Questions and input on shapeshifter books

[Koda]

Hello all, I hope everyone is having a great week and some good reads! :) I was looking for some people's opinions on some questions, I do apologize if you are seeing this on more than one group you are in as I am trying to get various thoughts and opinions on this.

From what I have seen, most books that are about or even vaguely consisting of shapeshifters seem like there is only one or two types at a time. On top of that, they seem to typically consist of wolves, bears, lions, dragons, maybe the occasional tiger... Are there any books with all types of animal shifters or do they mainly focus on one type?

Is there any interest in an actual world of animal shapeshifters? Or do readers want more magical beings as well such as vampires, witches, and other mythical type beings and beasts?

Do readers tend to prefer a longer book or a series of shorter installments? I suppose the better question to ask would be Do readers feel more comfortable purchasing a book from a first time author if it is offered in shorter installments (therefore giving a cheaper price to "try" them out)? Or do readers prefer to just buy one larger book?

Thank you for your time and input. Any opinions you share are most appreciated!

[Aliya]

Hi Koda,

For your first question, the only series that comes to mind for me is the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series by Laurell K. Hamilton. They have every kind of shifter you can think of, including rats and swans. But then the whole series is one big mixed up world. It's pretty popular, but I don't know that it's popularity has anything to do with the variety of shifters.

Personally, I'm not opposed to a variety of animal shifters in one book or series of books. I know some people prefer to focus on one type of paranormal creature at a time, but it really is a matter of taste. I'm assuming you are an author, :) so I would suggest writing what's in your heart. If you love it, there will most likely be an audience for it. (raising hand!)

As far as the length of the book, I've always been a quantity girl. I like to feel like I'm getting the whole story at once. However, again, that's my personal preference. If you have complete short stories that you want to publish separately for a smaller price, that is definitely a good way to get your stories out there and make a name for yourself. I don't know about breaking up a full length story, though. I don't think I would like buying a piece of a story and having to pay again for the next installment.

Like I said, these are just my opinions, but I hope they were helpful! Good luck!

[Leah]

Well I would have to say it depends on the reader.

Im a big paranormal fan, and have read books with just a couple of shifters, one kind and well just shifters of all kinds. I just started a new series that had a wolf, tiger, lion, fox, and bear in it. Also i read books with both Shifters and magical i them. Personally i do not mind if there are one or many. I do want the world to make sense though.

I have seen as many comments for a preference for one type of shifter or magical being, as i have for an all encompassing world. Honestly I do not feel that should effect the authors story, its their world, what do they want it to be?

I also personally like series, following a group of chatacters. Though I will read stand alones and books that are part of one world yet each one is about different people. Novellas usually seem rushed to me but thats because they are shorter and need to have the full story effect. Though i will read them.

I have no problem trying a new author if the book has an interesting summary. Price and size does weigh in when i go to purchase new books.

[Cassandra]

I'm not aware of any shifter-only novels, but although I'm an urban fantasy fan I don't seek out shifter books specifically. They may be out there. I expect you could tell an interesting story if some of the shifter types are prey animals rather than predators - I know Kristen Strassel has a series where that's the premise. The first book is Lion and the Doe.

As far as longer books vs shorter instalments, I think that given the current market most readers would expect shorter novellas to be either very cheap or free. Even with a full-length novel, people are often reluctant to take a gamble; it wasn't until I made the first book in my YA trilogy (Isla's Inheritance) permafree that the series really started attracting some interest. I booked in a promotion through Freebooksy to advertise it, and have since had enough sales of the next two books in the series to pay for the promotion, though not yet enough to cover my costs in releasing Isla's Inheritance in the first place.

(I personally wouldn't make a full-length novel free unless I had other books that followed it; otherwise you're not making any money at all!)

I guess, if it were me, my approach would be to write the story and then see how long it turns out to be. There's not much point stressing about whether to chop up a novel into parts if it turns out that the story only has novella-sized legs in the first place. :)

Hope this helps!

[Marie]

I agree - if you're a writer, write what you enjoy :)

As a reader, I prefer vampires. If I read shifters, I prefer wolves, big cats, or dragons. Jennifer Ashley's series has a variety, mostly cats, but there's a bear and I thought she did it okay. Otherwise, I don't care for bear shifters because they're too cute? in a way. Chubby, lumbering bears don't scream hot hero to me. Although if they were chasing me, I wouldn't consider them lumbering. I've also read some with other animals and personally, I couldn't get into them. I needed an alpha creature to hold my interest.

As a writer, I chose to go straight wolf for a couple of reasons. The consistency was easier for me as a new writer and they were believable creatures to see in the part of the country I write, which is a vague, wooded area. All my indie books are about 50K. Again, easier to keep it short when I was starting out. But also, as an indie, we don't charge as much. Since they're purchased 99.99% as ebooks, it seems like the ebook trend is shorter novels. I've read some sites that thought the trend was readers who preferred short novel/novellas, but then an editor on Twitter predicted that readers would trend back to 90K+. As a reader, a new author would have to grab me and keep me hanging on for a book that long. But my go-to authors I could get lost in. Although...lately a few of them who write longer works, I felt had some filler that dragged the story down.

It'd be awesome if you posted a brief summary of what you've heard. I'd love to see what your findings come up with.