authors write standalone novels instead of series?

Standalone novels reach new audiences with every release, while series books rely on read-through from existing readers. For authors without a marketing budget, standalones often produce stronger cumulative sales. They also take less time to write because there's no continuity to maintain across multiple books.

Are series books more profitable for indie authors?

Only if the author can afford to market book one effectively. Series rely on read-through, which typically drops 25% per book. Without a marketing budget to feed the top of the funnel, each subsequent book sells fewer copies while still taking just as long to write as a standalone novel.

What is read-through rate in publishing?

Read-through is the percentage of readers who finish one book in a series and go on to buy the next. A 75% read-through rate means 750 of every 1,000 readers of book one will buy book two. Read-through compounds, so by book five the audience has roughly halved.

Why doesn't Keith A Pearson write more series books?

Keith does write series, including the Echo Lane and Angel of Camden series. But standalones suit his model better. With no marketing budget, every book has to attract its own readers. Standalones give each new release a clean shot at finding an audience rather than relying on series read-through.

Are novellas easier to write than novels?

Yes. Novellas typically run 20,000 to 40,000 words rather than 80,000 to 100,000. They focus on a single storyline, a small cast, and a short timeframe, which removes the structural complexity of full novels. For readers, they offer a quicker, cheaper route into familiar characters.

Why I Don't Just Write Series Books

I posted a Clement-related question on Facebook yesterday, asking whether there’s a demand for novellas alongside the novels. Replies came in, and one reader asked a fair question: why don’t I just write series books rather than alternating with standalone novels? Readers love the character Clement, so it makes sense that they want more of him and less of the new characters and stories I write.

The longer I thought about it, the more I realised it deserved a proper answer. So here it is.

The standard indie wisdom

Every indie author guide tells you the same thing. Write a series. Hook readers on book one, ride that captive audience through books two to ten, and you only need to market the first book.

Sounds great in theory, but I do next to no marketing. No Facebook ads, no Amazon promo budget, and the idea of wasting months of my life managing the various advertising platforms holds zero appeal. My sales come from two places: people stumbling across my books through Amazon’s algorithm, and existing readers telling others about them. Word of mouth and search. That’s the whole machine.

So the “only market book one” logic falls apart for me. There is no campaign pushing book one to new readers. Every book has to find its own audience, on its own merits.

The maths nobody talks about

Here’s a typical scenario. Let’s say a standalone novel, or the first in a series, sells around 5,000 copies in its first year. (Round numbers; mine vary, but the principle holds.)

For a series writer, the diminishing-returns curve kicks in immediately. Book two retains roughly 75% of book one’s readers. Book three retains 75% of book two. And so on. That read-through rate, in my experience, holds steady right through the run.

The standalone writer doesn’t suffer that drop-off. Each new book steps out to a fresh audience and stands on its own merits. The chart below makes the comparison brutally clear:

Five books in, the series has sold around 15,254 copies. The standalone writer hits 25,000. Roughly ten thousand copies of difference across two and a half years of writing. Depending on the price of the books, that’s a £20,000 to £28,000 uplift in royalties if I only write standalone novels. That’s a serious chunk of change.

The hidden cost

Here’s the other thing nobody mentions. Series books take longer to write than standalones. Continuity matters. Tiny details matter even more.

If Danny Monk drives a Volvo 340 in book one and a Ford Granada in book two with no explanation, readers notice. If his sister’s name shifts from Carol to Caroline halfway through book three, readers notice. The reader, in my experience, ranks among the most relentless fact-checkers known to publishing — there are entire Facebook groups dedicated to spotting authors who can’t remember their own characters’ middle names.

So for a series, you need a bible. Rolling notes on dates, ages, weather, who knows what and when. The whole thing feels less of a creative pursuit and more of an admin job.

For a standalone, the bible is the book.

So what about novellas?

This brings me back to the question I posted on Facebook.

I do have readers who love Clement. Readers who love Mungo Thunk. Readers who’d happily spend more time with these characters without me committing six months of my life to a full sequel. That’s the gap a novella could fill. A short, tight story. One central character. Trouble enough for a weekend.

Easier to write. Easier to release. And yes, if I write three novellas at 30,000 words and sell them at £1.99 each, I’ll make somewhere between 70% and 100% more money than one 100,000-word series book. Fewer words, more money. Hopefully, you can understand why I floated the idea. Like most people in the UK at the moment, my income is being hit by the rising cost of just about everything, not to mention the creeping curse of higher taxation.

It remains just an idea at the moment. The thinking: satisfy readers who want more of certain characters, while also protecting my income and my sanity. Whether it works in practice, time will tell.

The final word

So when readers ask why I don’t just write series, this is it. Series books look like the obvious choice for an indie author. They aren’t. Not for me. And not the way the maths plays out.

The novella idea, if it happens, will sit alongside the standalones rather than replace them. Same variety. Same fresh-start-every-book principle. Just shorter.

Brand-new to my books? There’s a guide on my site that points you to a sensible starting place. Pick whatever sounds like your kind of trouble. In Tuned Out, a millennial finds himself in 1969. Waiting in The Sky follows a man who reckons he’s an alien on Earth and waits patiently for collection. And in The Last Stop Video Shop, a divorced bloke wanders into the last remaining video shop in England, where a VHS tape plays footage that shouldn’t exist.

Three best-selling novels. Three different worlds. None of them in a series. 😁