Ann M. Martin has found success in writing two series of books for young readers, "The Baby-sitters Club" and "The Baby-sitters Little Sister," and writes practically every book in each series herself, at the rate of one a month. "Since I've become a full-time writer, I can accomodate the schedules set up by Scholastic, but I've certainly had to speed up the writing process to do so. In addition, I'm still writing a hardcover every one or two years. There's no way I could write a new hardcover every month. With the series books, I know the characters and the kind of situations they can get themselves into, and can predict the kind of conversations they will have. So, although writing two books a month sounds impossible, it's easier with a series. However, I still have to be incredibly disciplined."¹

To keep up with this gruelling schedule, Martin...