Last week, we jumped into sequels—what are they, and why are they everywhere? This week, Noah gives us a different spin on the subject by asking, where did sequels come from? How did they develop? Which books and movies turned sequels into the ubiquitous format we’re surrounded by today?

From caveman campfires to the books we curled up with as kids, stories with a “part two” are so common we almost forget that aren’t innate to the artform. Or are they? Are sequels as natural as sunrise and sunset? And if that’s the case, is there any difference between the three Lord of the Rings novels and the thirty three Hercule Poirot mysteries? And do the serialized stories we gobble up as kids prime us for a story landscape that’s all sequels all the time? Tune in as we weave all these threads.

This month, Unedited: From Idea to Manuscript and Shelf to Screen returns. Adam — accompanied by a surprise guest, his youngest daughter — kicks us off with an introduction to the topic of the next several episodes: sequels. Here at Inkshares, we’ve been thinking a lot about sequels as we work on follow-ups from authors like Scott Thomas, JF Dubeau, and Christopher Huang. Pretty much all of our favorite books and films have sequels of some sort or another.

But what is a sequel? And why is a sequel? What purpose should a sequel serve? What separates the good ones from the bad ones? Did the book series we read as kids condition us to consume sequels? And in an age where it seems like everything is an extended universe, is it time for sequels to die? Equally importantly, has our real world itself become nothing more than a sequel...

Unedited is back, and so is BookCon. In episode 24, Adam, Sarah, and Noah survey the return of NYC’s biggest book event, which has awoken from a five-year covid coma. This time around, the Javit’s Center will host a convention with special focus on those readers romantasy-inclined: signings, meetups, workshops, and a “fantasy ball” are on offer. Less love is being lost across the pond, however, where a coalition of Dutch authors are decrying private equity firm KKR’s ownership of publishing conglomerate VBK via Simon & Schuster, in part because of KKR’s investments in Israeli companies. What lies beneath their complaints, and does authors refusing to publish send a message or do they silence their own most salient means of expression?

In happier-ish news, a bankrupt Village Roadshow goes to a good home (Alcon) for the diminutive adoption fee of $417.5 million (#adoptdontshop). What does this mean for the future of two studios which have, separately, made some of the best films of the past twenty-five years, including Insomnia and The Matrix? And what does any of this have to do with FedEx? Note: Fred Smith, the founder of FedEx and an investor in Alcon, died last week between our recording of this podcast and its publishing; rest in peace, Fred.

Sarah Elizabeth Hill is a writer, digital strategist, and the founder of Bobi Media, a boutique social media agency based in New York City. Before launching Bobi Media, Sarah co-founded Bookstr.com, a digital media platform for readers which she grew from zero to 3.5 million global organic followers. She secured ad or content partnerships with all five major publishers and has hosted over 100 live author interviews, including conversations with Deepak Chopra, Tony Robbins, and Neil deGrasse Tyson. Sarah’s earlier work included global campaigns for brands like Nike, HBO, Oracle, and Google Politics. She hosts The Login Podcast and is working on her debut lifestyle nonfiction book that she is not allowed to mention yet…

Noah Broyles was born and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee. He started out writing in a notebook, upgraded to a typewriter, and finally graduated to a laptop. At the age of fourteen he sat down to write his first novel and at the age of twenty-three his debut novel, The House of Dust, was published by Inkshares. He has been a member of the Inkshares publishing team since 2021.