Some books exist as their own entities, but some come as part of a series or collection. Reviews are what unite them since they are vital for ensuring a book’s success. Readers rely on reviews to find book that will interest them, with positive reviews nearly always leading to an increase in sales. Positive reviews build the public’s confidence in a book or author and makes them more comfortable with investing their time and money into the book. However, when it comes to books that are part of a series or collection, some people question whether books that don’t stand alone and instead act as an exposition or a follow-on to another story should be reviewed separately.
One of the main differences between a stand-alone book and a book that is part of a series or collection is that in a series each individual volume is not a full story; the author isn’t forced to fully develop all of their characters nor tie together all of the loose ends in each book. As a result, individual volumes, especially if they are located in the middle or towards the end of a series, might not make complete sense if they are not read within the context of a series. Therefore, the overall ratings of these volumes might be negatively impacted by readers who have mistakenly thought that they are their own entities and have given them a more negative review because they have not been able to appreciate the full story and its context. These lower ratings and more negative reviews could discourage potential readers of both the book and series and could lead to lower sales.
However, the opposite can also be true: sometimes a series or collection will be weak overall, yet there might still be a book or two which outshine the rest and receive more positive reviews. Whilst this is great for the author because it is likely to increase sales and expand their audience, it is really annoying if the better books come later in the series because it is likely that readers are going to have to plough through the weaker volumes in order to fully enjoy and appreciate the books with positive reviews. This can involve a great investment of time and money so reviews like these could be construed as misleading, especially if it impossible to enjoy the individual books without also reading the preceding volumes.
Nevertheless, since series are often released gradually over time, reviews of each individual volume upon its release are essential for creating a reader base. Having a strong audience from the get-go is important when writing a series because the author is likely to be relying on strong sales to secure further publishing contracts. This is important, as one series takes several years to be fully completed so these individual reviews are important for maintaining the current audience’s excitement for the series as well as for attracting new readers to the series over time. This positively impacts sales because potential readers are likely to buy the entire series if the latest instalment has good reviews, especially if the previous volumes have also been well-received.
Moreover, by receiving audience feedback as they go along, authors are able to take their readers’ likes and dislikes into account when writing later volumes. Therefore, the series is more likely to develop in a way which appeals to its readers, so there is less likely to be a significant drop in sales. Early reviews also let the author know whether the demographic of their readers of the same as that of their target audience which is useful because it lets them know if they should reconsider their marketing techniques in order to achieve the highest sales possible.
Overall, I believe that the benefits of reviewing each book in a series or collection individually outweigh its downsides. What I believe is important to remember is that book series fundamentally differ from TV series, because whilst both tell one long story overall, an individual volume in a book series acts more like an entire series of a TV show than an individual episode. Therefore, like how individual series of shows are often reviewed, I think that books that exist as part of a series or collection should also be reviewed individually since they tell a similar portion of the overall story.
Nevertheless, I consider it important for reviewers to mention when a book is part of a series because it helps potential readers to evaluate whether a book is right for them. Moreover, once an entire book series has been released, I think that it should be reviewed as a whole, which would benefit the author because it would be likely to bring in a new set of readers which would continue to lead to more sales.
