Explosion of Serial Books on Amazon

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Bookworm_22
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Explosion of Serial Books on Amazon

Post by Bookworm_22 »

I currently use my iPhone as my ereader and exclusively use the Kindle App at this time. I have been using this version of kindle for going on three years. It seems to me novels are increasingly being broken down into series with each "book " lasting only a handful of pages. Often the first book is free or relatively cheap but to complete the series can cost more than your average full length novel. The trend irritates me although there are a few authors that I read who choose to post their work in this format anyways. How do other readers feel about this serial explosion?
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SparklingOne
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Post by SparklingOne »

I agree. The serial type novels turn me off and I usually just skip them entirely. Also put them on your wishlist and keep an eye on them. The price goes down after awhile.
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Nicola Barrios
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Post by Nicola Barrios »

I love the serial books. Of course I check how many pages they are. The ones I have chosen have been relatively lengthy books.
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Ter_Lorefield
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Post by Ter_Lorefield »

I have a Love and Hate Relationship with Serial books. I Love the ones that last past my cup of coffee well into my day. Though I do enjoy the ones that have just last long enough to enjoy a cup of coffee with. Though I don't stress the cost very often when it comes to them. The first ones I get like most who grab them off of Amazon Kindle get it for Free. I have around 100 pages to decide if the story and the characters are worth my time and coffee funds. If they are, I look into the author many have 3 book sets for cheaper then it would be to by them individually.
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JessicaAnn123
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Post by JessicaAnn123 »

This drives me crazy! I love reading the free books and just when I'm really getti into the story it will end on a cliff hanger. I look for the next one and it's maybe $.99, but the next one is more and the following one is even more and so on. I know it's just Amazon trying to make more money by hooking readers but it is very frustrating, great business strategy for them, frustrating for me.:)
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cmm406
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Post by cmm406 »

Yes, this is very frustrating. I have so many books on my Kindle where I got the first book for free on Amazon and didn't want to pay for the next books. Most of them have cliffhangers too so it gets really annoying when the next books increase in price and I'm stuck not knowing how the series end. However, I do add them to my wish list and check back occasionally to see if the price has decreased which does happen.
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Post by akhreader »

I do not like cliffhangers ! Unfortunately most of the serial books on Amazon cannot be read as stand-alone which is rather annoying. Sometimes I cannot resist and end up reading an excerpt but resist the urge to buy. But some books I cannot resist and end up purchasing the series just to "find out what happens next" !
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Chattychicky
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Post by Chattychicky »

I like when they have series. I have noticed they will put out one as free or on prime to reel you in to read them all. Yup they got me!
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beth9900
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Post by beth9900 »

I will tell you the truth I HATE IT. I think that we as readers are being taken advantage of and I make a point now to not "purchase" anything that is less than 100 pages. After the last few books that I have read I am thinking of changing it to 150 pages. I understand that this was done previously in magazines but the times have changed for a reason. I think an author (who are usually readers) should take into account if they are really helping themselves build a following or just making people mad so that they will never purchase anything written by the author. There are of course series that have certain characters that continue across many books but at least every book that you purchase is a complete story. I would think that the first thing an author would remember is a story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end before putting it out for consumption.

Sorry for the rant. I guess you hit one of my sore spots lately.
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gatorgirl_823
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Post by gatorgirl_823 »

Yeah, when I see an interesting book, I always look up the author and see if this is a stand alone book or just book 1 in a series. Typically, I find that book 1 is free or included with kindle unlimited and then the rest of the series you have to pay for. Kinda of a turn off and I usually skip the book because of this. I don't want to be roped in for numerous and often short books just to get the story read.
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lovemoreebooks
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Post by lovemoreebooks »

I don't mind a good series, but some of these authors are really trying to rip us off. More than half the series I've read could have been condensed to a regular sized novel or at the most, a trilogy. The one thing I hate most in these series are the complete change in POV's halfway through. That throws me off so much and makes me not want to continue.
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Post by Lily Ahulu »

I Love series, so long as they are exciting and make sense. but sometimes I feel some authors use it to exploit readers.
books that have no business being a two-part series end up being 4 or 6.
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Gwen Johnson
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Post by Gwen Johnson »

This really annoys me. To find you’ve got to the end of the free giveaway to realise you have only really got half the book and the other half you have to buy. Many authors on Amazon are doing and so I tend not to buy the other half even if I was enjoying it. If a book is free, it should be the full book. If I like the author I will happily look to buy other books.
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