I just finished reading a terrific book, except for one thing. The ending was a cheat.
Every book must have one.
The author composed a quirky, clever main character with an animal sidekick that acts as a contract killer upon command. Very cool idea. The book moved fast, had an absorbing plot and the writing itself was workmanlike (one of my highest compliments) and even contained some flashes of wordsmithing brilliance.
But here’s the problem.
When I reached the end, the protagonist was left hanging in the middle of a predicament. Why? Because the author has a second book which he/she (I’m not giving you any more clues as to the writer’s identity) which takes up where the first book lets off.
Unfair.
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As a reader, I deserve a satisfying and closing end to each book I read. If you want to have a second in a series, that’s great. If I like the first, I will most likely read the second and probably beyond, but I don’t want to be coerced or compelled by not having a real, honest-to-goodness ending to the first one.
I have many pals who write series, and they do it the right way. Each book stands on its own. This way, a new reader can dip into any book in the series and receive a satisfying experience without having to read the others. Trust me; if they like the book, they will read another one. Maybe the whole series. In fact, most readers are introduced to a series by the author’s most recently-published book, because that’s the one that publishers have hyped the most. This makes a complete, standalone experience even more crucial to a series’ success.
To write a successful series, an author has to insert enough backstory into each book, so the new reader gets up to speed without boring those who already know the main characters. It’s actually not that difficult, but it does require some finesse.
Respect your audience; don’t cheat them out of an ending.
This guest post was contributed by Larry Kahaner. Larry is the author of more than 15 non-fiction books and has just completed a thriller “USA, Inc.” Check out his blog at The Non-Fiction Novelist.
A Writer's Path 
Thank you! Me too. The only cliffhangers I want to read are short serials. Now, those are fun because I know I have to wait month between stories.
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There can be many reasons why this has happened. For example; the next book was supposed to come out immediately, but the Indie partner had an emergency or the publisher had other priorities. It can be just as frustrating for an author who expected the next book to be out within months instead of years.
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That doesn’t make the ending of the book satisfying to me. I want an end, not a wait for the next book to find out what happened. I’d lose interest in the writer and even in a month or two not buy the second book. 📚🎶 Christine
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I’ve read a few of these cheats. I recently read one that used a ton of foreshadowing of things yet to come. Most of which do not happen in the book I was reading, but the tool was used so successfully that it got me wanting to read the next book. It’s a slippery slope, my writer friend. In fact, one of my own novels, yet to be published, I foreshadow throughout about a wicked cool healing alien that skulks around a newly found planet. And at the end, one of my MC chars dies in battle. My epilogue goes through the death burial and closes out the book. But everyone knows the body mysteriously disappeared. Take that, Steven Spielberg.
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Reblogged this on NEW OPENED BLOG > https:/BOOKS.ESLARN-NET.DE.
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So totally agree! A cliffhanger ending will make me boycott an author. I actually wrote an article about this myself recently.
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I agree, in spirit.
But, imagine reading Return of the King without the first two LoTR? Or the The Deathly Hallows without the prior SIX HP? Who’d wanna do that? Sure, each of those examples *might* be near-standalone novels. But, who in their right mind would ever read them out of order — knowing they represent an exact, sequential canon?
Unknown authors stories might show up out of the blue at #3 or whatever. And yeah, that’s a problem. But if you happened upon #3 would you even start it without having sought out and read #1 & #2?
I prefer Niven’s “Known Space” idea where stories exist in a shared universe. They share a loose but logical domain, but are not interdependent. That way, stories *can* be kind of sequential, but above all — and to your point — must be utterly standalone and complete stories, cheating not-allowed.
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Hear hear! I agree one hundred percent.
If the book is part of a series, fine, there may well be dangling threads to carry you through to the next one, but a cliffhanger makes me so angry I won’t buy the next book on principle.
I work hard to ensure each of my novels has a story that completes at the end of each book, along with an overall arc for the series. I have had readers pick up a later book in the series and enjoy it enough to go back and buy the earlier ones. To me, that’s professional writing.
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There is NOTHING, not even poor grammar, typos and spelling, that annoys me more than series that aren’t proper books. I read one the other day that just… ended. Like the end of a chapter.
Well, I suppose if they are charging 99c for all their books, they might think that’s the way forward. But they’re not. They think they are writing a series, not a serial.
So they get at docked at least one star on my review, which makes it unlikely they’ll get better than 3.
And I share that review everywhere….
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I agree absolutely about unfinished books sold as novels. When I come across them, I refuse to ever read anything by the same author. This type of marketing is just that; a method of drawing people in with a teaser, like a company selling double-glazing with a ‘special offer’. Frankly, I prefer my work to be seen as a complete piece, rather than a cheap teaser. I’ve written two trilogies and all of those books can be read as stand-alone novels: a full story with a proper ending.
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Fully agree!🐺 We readers should be told from the Cover if that book belongs to a serie. I suggest to boycot books that do not inform us 🦊🦊🦊
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Absolutely! It’s fine to have elements that could be developed into a sequel later, but ending on a book (especially an intended first in a series) on a cliffhanger is a dangerous presumption. Not everyone gets to publish their sequel, and what’s even more aggravating than feeling coerced into reading the next book is to end on that note with no next book in sight.
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Ah. Sequel-baiting. Quite possibly one of the worst ways to end a story.
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I agree. Cliffhangers are a cheat in books. There should be enough detail that you can have a proper ending to each book and carry on to the next one.
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Completely in agreement, I detest cliffhangers. I love series because I don’t want to leave the setting and characters. I don’t want to be left hanging, if I pick up a book by a new to me author, and it’s a cliff hanger I’m quite likely to never read anything by them again.
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I agree; it is unfair to manipulate a reader into buying further books by the same author by not thoroughly ending the book- unless stated upfront.
The novel you described reminds me of a book I read about a Golden Retriever with human intelligence, by Dean Koonz. But it was not a “cliffhanger”.
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