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Cliffhangers
Love ’em, hate ’em. Cliffhangers are a sales consideration. On one hand, some people want to dive right into the next book. On the other, some readers thought they were signing on for a completed narrative and get angry when they realize after 100 pages or 400 pages that the story hasn’t ended and they need to buy yet another book. In both these cases, the book needs to be available, otherwise the readers are going to be lost.
Cliffhangers work in a rapid release strategy. “Tune in next week” is okay – “Tune in next year” is not. TV serial vs. a Movie series. The screams around the nation when a TV series ends their season on a cliffhanger! Even three months is an eternity (especially this year). With books, where it can take years to meander through the publishing pipeline of writing, editing, and production, cliffhangers are cruel unless they are all written and ready to come out at once. But to do that, either the writer (and editing team) needs to work like the wind, or be willing to put income on hold for months to years until the series is complete and ready to come out as one book a month.
To Hang a Cliff or to Not Hang a Cliff was a blog written by Diana Pharaoh Francis for Magical Words on 6/3/2010:
She had a story whose ending demanded a cliffhanger. (Always do what is right for the story.) The comments give more insight to considerations for this type of narrative conclusion, so be sure to read them.