We like to take a great series, and expand it into a 'world.' Here's how that worked in this case:
David Saylor wrote a story he called, As The Light Dies while lying in a hospital bed after being diagnosed with a terminal disease and losing a leg, to keep his mind off it. He made it fun, and over the top, intended only for himself, his brother, and his best friend to read. Later, when he let me (Boyd) read it, I convinced him to let the Raventhorne Books team help him make a book of it. People loved it, so he wrote another one, and another one... He got excited about the success of his books, and didn't die when the doctors told him he would. That became an 8 book series we called, As The Light Dies.
David had become a writing machine by this time. He told me he wanted to create an income stream that outlasted him to leave to his wife, Julie. I explained the process Leigh and I had developed for the October Fall series, (an EMP series) where we asked readers what they thought would happen where they live during the same event. We had them invent their own characters and follow a timeline of events. We had brainstorming meetings on Zoom and actually helped each other with crossovers and facts. It was a lot of fun, and everyone made some money. We all learned a lot. Soon, there were a bunch of us writing series all in the same 'world.'
He liked that idea, so we agreed to expand it as, In The As The Light Dies World like we'd done in the other one. We combined some of my ideas with his, developed some guidelines, and started writing!
'World readers' tend to be bingers who love long series. Many asked, "Where do I start? There's quite a few books here now!" In this case, we tell them, "Start with As The Light Dies." Read the core series, then pick a geographical location that interests you. They all start at the beginning, just before the catastrophic event, but to get the true flavor as intended, read the core first.
[Strategy tip] So when other authors' fans follow them over here, they all read David's core series first, to get the true flavor intended, then go read the others in any order. That, keeps David's core series alive and growing.
We invited a few author friends to join us.
David's next series in this world was a spin-off of the original one, with some familiar characters, obviously located in Texas.
2 - The New Republic Of Texas 2
3 - The New Republic Of Texas 3
4 - The New Republic Of Texas 4
5 - The New Republic Of Texas 5
He is currently writing #6
Next, our prolific friend wrote another spin-off series, back in Tennessee.
1 - The New Republic Of Franklin
2 - The New Republic Of Franklin 2
3 - The New Republic Of Franklin 3
David has plans for another spin-off, called Cades Cove he'd like to try to do, in Tennessee.
Doreen Grener lives in Ohio, so she wrote the Library Of The Apocalypse series in this world.
2 - Library Of The Apocalypse 2
3 - Library Of The Apocalypse 3
She is currently writing #4.
Dan Gilliam wrote a series based in Texas that's really well received.
1 - ARK Encore 1: ARK Conceived
and then he's started another location, in the Gulf of America.
1 - Verne's Sanctum
2 - Verne's Sanctum 2 is coming soon!
3 - Verne's Sanctum 3 is being written.
Keven Craven wrote a series in this world split between Michigan & Montana that's very popular.
1 - One Month Before: The Light Died
2 - One Week After: The Light Died
3 - Two Weeks After: The Light Died
4 - Three Weeks After: The Light Died
5 - One Month After: The Light Died is coming soon!
6 - Two Months After: The Light Died is being written.
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Millie Copper wrote a series in this world based in Wyoming.
1 - Terror By The Bighorn River
2 - Survival By The Bighorn River
3 - Betrayal By The Bighorn River is coming soon!