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People have brought up both of my problems with this poll - it goes from "avoid" to "prefer". That implies a love 'em or hate 'em attitude.
I love serials as a concept (as matter of fact I'm serializing one of my ebooks on a blog right now, in prep for publishing the sequel), but there are too many different definitions to say whether I'd like a particular one or not.
In the old days, serials might be published as chapters with cliffhangers, but often they did NOT have cliffhangers - each episode was often almost complete in itself. Sometimes the story was wrapped up, but it just had a little hook toward the next story.
The Dain Curse (Dashiell Hammett), for instance, brings each section to a close with a fully resolved mystery... except there is one more puzzle that leads to the next story.
Even the early movie serials like the Perils of Pauline often were a series of stories connected by a single thread. The "cliffhanger" endings to episodes were added to the genre later. But even then, they were often just a gimmick to create anticipation, and each story really was designed to be viewed independently of the others (because people often did miss episodes).
So yes, I love serials, but I can't say I prefer them, and I certainly don't avoid them. I agree with those who say they would buy them if the stories were complete and satisfying in themselves.
Camille
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