SOS: Serious Overload of Series discussion

I'm guessing more and more shorts, which were previously released as part of anthology, are being (re)eReleased as e-shorts b/c of the popularity of eBooks.

I was wondering how ya'll feel about it. As someone who (compulsively) buys up anthologies that contain stories by my favorite authors, yet has difficulty actually reading them - I'm kinda liking the individual e-shorts.

At least I know going in that the story is the one I want to read. I've bought an anthology in the past that had stories by authors I've never read before. In one respect, that is a good thing b/c it gives me a preview of the author's writing to see how I like it. But, on the other hand, sometimes I intentionally skip an unknown author's short (w/in an anthology) b/c their short is mid-way through a series I have started and my OCDemoness howls when that happens.

Seems like a double edge sword when it comes to either/both - at least for me. I desire to have all the books in my favorite series, so I'll have a tendency to buy an author's re-released short in eformat. Sometimes I buy their eshort b/c I have the anthology that it is in, haven't read it and didn't realize it was the same story from an anthology. That's good for the authors though, yah? Double the $ from me.

Well, that's enough sharing for today. What you are YOUR thoughts on the subject?

Agreed, Steph! I think readers should be allowed the option since anthologies are just as expensive as a book but feel like... less-than-one I suppose. I'm not a huge anthology reader but the ones I have read have been not too bad but there's always one that is boring/you don't want to read/haven't read the series.

I have enjoyed stories by new-to-me authors in anthos, but that was more like an "oh cool" thing instead of "oh I have to add this author to my to-buy list, I must simply read more of his/her work." I am starting to prefer e-shorts. They're cheaper and they give me the story I want.

I much prefer the eshorts (love that term, BTW). Most of the time when I've bought an anthology, I've ended up liking one out of the (usually) four stories in it. At least when I buy an eshort, I'm paying for the one story I'm interested in. And I'm willing to try a short story from a new to me author in that form rather than springing for the full price of a mmpb.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Ladies! I have to say, eshorts are becoming my new favorite way to go. (Damn those fantastic anthology covers though!) But, what happens when the antho comes out first and you just aren't sure if your favorite author's story will ever become an eshort? Do you wait and see? Sometimes you're a devourer of all things written by author XYZ's series ZYX and you just cannot bear to wait for the possibility of an eshort.

I say that, but I have *too embarrassing to say* a lot of anthologies by my faves sitting here unread. :/ Guess that means I could afford (financially and FANancially) to wait for a possible eshort.