Agents and Publishers like to hear that a want-to-be author intends to write more than one book. If a want-to-be author intends to write only one, then they may fail to hook an Agent or Publisher.
I believe the intention to write a trilogy or a longer series would be a much more attractive prospect to an Agent or Publisher.
I have roughly outlined 3 more books in my series. I have the beginnings, middles and ends to them. I have written many ideas for the storylines and plots, but I have yet to add the working chapter titles and the key landmark events.
From the outset I intended to write a series of novels using the same characters. It is easier to write a sequel or subsequent books, without having to define the differences in your characters and their functions.
Detective stories with the same protagonist are a prime example. Why kill off good characters when you can recycle them? I believe that many successful traditional and contemporary authors would have been wiser to leave some of their characters in the ether.
Do you intend to kill your characters off?
"Why kill off good characters when you can recycle them? "
Have you read "Soylent Green"?
"I believe that many successful traditional and contemporary authors would have been wiser to leave some of their characters in the ether"
Wouldn't formaldehyde be better?
It is always possible to bring back Sherlock Holmes or J R Ewing - fiction is not as final as life.
Surely the thing that agents and publishers are looking for most is stories that will fly off the shelves?
David.