/series-continuity

name: series-continuity
description: This skill should be used when the user asks to "write a sequel", "write a prequel", "start book two", "continue the series", "companion novel", "spin-off", "link books in a series", "carry characters into the next book", "series continuity", "series bible", "pitch my series", "series pitch", "multi-book pitch", or needs to plan, pitch, or keep canon consistent across multiple Story Skills projects. NOT for a standalone book (use story-init), continuity within one book (use revision-continuity), or a query, pitch, or synopsis for a single book (use submission).

Series Continuity

Overview

Plan and maintain sequels, prequels, and companion books as linked Story Skills projects. Each book stays a standalone project with its own `story.md`, characters, world, chapters, and continuity files. Books point at each other through `story.md` frontmatter, and `story series` checks the canon they share.

• `series` - kebab-case series id shared by every book, such as `the-ember-cycle`
• `series-title` - optional retail series name, such as `The Ember Cycle`, that the metadata sheet prints in place of the id
• `book-number` - publication order (1, 2, 3...); `0` for a prequel published later, a decimal such as `1.5` for a between-books novella
• `follows` - paths to books set **earlier** in the story's chronology
• `precedes` - paths to books set **later** in the story's chronology

Chronology and publication order are separate. A prequel written after the first book has `book-number: 2` and lists `../book-one` under `precedes`.

This skill owns the book-level layer: linked books and the canon they share. The within-serial installment layer — how serial or episodic installments are structured — is covered by the `genre-craft` skill's serial/episodic structure reference.

Links are relative paths from the book root, and every link needs a matching backlink: if book two lists `../book-one` under `follows`, book one must list `../book-two` under `precedes`. Keep sibling books in the same parent folder so the paths stay short and portable.

When to Use

• Starting a sequel, prequel, interquel, or companion book to an existing project
• Carrying characters, locations, systems, factions, artifacts, or glossary terms into another book
• Revising a book that other books in the series depend on
• Keeping a series bible, or planning and pitching a series of several books (see `references/series-bible.md`)
• NOT for a single standalone book (use `story-init`), for within-book continuity (use `revision-continuity`), or for the query letter, pitch, or synopsis of a single book (use `submission`). A series pitch stays here: the series overview and the series line in book one's query (see `references/series-bible.md`)

Starting a Linked Book

1. Read the existing book first: `story.md`, `characters/_index.md`, `worldbuilding/_index.md`, `plot/timeline.md`, `continuity/state.md`, open files in `continuity/questions/` and `continuity/promises/`, and the final chapters. 2. Ask the user for:

• Title and synopsis
• Relationship: sequel (set after), prequel (set before), or companion (set alongside, with no chronology link)
• How much time passes between the books
• Which characters and places return

3. Create the project with the CLI, run from the folder that contains the existing book:

# Sequel: set after book one
story init '{Title}' --follows '{existing-book-dir}' --synopsis '{synopsis}'

# Prequel: set before book one
story init '{Title}' --precedes '{existing-book-dir}' --synopsis '{synopsis}'

# Companion: set alongside book one, with no chronology link
story init '{Title}' --series '{series-id}' --synopsis '{synopsis}'

The title and synopsis are the user's own words, and a folder name can hold spaces, so wrap each value in single quotes. Never paste a value into double quotes, where `$(...)`, backticks, and `"` still take effect. A single quote inside a value depends on the shell: write it as `'\''` in a POSIX shell (bash, zsh, sh, Git Bash) and as `''` in PowerShell. Never run the command in cmd.exe, which has no single quotes and runs `&` inside a value; use PowerShell or a POSIX shell.

Run `init` from the folder that contains the existing book, never from inside it: `init` refuses a new book inside another project, and a linked book outside the new book's parent folder. It also refuses a `--series` that differs from the linked book's, and a `--book-number` already used in the series. `init` checks that the linked path is a story project, writes the relative link, adds the backlink (and the new book's `series`, when the existing book has none) to the existing book's `story.md`, and inherits `series`, `genre`, `sub-genre`, `pov`, and `tense`, plus `series-title`, `author` or `authors`, and `language` when the linked book sets them. When any book in the linked series has a `book-number`, it sets `book-number` to one more than the highest whole number used anywhere in the series, so publication numbers never collide. A normal `story init` book has none, so a series with no numbered books leaves the new book unnumbered. Pass `--book-number` (or write the field on both `story.md` files) in that case. Pass `--series`, `--genre`, `--pov`, or `--tense` to override the inherited values.

If the existing book has no `series` yet, pass `--series {series-id}`: `init` also writes that `series` into the existing book's `story.md`. Add matching `book-number` values to both `story.md` files yourself.

A companion has no `follows` or `precedes` link. So `init` inherits nothing from book one, and it writes nothing to book one's `story.md`. Pass `--genre`, `--pov`, and `--tense` to match book one. Use the same `--series` id as book one. Set `series` in book one by hand if it has none. Set `book-number` by hand: pass `--book-number` to the companion's `init`, or write the field in each `story.md`. `story series` does not see an unlinked companion,