Why do book publishers make it so hard to know the order of books in a series?

[2aguy]

Why don't book publishers make it easy to find out which number a book is in a book series?...it is like having to ferret out a secret mystery......

 

[Montrovant]

Why don't book publishers make it easy to find out which number a book is in a book series?...it is like having to ferret out a secret mystery......

I don't recall that ever being much of a problem. Normally the series is listed in order at the beginning of the book, as part of the author's listed works. Some series will say which book it is on the cover, too.

 

[2aguy]

Why don't book publishers make it easy to find out which number a book is in a book series?...it is like having to ferret out a secret mystery......

I don't recall that ever being much of a problem. Normally the series is listed in order at the beginning of the book, as part of the author's listed works. Some series will say which book it is on the cover, too.

Have you looked at books lately? I have tried a couple of series in different genre of fiction, and not one of them listed the number of the book in the series.....

 

[Montrovant]

Why don't book publishers make it easy to find out which number a book is in a book series?...it is like having to ferret out a secret mystery......

I don't recall that ever being much of a problem. Normally the series is listed in order at the beginning of the book, as part of the author's listed works. Some series will say which book it is on the cover, too.

Have you looked at books lately? I have tried a couple of series in different genre of fiction, and not one of them listed the number of the book in the series.....

I've been using a Kindle for some years now, so I haven't needed to look much at physical books. That said, a quick check shows that at least some of the books I read that are recent have the series number listed on the cover. And as I said, most book series I've read (and most books in general) give a listing of the author's published works at the beginning.

 

[Justin Richardson]

Have you looked at books lately? I have tried a couple of series in different genre of fiction, and not one of them listed the number of the book in the series.....

First, why are you still reading those Dr Ruth Westheimer books?

 

[2aguy]

Have you looked at books lately? I have tried a couple of series in different genre of fiction, and not one of them listed the number of the book in the series.....

First, why are you still reading those Dr Ruth Westheimer books?

How do you know I am not Dr. Ruth?

 

[Justin Richardson]

How do you know I am not Dr. Ruth?

Haha...I don't.

 

[Diver Diva]

Go on amazon and look up the author. Usually they will tell you the number in the series. If not, you can go by the date it was published.

 

[Harry Dresden]

simply googling the book series will give you what you want....wow that was tough....

 

[Montrovant]

I was at a bookstore just a couple of hours ago and saw plenty of series with the numbers listed on the cover/spine. Others had the order listed inside in the list of author's works. Not all did, of course.

 

[hjmick]

On the inside of every book, before you get to the first chapter, they list the publishing dates. You want to look for the original hardcover publishing date, it will say something along the lines of, "Originally published in hardcover in September 2001", or something similar. It's on that same page you would find, if it's the paperback and a later edition, the original title of the book if it has been changed for some reason. I've only seen that a couple of times...

 

[2aguy]

On the inside of every book, before you get to the first chapter, they list the publishing dates. You want to look for the original hardcover publishing date, it will say something along the lines of, "Originally published in hardcover in September 2001", or something similar. It's on that same page you would find, if it's the paperback and a later edition, the original title of the book if it has been changed for some reason. I've only seen that a couple of times...

Why not just put "Book 2" on the front cover?

 

[Muhammed]

Why don't book publishers make it easy to find out which number a book is in a book series?...it is like having to ferret out a secret mystery......

Do you have any examples?

 

[2aguy]

Why don't book publishers make it easy to find out which number a book is in a book series?...it is like having to ferret out a secret mystery......

Do you have any examples?

I am currently working on the Jane Hawk novels by Dean Koontz...I am going old school and reading the hard covers and paperbacks from the library...I know I can google to find the order....but why don't they put the number of the book on the book.... Brad Thor....another one......try to find out the order of his books without googling them.... and a few others.....

 

[Muhammed]

Why don't book publishers make it easy to find out which number a book is in a book series?...it is like having to ferret out a secret mystery......

Do you have any examples?

I am currently working on the Jane Hawk novels by Dean Koontz...I am going old school and reading the hard covers and paperbacks from the library...I know I can google to find the order....but why don't they put the number of the book on the book.... Brad Thor....another one......try to find out the order of his books without googling them.... and a few others.....

My best guess is that the publisher assumes that people are less likely to buy a book that is a sequel if they haven't already read the earlier works.

 

[hjmick]

On the inside of every book, before you get to the first chapter, they list the publishing dates. You want to look for the original hardcover publishing date, it will say something along the lines of, "Originally published in hardcover in September 2001", or something similar. It's on that same page you would find, if it's the paperback and a later edition, the original title of the book if it has been changed for some reason. I've only seen that a couple of times...

Why not just put "Book 2" on the front cover?

Some do. I believe there was or is a western series, Longarm, and if I remember correctly those were numbered.

Most authors who write using the same characters from book to book do so with the intention of each book being able to stand on its own. That way a reader can pick up one of his or her books any time, any where, read it without feeling lost, and if they enjoy they can go back and read the ones they missed.