As I’ve written before, writing a book can accelerate your business and help take it to a new level.

But what happens after you write a book? Let’s talk about how you can multiply that impact by writing a book series.

It may seem crazy to talk about writing a series, especially if your first book isn’t finished yet.

But let me tell you, writing a book series builds more credibility, success, and a more substantial passive income.

Wouldn’t you love to create that for your business?

You may be thinking that writing a book series is quite demanding.

I won’t deny that it is challenging, but it is very doable.

And on the other side is one of the best ways to grab your readers’ attention and develop a loyal fan base. Let me explain why:

1. More focused results for your reader

A book series can be the answer when you have too much content for a single book.

It can also be helpful when the process you are teaching is complex with many steps.

Long, in-depth books may look like they bring more value to the reader, but sometimes less is more.

If you break material into smaller chunks, you can provide quick results for the reader.

In fact, Amazon has created an entire section of “short reads” – books that readers can consume quickly.

Note that the golden rule of passive income still applies here – one problem, one solution.

A short book that delivers valuable results to a problem will wow your customers.

When they finish reading, they will naturally look to you for help with their next step.

In my course “Write your book in 30 Days”, we do specific exercises to focus your topic so that you deliver a book that keeps your customers coming back for more.

2.Increases your credibility

A book series expands your credibility and showcases your expertise.

People will say things like, “She’s written six books on the topic of interior design, she must be an expert.” You can leverage that expertise to charge higher prices or reach a broader audience.

Your book series can be booked on multiple topics within one area.

Or it can be a beginner’s book followed by more advanced topics. In both cases, you highlight your deep knowledge of the subject.

3. Delivering “quick wins”

When you break your material into “short reads”, your reader can finish your book very quickly.

There is a huge psychological benefit to these “quick wins”.

Your clients increase their confidence in your and will be motivated to buy the next books in the series.

With each step they grow and develop creating a win-win for you – as the author – and them.

The quick win isn’t only for your reader, there is also a lot in it for you.

It’s a big deal to finish your book-writing project and an even bigger deal to publish the book.

As much as your readers develop confidence, you will also develop confidence as an author.

You’ll be excited to move on to the next book and the next, providing more and more value to your clients.

I love to write workbooks – and teach workbook writing – for exactly this reason.

They are fun and easy to write and give my clients big results.

On top of delivering quick wins, there are even more reasons for you to write a book series as a way to build your business.

4.Greater income

A book series generally brings you more income than a single book.

A well-crafted book series appeals to one audience.

So a person who bought one of your books will be perfectly positioned to buy them all.

This is why Amazon recognizes book series and promotes them for you!

Amazon benefits by selling your books.

And if they know your series is a great fit for the shopper, they won’t hesitate to recommend it.

People love to binge read as much as they love to binge-watch their favorite shows.

Think about the Harry Potter series.

Very few people bought the first book and stopped there.

The vast majority of readers bought the entire series (and often as a bundle).

The power of a series can be exponential!

5.Marketing benefits

You can also turn book-writing into a marketing tool.

If you tell your community about your book, you can build a lot of anticipation and interest.

This lets you create sales even before the book is written. Have you seen people release snippets or chapters of a book as a teaser?

They generate a lot of media attention by doing this.

When your community knows that you are writing a book that can help them, they will anxiously await its release.

6. You increase efficiency and build expertise

Like any skill, writing books gets easier over time.

My first book took me about 3 months to write.

My latest book took me less than 3 days – and that wasn’t working full time at all!

After writing dozens of books, I am better at structuring them.

I also know how to use my design software and I’m more experienced in the entire process, so I run into less obstacles.

As a result of being more effective and efficient, I can write more books and serve more customers.

How to Write a Book Series

Now that it’s clear why writing a book series, the next question is HOW do you actually do that?

1. Create Connections

Before you start writing, decide if books will rely on the rest of the series, or if they can stand on their own.

Should the books be read in a particular order – is it critical to read book 1 before progressing to book 2?

There is no right or wrong way of doing this. It’s completely your choice and will depend on what you are teaching.

I would, however, suggest creating a storyboard that crosses all the books in the series.

A storyboard is a high-level outline of your book series.

This helps you make sure that each book is unique and adds value to your reader.

If you highlight the connections between books, you can be sure the reader will want to read the rest of the series.

2. Develop and Use Templates

As you write the first book, think about it as a template for your future books.

Particularly for books in a series, it is very helpful to use a similar structure for each book.

There are a couple of reasons for this.

First, it will help you in the writing process. If you have a – or develop – a template, you have a “fill in the blank” model once you’ve written the first book. Your efficiency in writing will skyrocket.

Second, your readers will know what to expect if there is a consistent structure across all of your books.

You may feel like this is more planning than the actual writing.

But good planning guarantees an excellent flow through the books.

In turn, this increases reader engagement. 

Combined with storyboarding, you’ll be able to write your series quickly and easily.

This kind of planning benefits both you and your readers.

3. Title your Series Smartly

Your book title is vital since it is a part of your book’s first impression.

If it’s hard to understand what you are offering, a prospective reader will keep scrolling.

A successful book title speaks directly to the needs of your ideal reader and what they want.

To create a great title for your book or book series, ask yourself:

• What does the reader want?
• What does my book offer as a solution?

With the answers to these questions, you can identify the essential message for your book.

You can also define the keywords that communicate a clear and concise message.

This will set you on the right track to naming your series as well as the individual books.

As you create a book series, always start every title with the SAME intro phrase (based on your theme). For example, have a look at this series by Edith Martin:

She always uses “Lead with your” and then adds another word to finish the title. Each title is unique, but it is obvious that they are all part of the same series.

4. Leverage the Writing process

As I indicated above, once you have an audience, you can start to talk to them about the books you are writing.

You can leverage the audience by getting them involved in the process.

For example, you can tell them what you are writing and get them excited by offering special pre-launch bonuses.

Or you can ask for their suggestions for content.

Think about that – it’s a bit like crowd-sourcing a book, ask them what they want and then write about it!

You can also engage your community in the writing process by creating a live “course” around it.

This implies sharing parts of the book with your students as you write it.

Imagine this, your clients would PAY YOU to provide their feedback on your writing.

This means you would get feedback and be able to edit the book before you even publish.

You get paid to write AND get avoid hiring an editor in the process.

As icing on the cake, you’ll have an enthusiastic group of supporters who can’t wait to give you feedback on the book the minute you publish.

In the end, remember that creating a series can add huge value to your business.

And over the series, you’ll save a lot of time and a ton of marketing effort.

All the while, your income and brand awareness expand with each book you publish.

Imagine the impact you can have on your clients and on your business by creating a book series.