Novellas and short stories — Do you read them?

• Posted in About Books, Contests, Elemental Assassin series, On Writing

Note #1: This post will also appear on Tuesday, July 5 at Magical Musings.

Note #2: I’m giving away 5 copies of Bitter Bite, Elemental Assassin #14, U.S. only. To enter, use the form at the bottom of this post.

Unwanted finalUnwanted, e-novella #14.5 in my Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series, will be released on July 18. Woot!

I’ve written several e-novellas for this series — Thread of Death, Kiss of Venom, and now Unwanted — along with short stories like Carniepunk: Parlor Tricks. There are also several free short stories for this series on the Free Reads page of my website.

I enjoy writing the e-novellas and short stories — especially since many of them are from the secondary characters’ points of view.

Unwanted is an e-novella that takes place after the events of Bitter Bite, book #14. It is told from the point of view of Finnegan Lane, Gin’s foster brother. If you’ve read Bitter Bite, then you know that Finn definitely needed his own story after everything that happened in that book. And a hug. 🙂

Finn is one of the most popular characters in my Elemental Assassin series, and I’ve had many requests from readers over the years to write something from his point of view. After everything that happens to him in Bitter Bite, it seemed like the right time to finally give him a story. (And I also had time in my writing schedule to do it as well.)

Writing the e-novellas and short stories really lets me delve into my secondary characters and show their emotions and feelings about everything that’s going on around them. It also lets me expand my overall world building and show different parts of Ashland, my fictional city, that I might not get to visit in a regular Elemental Assassin book.

But I know that not everyone will read all the e-novellas and short stories, so I try to make each one of them almost like mini adventures for the secondary characters. That way, if you want to read the e-novellas and short stories, you are getting a complete story. But if you don’t want to read them, then you’re not going to miss out on anything that ties in to a major storyline in the main books.

To me, the e-novellas and short stories are just fun bonus material for fans of my series, like all those behind-the-scenes features that you see on so many movie and TV show DVDs these days. I hope to write more of e-novellas and short stories and explore some of my other secondary characters. Time and writing schedule permitting, of course.

What about you guys? Did you read e-novellas and short stories that tie into book series? Why or why not? What are some of your favorite book series?

UNWANTED INFO

Unwanted is about 20,000 words — around 75 pages — and will be available as an e-novella only. There will not be any print or audiobook versions at this time.

Unwanted is priced at $1.99, and it is up for pre-order at the following sites:

Amazon Kindle / Barnes & Noble / Books-A-Million / Google Play / iBooks / Kobo

And here is the e-novella description. This contains major spoilers for Bitter Bite. So if you absolutely do not want to be spoiled, skip reading the e-novella description.

The New York Times bestselling Elemental Assassin series continues with a new e-novella—from the point of view of Finnegan Lane, the foster brother of Gin Blanco, and a fan favorite of readers of the series.

The fallout from his disastrous “family reunion” in Bitter Bite has left Finn feeling hurt, angry, and depressed. He can barely stand to look at himself in the mirror, much less eat any of the delicious barbecue from Gin’s famed Pork Pit restaurant.

But when the funeral for a slain security guard at his bank turns into a showdown with some nasty underworld giants, Finn knows that he must act in order to protect an innocent family.

Finnegan Lane might be the most unwanted man in Ashland these days, but he’s determined to try to make amends for his past mistakes…

You can read an excerpt from the e-novella here. Scroll down, and click on the Read Excerpt tab.

I hope that everyone enjoys the e-novella when it is released. Happy reading!

BITTER BITE GIVEAWAY

To gear up for Unwanted, I’m giving away 5 copies of Bitter Bite, Elemental Assassin #14, U.S. only. To enter, use the form below. a Rafflecopter giveaway

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38 Responses to “Novellas and short stories — Do you read them?”

  2. Sandyg265 says:

    It depends on the series. Sometimes I will read e-novellas but my favorite way to read them is when an author collects all of the short stories from a series into a book so I can keep them with my print copies.

  3. Alexandra Sereni-Brown says:

    Yes, I have read some short stories that tied into other series. If I’m in love with a book series, I’m invested in those characters and love to delve deeper into their story. I also love when the novella is focused on a side character that I’ve been dying to know more about. Keep the novellas coming!

  4. Nora-Adrienne Deret says:

    Yes Jenn, I read novellas. Especially if it’s a series I truly enjoy reading. Why do you think I’m here stalking you again to win another one of your books? Unless I read #14 I won’t enjoy the novella as much

  5. Julie Meugnier says:

    Thank you so much for this giveaway !!! Love your books (all of them not just Gin’s even if they are ou favorite…)1

  6. Rosemary Perry says:

    I love reading novellas, it make me want to read more in that series, short story are also great a read

  7. Akanksha says:

    Dear Author,
    Yes, I do. A die hard fan here who get copies in her country so rarely. I would love to have actual books I can hold!!
    Tell Gin and the gang I said Hi!!!!
    – Lots of love
    A fan of her work

  8. Cate aka absolutartist1 says:

    Yes! Novellas for sure – short stories normally in a collection. Favs include Elemtal Assassin (duh!), Jane Yellowrock, Chicagoland Vampires, Mercy Thimpson, in Death (J.D. Robb) and Anita Blake.

