Following what Fried Egg said, just a comment summarising series. To me there seem to be three sorts
1 Series of complete stories each of which is pretty much stand-alone
2 Overlying story arc but each individual book is a complete story
3 Series where the story is multi-stranded and the further along it is, the slower it moves (Martin, Jordan)
and related is
4 Stand-alone stories set in the same universe - e.g Bujold's recent fantasy - The Hallowed Hunt is a standalone
So, I like good examples of everything except 3. I read Martin's Hedge Knight which I thought was excellent, tried the Fire and Ice and gave up some time ago - end of either second or third book. Never started Jordan as heard how slowly it was moving forwards.
At base I'm for anything that I enjoy - which isn't really helpful here. For example Barbara Hambly returned to her Darwath world after the trilogy ended and added several excellent stories. Was less convinced by her return to Dragonsbane because of the way she seriously beat up the characters
Jumping outside Fantasy I think Cornwell's Sharpe is a good example of a series working well. One or two of them I'm not so keen on, but it is interesting/impressive that where he has recently gone back and done infill stories they've been really readable. He has a nice firm series framework from the Napoleonic War.
By the way Fried Egg - not sure most writers enjoy a comfy retirement even when writing an established series, especially if only published in the UK. Not that I am saying you should give them your money - its up to them to entertain you, just don't overestimate what a writer gets.
A few top sellers like Pratchett will live very well, but from what I've seen on-line and talking to a few authors at cons, the writer tends to be the second income in the family!
Also the writer gets very little of the cover price - 6%, 8 % or 10% depending on status is what I've heard. The bookseller, depending on which one, takes up to 50% of the sale price. The rest is split between distributor, publisher, writer and agent.
One sort of spending I'd like to plug here is with an author you like, or with a new author you fancy trying, buy when it is published. If it sits on the shelf for months in a bookstore, then that store is less likely to re-order that book and that impacts sales, onto contract and hence variety available for the reader. Most writers start with a two book contract, if they don't sell that's it. I try and spread what spending I can do between further books from authors I know and like and trying a few new ones each year.
Also, most libraries will consider taking recommendations on authors. Don't always buy them, but I have successfully recommended books to libraries for purchase. Gets a new author out there being seen.
Here's to the wonderful world of books, long may it continue
