Writing—or editing—a trilogy is not for the faint of heart. The process takes years, multiple drafts, and frequent reversals of course to accommodate new ideas. Notes for future subplots fill Mole-skine after Moleskine, untied strings dangle from chapter after chapter. It’s a high-wire act that requires enormous attention to detail and a knack for crafting plots with enough room to permit improvisation. It’s a bit like trying to build a skyscraper while the architect keeps fiddling with the blueprints. But if you do it right you have a built-in audience for your next book, and the one after that.

This fall, after a decade in which the multi-book series only seemed to outnumber stand-alone novels, several authors are bringing their high-profile trilogies to a close. Many readers literally can’t wait. Veronica Roth’s Allegiant, the conclusion of her Divergent series, doesn’t arrive until October but already has a bestseller sales ranking on Amazon.com.

The editors of these books completely understand the concept of fevered anticipation.
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