: New story in 'same universe'. When is it a sequel? How to title? This is a two-part question, and I hope that's okay. 1. Would it classify as a sequel I've created a 'universe' in which

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Currently doing this as well, and I have certain cues that are incidental to the stories but are shared. For example, the two current works I have use the same (fictional) President of the United States, who is referred to at different points in the narrative. There are also a few plot devices that work the same way and are shared between verses that drive the plot (scifi as well) and there may be passing references to major events in other books.

When considering the shared universe, I'd show you two uses that worked. First, at it's height in the 90s, Star Trek had two separate Television shows and a movie franchise in various production. If you nerd out enough, you can find a link between the three different series (An episode of DS9 makes reference to the recent Borg activity in one movie and the change in uniform style. A later episode would also refer to the enemy action of the villains in the next movie and their alliance with the current villains of the series. Voyager would also feature a reference to the uniform change and the villains of the TV series and set their Borg episode to coincide with the use of the Borg in one of the movies).

In another example, the Marvel Cinimatic Universe, in it's initial beginnings, would often include related footage from other movies to establish it's timeline. If you watch closely enough, you can determine that the events of "The Incredible Hulk", "Iron Man 2", "Thor", and the opening and ending sequences of "Captain America: The First Avenger" all take place within a week of each other in universe. Again, if you are not looking for these events, it's missed and just a little flavor for the viewers willing to look for it. These were done at a time where the interconnection of the movies was something new to the film industry and a critical and financial failure of any of them would cause the whole thing to crumble... the movies couldn't support having the actors meet in big scenes for long, but could show them in other areas doing their own thing.

Basically, start small and give enough of the connection that readers of both books can say "ooh, they exist together" but don't force the issue right away.

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You are overthinking this, and getting out ahead of yourself. If your first book is a hit, your publisher will like insist on marketing the second as a sequel if it has any relationship to the first at all.

If not, you'll be able to position it as you wish. However, there's some advantage to signalling the audience that this is a shared world --audiences like the familiar, and it gives them the sense that their investment in your universe is worth something.

Just a few examples of books with widely different settings, characters and moods, and sometimes even historical eras, that were successfully linked largely just via a shared universe include Andre Norton's Witch World books, Diana Wynne Jones' Dalemark Quartet, Robin McKinley's Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown, and Susan Coopers' Dark is Rising sequence.

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Taking your question on its face, I'd say:

No, it's not a sequel, but a shared title would be appropriate.

What classifies as a sequel?

a published, broadcast, or recorded work that continues the story or develops the theme of an earlier one.

That's straight from the dictionary. In your question, you state:

the stories share no characters, locations or plots, so far

It certainly doesn't smell like a sequel, even though it's set in the same universe. Take the Star Wars universe, for example (except, obviously, The Phantom Menace). There's a ton of shoot-offs from the movies: books, films, guides, games, etc. If you watch, read, or play them, you'd classify very few as sequels, because the main plot and developing characters of each story are different.

So I think it comes down to development. Are you further developing a plot, theme, or characters from the previous book? It doesn't sound like you are. So I think it's safe to say it's in-universe (thus, safe to market it as part of the same universe via the title prefix), but not a sequel.

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