Series Cancellations
I get it...in some sense. Publishing is a business. Businesses are out to make money. But OMG! WHHHHHYYYYYY must they cancel series AT THE FINAL BOOK?! I think I only ever had 2 series that cancelled at the second book in what was an unknown amount of books to be had. One could've been a trilogy, as it was YA Fantasy and they all love the trilogies for the most part. The other was an adult Urban Fantasy series so it had potential to be any length. But alas, that one only lasted two books. LUCKILY, that author did seem to end things in a conclusive way but always leaving room for the possibility of more. Which was the right way to go.
But all my other beloved--and usually YA series it seems like--series that were so freaking incredible and just had one last epic conclusion to get through to see if our favorite characters lived or died...publishers apparently didn't care that characters' lives were LITERALLY hanging in the balance! I mean again, as an adult I can see the whole business angle, but as a reader? I am wondering what the heck is wrong with them!
Ugh, it kills me, it seriously kills a piece of my heart and takes a piece of my soul to know that these final books are likely never ever to see the light of day. One author I know has pretty much shoved that book idea into a chest and sank it into the deepest part of the ocean. Another author sadly has seemed to left the public light as her Instagram account has been dark for a few years now. She never seemed to expression an interest in writing her own conclusion--which I later learned that authors simply cannot do right away since the publishers still hold the rights to said series. And I'm like seriously?! There isn't some sort of clause that says if the publisher decides to cancel the series before its ending, the author cannot write it themselves with self-publishing?! Why the heck not?! Said publisher already deemed the sales "not good enough" to buy that final book from the author. I feel like the author should be allowed to self-publish that final book then and there if their schedule allows it.
Again, the adult is thinking there's some logical reason as to why they legally cannot do this. Doesn't make sense to me at all since the publisher washed their hands of the series, so why the heck can't the author just write it themselves and foot the bill?
Another author I follow who went dark on Instagram but recently popped back up is still working on a book that I was SUPER excited to hear about and I think is still with a publishing house...maybe, I think...and should hopefully be coming out sometime soon, maybe next year? She didn't really say. But I remember her mentioning at one point that she had received or was about to receive the rights back to one of her series where the publisher cancelled it, whether it was at the last book or not...again, I don't know if it was super clear if it was a trilogy or longer. But hopefully that might still be on her docket list. She recently just ever so briefly teased about returning to her other series that I adored, so basically I need whatever she's going to write next! Lol.
But yes, I seem to have the incredibly bad luck of falling in love with series that get cancelled at the very last book. And sadly, it seems the authors either cannot legally write the book right away or have the heart to write it when they can. I can understand that in part too. Life happens, emotions change, but omg, the reader in me still cries knowing these series will forever remain unfinished. Will the characters live or die? I mean ever since Allegiant I can never believe that the hero/heroine will live and get a HEA ending, so yes, I NEED TO KNOW what happens in these series!
And sadly, this doesn't just apply to traditionally published series either. I've had self-published or indie published series go dark on me too...and you guessed it, it was at THE LAST BOOK OF THE SERIES! I mean seriously, that is some insanely bad luck I have going here!
How about you? Have you ever had a favorite series get cancelled at the final book? How did you cope? I still feel like I'm mourning these series after all these years. When I am not immersed in my current read my mind wanders and sometimes it gets down this path of sadness and I cry for the loss of these worlds and unfinished stories.
