Ending a Series...sorta

[Grobnar]

Hey fellow authors,

So, I write to surprisingly popular series called Drug Trials and 3rd Chromosome. Lately all I've been writing is for the 3C series, and I'm looking to stop. Yet, not completely. I still want to continue it periodically as it's a group of one offs all set in the same universe.

What is the ideal way to end the series beyond simply announcing I'm stopping it?

I was also considering opening up the series to other authors, if they wanted to write in said universe.

Thanks.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Why tell them anything, just stop for now, then add as you see fit. It's your series, not theirs. I started a series, it took me two years to add the second in a series of five books. If they like it, they'll wait. The might complain, but they might not and figure that's the end or you moved on to greener pastures.

It's up to you.

As to allowing other authors to write stories in you universe, sorry to say, if the story is unique, they don't need it.

 

[handysr]

Leaving a couple of possible (minor) cliffhangers, you can put in what you'd think to be an acceptable ending. Maybe it's a happy ever after, or someone dies, or an objective is reached.

If and when you pick up any portion of it, you can pursue a new objective, or make one of the cliffhangers into it's own thread.

 

[Nezhul]

I'm not familiar with your series, but what any conclusion really needs is a fulfilling closure to any major plot line, and ideally at least a mention of small ones. It may time quite a lot of space, actually, and it's even preferred to be at least somewhat detailed. No one likes when a story that you were following for a long time gets half-page-long epilogue that boils down to "Yea, and then they killed the evil dude and lived happily ever after. The end."

As for spin-offs, you can always do them. Your readers will be aware that it's a spin-off. The only trick is, I think, is to make it so it could be read completely separately.

There's also such thing as extras. They are smaller separate stories that you write after the main thing is done. But the differrence from spin-offs is that they don't neccessarily explain many things and can't be read completely separately (although you should always strive for this, I think).

I'm not very experienced but I'll disagree with one of the previous comments. You shouldn't leave cliff-hangers, I think, because a conclusion should be just that. If you do cliff-hangers you are not concluding it - you are putting it on hiatus.
The only possible exception is when you make an open ending, showing that even though all major plot lines are resolved fully, the characters still live in your world, and they are constantly having other adventures still. The classic example is when a hero is shown traveling and meeting new people or challenges, while you don't stress that these occurrences are very important or somehow tied to important mysteries of your world.

 

[StrangeLife]

I must side with Nezhul (also without knowing anything about your series).

You should round off all current story arcs and leave your readers with a sense of accomplishment. That way they will remember your series fondly as a fulfilling reading experience and will be eager to return to your universe if you decide to continue the series later.

If you leave it on a cliff-hanger, your readers will forget the plot over time and lose that impetus to continue that you probably intended to give them. Instead they will only remember the frustration and probably be less likely to return later.

 

[Hypoxia]

I call the last episode DONKEY KICK ch.11 -THE END and move on.