Why did Baum write a whole series of Oz books?
Frank had many, many ideas for stories, and he tried to tell as many as he could. But none of his books sold as well or generated as much interest as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The success of the 1902 stage show also made Oz a recognized name. So when he went to new publishers in 1904, the first book they wanted from him was a new story about Oz. Originally entitled The Further Adventures of the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman, the publishers wanted Oz in the title, so it became The Marvelous Land of Oz (later shortened to The Land of Oz, now available under both titles — see question 2.9). While this kept readers happy for a while, they wanted to know more about Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion, neither of whom had appeared in the new book, so Frank wrote a third Oz book, Ozma of Oz, and then some more ideas for other Oz books came to him, some from his fans’ letters. He tried to end the series with The Emerald City of Oz in 1910, but bankruptcy and the disappointing sales of his other new bo
