Urban Fantasy series' discussion

Hello all, I hope everyone is having a great week and some good reads! :) I was looking for some people's opinions on some questions, I do apologize if you are seeing this on more than one group you are in as I am trying to get various thoughts and opinions on this.

From what I have seen, most books that are about or even vaguely consisting of shapeshifters seem like there is only one or two types at a time. On top of that, they seem to typically consist of wolves, bears, lions, dragons, maybe the occasional tiger... Are there any books with all types of animal shifters or do they mainly focus on one type?

Is there any interest in an actual world of animal shapeshifters? Or do readers want more magical beings as well such as vampires, witches, and other mythical type beings and beasts?

Do readers tend to prefer a longer book or a series of shorter installments? I suppose the better question to ask would be Do readers feel more comfortable purchasing a book from a first time author if it is offered in shorter installments (therefore giving a cheaper price to "try" them out)? Or do readers prefer to just buy one larger book?

Thank you for your time and input. Any opinions you share are most appreciated!

Koda,

Wow, good questions.

1) To me it really depends on the story line. In some cases a single WERE type fits. In others multiple types would be better. Look at the Kate Daniels books, in those the authors put in many types and made the personality of the WERE take on traits of their animal form. I think they did a great job with that.

2) I enjoy a good story. It may contain a single SUP type or multiple. Again it depends on the story...

3) For a series, main books should be 76,000 to 110,000 words. Anything longer than that starts to be too long and the longer the book the longer the wait for the next installment.. Shorter feels like a novella (a book issued between main series books) which I feel should be less $ than a main book.

My two cents for what it's worth.

For me it depends on the story and how well the author pulled it off, what I mean is made it believable.
I have read a few authors that try to mix it up and I enjoy there different types of shifters. series has many different kinds of shifters. this series has snakes, Hawks, wolves, panthers, Tigers, Falcons, Peregrins, I think even dragons. She does another series which contains characters from this series into another with vamps, witches. There is another author i have read and she uses vamps and shifters together and one of her shifters is a mole.

I personally think it comes down to how well the story is written.