How to Create a Book Series: Matt Ringler

Matt Ringer rocking theBabysitters Club hat.

Matt Ringler is an Executive Editor at Scholastic, specializing in chapter books, middle grade, and YA fiction.

Benefits of series;

• With series, you know what you're going to get out of it. Often this helps to keep kids reading. 
• Any new book in a series sells the books that came before it.
• There's also a physical element in the bookstore. A series takes up more space, each book helping the other be recognized/noticed.

With series you have to stick with what works while it's working, but also be adaptable when that stops.

The Puppy Place series has almost reached 50 books. Ellen Miles has figured out a format that works. Each book is basically a stand alone, but it will be familiar to the reader each time. This consistency is important for young readers. In each Puppy Place book, a puppy will have an issue, go to a foster family, by the end someone adopts the dog, and it all feels good .

These books don't win awards but they teach kids to read.

Sometimes a book finds a great deal of success but wasn't intended to be series, but then is asked to be one. This can be challenging.

There are many ways to do a series.  It's about finding something that works.

There's nothing that doesn't have series potential for Matt. Another editor who primarily works with stand alone books may not look at a book's series potential in the same way.