A good idea - or not?

[Gerri Attrick]

I was thinking of writing a more cozy spin-off to my main mystery series. In order to get to know my character better, I wrote four or five short stories before I started on a novel (currently at 18K words).

I like what I’ve got so far, but I’d like to gauge reader interest before I go storming ahead on a series that might not take off. (I’ve already got a second series of only 2 books that does very little). So, I’ve come up with the idea of publishing the short stories as a collection first. It will only be available on Amazon, and only for a month and I’d price it at $0.99. Once it’s live I’ll inform my small mailing list (140 organic, 1500 Instafreebie) and announce it to my FB page and ask for feedback. If that turns out to be positive, then I’ll go ahead and finish the novel and plot more in the series.

Do you think this is a good idea? Or is it on a par with square watermelons?

ETA: Once I’ve unpublished it, I intend to use the collection as a reader magnet for mailing list sign-ups, possible via FB ads.

[cecilia_writer]

This is a tricky question.
In some ways it seems like a good idea to try and work out whether readers are interested enough before you invest a lot of time and effort in writing more novels. On the other hand, wouldn't people be more likely to show interest in the short stories after they had already got to know the new character(s) better?
Or then again, if they were already fans of your writing, then would they give the short stories a try anyway? I think this could make a difference. But are you going to be looking for new readers, and will the short stories draw them in?
Sorry, this is all questions and no answers! I don't generally enjoy short stories as much as novels but there are exceptions - Sherlock Holmes for instance.

[Vidya]

Mystery short stories—if they're by Agatha Christie or Ellery Queen, I'll read and enjoy them. Otherwise—meh. I'm sure you already know shorts are a difficult sell.