  9. Christine Rains says:

    I love reading novellas too, and ones that tie into my favorite series. I do see serialized novellas becoming more and more popular. Readers seem to want shorter reads and more of them, and have them released faster.

  10. Chicory says:

    I enjoy novellas and short stories, especially now that I have an e-reader, so it’s easy to get them. I love when the story focuses on a side character so you get a different perspective. One of my favorite novellas is `The Getaway’ by Sonya Bateman. It goes with her Gavin Donatti series (that sadly ceased after two books. Sigh.) and is told from the pov of Donvatti’s girlfriend, Jazz.

  11. Carla TW says:

    I love novellas, when I can find them. Often they get mixed in with other stories and I miss them.

  13. KimR says:

    I read the novellas of favorite series. And besides Elemental Assassin, some of my favorite series are The Hollows by Kim Harrison, Chicagoland Vampires by Chloe Neill and Dark Hunter by Sherrilyn Kenyon.
    Thank you for the giveaway.

  15. JenM says:

    I don’t normally read novellas that are independent but I do usually read them when they are part of a series I’m following. I don’t like when they are necessary to the plot line as I don’t want to HAVE to read them, but I like when they explore side characters. As for favorite series, two of my favorites are Eileen Wilks’ World of the Lupi, and Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson and A/O series.

  16. Kathy says:

    I do enjoy them, and I read them when available in print versions, since I don’t have or use an e-reader. (I know that probably depends on your publishing house – but I do buy novella and short story collections in print!)

  18. LSUReader says:

    I enjoy reading series-connected novellas and short stories. But if I miss one, I don’t think it detracts from my enjoyment of the series. Some of my favorite series with stories that connect their books, are in mystery–Lee Child’s Reacher books and Lisa Gardner’s D.D. Warren books; in historical romance–Tessa Dare’s Spindle Cove series; in PNR/UF–Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter books and, of course, your own Elemental Assassin series. Thanks for the post and giveaway.

  19. Patricia OBrien says:

    i love reading novellas! sometimes its a little tidbit to tide you over til the next book in the series comes out. Sometimes its just a small glimpse of the characters life, and i love those.

  20. April Kirkland says:

    Yes I like to read the novellas that go along with the series. I will note that if it is a short work I won’t pay the same as a full length book would cost. I hate when that happens! I also am a fan of when the short stories are put together into one volume as someone else mentioned above, even as ebook only if print is not available.

  23. Amie Doughty says:

    If it’s part of a series, I will always read everything I can in it, and I have particularly enjoyed some of the shorts from other points of view (I loved the Owen one, and the one from Jonah, Gin and Philip). They add wonderful color to the stories, and yours in particular matter in later books.

  24. Northwoman says:

    I do read the novellas and even in order in a series. I’m sort of OCD about it. It can cause me problems as I sometimes get stuck if I’m reading library versions of the books and the library doesn’t have the novellas. I’m more likely to buy books I love after I read them through the library. I LOVE it when the authors put all the novellas and short stories from their series into one book; I can read them along with the series. Anne

  25. Jeannie L says:

    I try to read everything in a series that I am interested in. Prequels, sequels, side reads, blog excerpts…everything. I read everything in order so that I can live the story with the characters.

  26. Brian Jaybush says:

    Sure, shorts can be fun – I’m working on one right now – but I also find them frustrating. You just get into the character and the situation and *POOF!* It’s over. Grr. It’s why I tend to prefer to write full novels as well. Now, you may find it fun to write a SS/novella/novelet, but I find it too much work: either you don’t have enough story for a novel or you have to cut so much out that trimming becomes the story. Either way, mark me down as preferring full (roughly 100K word or more) novels.
    (BTW, your form rejects my website, which is “Psiwriters.info” – apparently, “.info” is not a valid URL to its bitty mind. Just FYI.)

      • Brian Jaybush says:

        Understood. It’s a systemic problem, though, of which I thought you should be aware. Several authors (presumably, using the same messaging service/software as you) have the same issue. And you’re right, I don’t need input my website to comment; on the other hand, neither can I use my professional email address (bjaybush@psiwriters.info) and so must use a personal one. Meh. IT sometimes sucks, even for those of us reasonable conversant in it. Just FYI.

      • Brian Jaybush says:

        But on a kinder, more relevant note: I do love your Spider and her tales. Delighted that you keep them coming, long, short, or in-between.

        • Jennifer Estep says:

          Thanks. I appreciate that. Unfortunately, I don’t think there is anything I can do about the email issue. I wouldn’t even know how to fix something like that.

  29. Bridget says:

    I am behind on Gin’s series mostly because I feel guilty spending money on things that are solely for me, so I wait for sales. I actually just read Kiss of Venom (and Dark Heart of Magic). So, I’m on to Heart of Venom next. I like the short stories, but not when you have to read them or you don’t know what’s going on (House of Night series). Sometimes I don’t know the short story exists and I start reading the next book and am super confused (I think- has it been so long since I read the last book that I don’t remember what is going on?).

  30. Brooke Banks says:

    I typically don’t read novellas and short stories for a series, but I make exceptions for my favorites, like Elemental Assassin. The funeral story…omfg I loved it. I love them all!

  31. CelineB says:

    I sometimes read novellas. I believe I’ve read all but the latest one in your series. I’m pretty cheap when it comes to buying novellas. I’d rather put that money towards a full length book.

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