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Originally Posted by Dr. Drib
I feel it's certainly a marketing ploy for Sony to offer short stories. (Additonally, many people love short stories. I know I do.)
But even so, as a "Total Count Strategy," it makes good marketing sense, as well, to have these availabe as it quickly increases the total number of titles available.
However, I would really like to see a large number of short story collections "exploded" out so that short stories of one's choosing could be available rather than a whole book of stories.
Don
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Don, I don't think there's anything insidious here like a "Total Count Strategy". Sony doesn't even provide a convenient way to determine the total number of ebook titles that they sell, which is why it's a bit of a chore for me to figure it out and post it here every couple of weeks. So offering short stories to boost a number you can't easily get at doesn't seem like a logical motivation for offering short stories. I would say, rather, that offering really cheap titles is probably a terrific way to get people into the habit of buying content. Amazon has had digital "shorts" for some months (these are PDFs, they also have others for the Kindle). I've bought a few of these myself. At the ridiculously low price of $0.49, how could I pass up an interesting title by an author I recognize? Do you have a Reader but don't want to pay $10 or $20 or more for an ebook at the Sony site? "Hey, look at these SciFi and Romance and Horror and Western short stories! They're only a buck!" I think that's the motivation and I'm glad they're being smart about it.