What Would Be The Better Option...Need Help.

[Jeff]

Ok, so my first story of The Mysterious World Of Professor Darkk And Miss Shadow came out and is doing pretty ok. Now I have another short story to add to the collection I’m (eventually) going to release. Is it better to release them one at a time and then turn them into a full book....or would it be better to get them all and then publish it. I have a full novel I’m working on for this series as well. That will not be done until maybe another full year.

I just wanted some opinions on what would be better. Releasing these mini-stories first...then make it a collective book. Or finish them all then publish it before the full novel is completed.


Hmm...maybe it would generate readership if I did it separately? I’m so torn.

[Phillip]

I know I generally wait until everything is available before reading. That way I'm not tormented with a long wait for a great series. I'm not sure how many are like me, but I'd put them out together. Unless pacing them helps from a financial standpoint.

[Tomas, Wandering dreamer]

You might have a look in the topic about short stories, many people gave their thoughts there from several points of view.

[Anne]

I went with releasing my novellas separately then in a collection as a paperback. By doing that I was able to get reviews on each novella and build up something of a list for my larger work, which is coming out in a few weeks.

Because of the smaller works and faster review turn-around, I already have about 20 people on my ARC list for my novel before I've sent out any new requests to bloggers!

Publishing separately seemed to work well to get my name out there a bit! However, you may want to take into consideration the cover design and other costs associated with that type of plan.

[Jeff]

Good points

[M.L.]

I like Anne's idea. To minimize cost, you could use the same cover with minimal color or background changes. I saw a series that had the same cover for over fifteen books. I don't know how short your stories are but that could be a consideration whether to publish singly or as a whole.

[Jeff]

Thanks Anne and M.L.,

The different yet same cover idea sounds good. That way you can tell it’s part of the same series.

[M.K.]

I'm one of those who went the published some stories to book length. Only both books were different from the stories though set in the same world. I published them over several years as a learning exercise. What I got was some nice reviews that helped me market the book length efforts.

I've read many things...but you might publish a couple stories but reserve some as new material for the book.

[Betty]

Different methods work differently for different authors. I first published “Waiting on Zapote Street,” which did well and won The Latino Books Into Movies Award recently. Then, after building a small following, I published the anthology “Candela’s Secrets and Other Havana Stories.” Anthologies are difficult to sell, but the popularity of my novel helped carry the anthology.