The startup also plans to let publishers offer paid membership for members-only content and other perks.
I've noticed this type of strategy being used by some YouTubers through their sponsored Patreon accounts. By paying a monthly donation, I was given access to locked videos, pre-released footage, and even art galleries that were related to the content of the YouTube channel's videos (in this case it was video game lore).
looking at the data it actually seems that while fewer story collections sell, the ones that do can sell almost as well as novels
The idea of short story collections definitely reminds me of comic books. Every comic issue is a short story that connects to the next in line of that series depending on whether a villain is defeated or not. I can see why short story collections can maintain popularity in this way.
A photo of Stephen King reading this article
Same