The increasing trend in "serial" books.

[odamizu]

"In Which I Rant About How Writers Do Not Respect Their Readers"
by Shantnu Tiwari

http://shantnutiwari.com/in-which-i-...their-readers/

[LadyKate]

Originally Posted by booklover6

I know exactly what book you are talking about, because I was the fool that bought the first half, not realizing that PART meant it was only the first half. It was by Lynn Viehl, an author whom I enjoy. But I was seriously mad that it was only half the story. As a result of my disgruntlement, that book (both parts) only got 3 stars from me, and I have yet to read book 2. I don't think it's a library offering, either. So I may never read it. Leaves a sour taste, just thinking about it!

Was that "Disenchanted & Co." or Her Ladyship's Curse?

[LadyKate]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

What I get a kick out of is when stories have "grown in the telling." A series that was initially planned for three novels, gets expanded to four or five because it, "all just wouldn't fit" into three novels. Which is all fine and dandy at face value, by the way. The funny part is how the story always seems to "grow" in whole-novel increments (each commensurate with the page-count of the previous books). Nobody ever needs to add a novella's worth of material to get things "just right."

Actually a lot of authors in the fantasy or urban fantasy genre tend to issue free shorts on their blogs or websites that fit in between their books and the novellas of the longer series.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by LadyKate

Actually a lot of authors in the fantasy or urban fantasy genre tend to issue free shorts on their blogs or websites that fit in between their books and the novellas of the longer series.

This is true. I think publishers encourage the in between stories to remind people about the series and keep the buzz going. Not all of them are free--some are done for anthologies. Some are done to gauge interest (I did two shorts, one for each of my series to see how the downloads would go. I ended up writing another novel for each of the series).

It's funny how long it has taken places like GR and Amazon to allow listing of the in between stories. I don't know if Amazon has done it yet. I know some sites let you, but I don't think Amazon does yet.

[AnnGirdharry]

hi, Jumping in new to the discussion here and following on from Tarana's previous comment (not sure how to quote it but this might work -

Originally Posted by Tarana View Post

I won't buy it until it is done. I still feel ripped off by the Sith series. Got every episode, which was later offered for free. Then, only to find out that the last 100 pages requires you to buy the ebook with the collection (an additional $8). Sorry, I won't be a patsy again.

For authors, thinking through the pricing is important. It's not good strategy to sell books and later on offer them for free unless it's some specific promotion -
for instance, a specific sale to attract new readers or a bundle offer of some kind from which existing readers may also benefit