Okay, I've finally finished writing the last chapter of my book, Destiny's Bond--though I'm still revising--and it's left on a cliff-hanger, as I plan to have this blossom into a series of undefined length. I've read other books where the author leaves on a cliff-hangers, Anne Bishop's The Black Jewel Trilogy being one. But I am wondering what the people of Book Country think of cliff-hangers and books that end on them. Do they annoy you? Or make you want to buy the next book in the series to find out what happens? Do you find authors who do this to be presumptuous to think that simply because they leave a book on a big 'what happens next' that you'll go out and buy that next book? Or does it depend on how the author does it?

I'm curious because I don't want to come across as presumptuous. I don't want readers to think I left on a cliff-hanger because I figured it would have them go out and buy the next book in line. I simply left off there because it felt like the right spot.

Please, opinions on this are welcome.

For me, it depends on whether an author has given me an emotional satisfying ending regardless of how many plot lines remain unresolved.  If you felt like it was the right spot to end, then that should be where you end. It'll be up to readers to decide whether they agree with you or not.  If they love your story, they may gripe about the cliffhanger, but that will only show that they want more. 

I generally prefer standalones, but of course it depends. Catching Fire seemed like a craven attempt to capitalize on the success of The Hunger Games (not that I blame her. Who wouldn't want to keep that alive?)  On the other hand, all of the Harry Potter books felt like parts of a big story that wanted resolution.  LOTR was, of course, one big book that could've just as easily been divided up into 2 or 4 books. 

Anyway, my advice is simple:  write the best book you can and don't worry about sequels. There are always more stories to tell.  

 If a book ends in a cliff hanger and too many unanswered questions, I am too annoyed to bother reading the following book. I feel betrayed by the author, suckered into investing time in a story with no satisfying end. And I feel that if I read the next book in the series, it will also lead me to another unsatisfying cliff hanger. I don't like to be manipulated. I feel my time has been wasted. 

On the other hand, I have eagerly read a series of books where each can stand alone although the story takes you further with each book. You get a satisfying ending with each novel because that part of the story is complete, but a door of something unresolved is left open that can lead into a sequel. In the Harry Potter series, each book is a small story while the series fulfills the larger story. In The Seven Chronicles of Narnia, you have a series in which characters may vary from one book to the next.