SERIES VS TRILOGY

People often wonder what the difference is between a series and a trilogy. Do you know the difference? Let me help.

A trilogy is a story line that takes three books to tell the story. Nora Roberts has written a few of these. THE CIRCLE TRILOGY and THE SIGN OF SEVEN are two of my favorites.

A series are a set of book that have a common thread but can stand alone. As in my three books, I have three brothers who get their own book. Their stories do not involve each other but you do see a mention of the brothers in all of the books. They are the common thread.  You can read them in any order.

Now it is also my understanding that you can have a set of books that tell a story from start to finish and you must read them in order to understand and they are more than  three books. Think of Diana Gabaldon's OUTLANDER series. There are seven books written so far.

I have heard of "series romance" or also called category romance, but I am unsure of what this means. If anyone can give a definition of this term, it would be appreciated.

I hope I was able to break down this confusing question for you and helped to make your writing a little easier!