Free Reads in Installments - A Survey

When it comes to reading, I have a terrible attention span. I wasn't always this way. As a child, I could read all day and well into the night, then wake the next morning and read in bed until my mother made me get up and eat.

All that changed when I had children. Stolen moments of reading developed into a habit, and now, unless a book is fabulous, I can't get through more than a few pages at a time unless I'm stuck on a plane or have the flu. Even a fabulous book often takes a week to read. As long as I notice an unfinished book lying around the house, though, I'll get through it sooner or later (with the occasional exception, such as The Mysteries of Udolpho... It's an interesting story, but writers were sooooo long-winded two hundred years ago).

Onward to my subject: free reads in installments. A few months ago, I had the bright (but not original) idea of writing a short story to use as promo on my (not yet up, alas) website. I admit to an ulterior motive: I love writing short stories. It's the attention span thing again. Short stories don't take long to write. Closure comes quickly. And my editor liked the idea, so I dug in and wrote one.

But at over sixty pages, it's too long, or at least for its purpose. Or at least for me. One of my favorite historical authors, Elizabeth Hoyt, has a free read on her site in installments of a chapter at a time. Not that I need a free read to convince me to buy anything by her; I love all her books and bought the latest the week it came out. I read the first chapter of her free read on line, and a while later I remembered to read the second. It's a great story (of course), about a secondary character in another book (so I'm already invested in the heroine), but then... Sigh. My attention span--or rather, lack of it--kicked in. This may be partly because the free read is on line. I'm not too keen about reading on the computer. I prefer to veg out on the couch. It may be partly because I have to go to her site and open the file. Arduous labor, I know. But for whatever reason, I haven't gone back.

On to the survey:

Am I the norm here?

If you're enjoying an installment story, will you remember (without persistent self-promo on the part of the author) to return every week for the next fix (say, over a period of four to six weeks)?

Would every day for a week work better? (It would for me, because it's easier to remember to do something tomorrow than next week.)

Is there anything (apart from being entranced or bored) that would make you more or less likely to return?

Do you like reading short stories, or is an excerpt from a full-length novel more interesting/useful for you?

Oh, and somewhat unrelated but significant, I think: Should a short story posted on line have a sex scene, and if so, should it be abbreviated or sweetened... or would that give a wrong impression if the author's books have longer/racier scenes?

Thanks for the input... I'm going on line now to catch up on Elizabeth Hoyt's free read!

ALSO -- PLEASE READ THE BLOG BELOW THIS. IT'S A FABULOUSLY INFORMATIVE POST BY CALLIE LYNN WOLFE OF THE WILD ROSE PRESS!