Saturday Discussions: Novella Editions for Published Books

Lately I've been seeing a trend everywhere. It's so popular in fact, that Harper Teen created it's own house for these ebooks. And the trend is for authors to release short stories based on their novels that are already out. Off the top of my head I can think of Destroy Me by Tahereh Mafi, Roar and Liv by Veronica Rossi, A Dance with Darkness by Courtney Allison Moulton and Radiant by Cynthia Hand but there are many more of them.

While I love that we get more story, I'm still not sure how I feel about this new trend. How about you?

See for me there are some major pros:

• We get more time in the world we love
• We get back story
• We get novellas in other character's perspectives
• It gives us a little something to snack on while we wait for the next book to be released

All of these are really awesome points. But I remember a day not so long ago when these bonuses were earned by the fans for promoting a book or RTing a tweet. These were offered as a reward.

Onto the cons:

• We have to pay for them (not as much as a full novel and it isn't really terrible but it is extra money out of our pocket)
• Readers might feel obligated to fit yet more to their TBR piles
• I wonder if it is necessary?

As I writer, I can totally understand writing a scene from another character's perspective. It offers us insight into why others characters are going to act the way they do. It forces us to think outside the main character's head. I've done this a lot but I don't know if I'd feel right charging for it. I guess if people want to read it then it's worth releasing. Also, I doubt many writers have a say as to if it's going to be free content or charged for since they sell the rights to the work when they enter into an agreement with their publisher. So to be clear, I'm not angry with these writers at all. I'm just pointing out that it does cost us more money if we need a fix.

My biggest concern about these books is that it puts us as readers under more of a time constraint. My TBR pile is already awful and now I'm adding even more because I feel like I have to read the novellas before I feel like I can dive into the next book of my favorite series.

Also, say I happen to really like a story? Well currently these novellas are only offered as ebooks so there is no way I can snatch a copy and add it to my shelf. Heck, these things are half the reason I wanted an e-reader in the first place.

Basically, I can see the appeal of these novellas and I do really like them but I can also see some of the cons too. What do you think? Are you for novellas or no?