are there any news about the "journeys birth short stories (coming soon)"?

I'm wondering this too. There's even an entry in our libraries (that obviously doesn't lead to anything).

It's now January 2019. I actually paid a little extra specifically for these short stories that never materialized. I assume, at this point, they never will...? Do we get any kind partial refund? I was really looking forward to reading them.

As far as I know, "Journeys: Birth" along with all the promised e-books have become part of the extensively illustrated encyclopedia "Tome of the Balance". At the moment it includes 307 pages, and its preview is available for download in the Humble Bundle store since the end of last year for all backers who pledged $50 and more during fundraising campaign on Kickstarter.

I guess that means you're a backer? If so, you should have been notified of this update:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/redthread/dreamfall-chapters-the-longest-journey/posts/2374405

I was not a kickstarter backer, but it was promised as part of the, I can't remember what they called it, extended or complete edition, special edition, whatever--all I know is I paid quite a bit extra, when I could have just bought the game. That was advertised as part of the deal--and now that has been revoked AFTER I paid for it? It's been showing "Coming Soon" in my extras bundle for years now. I don't care about avatars. I paid extra specifically for the short story collection which was promised and not delivered. That doesn't impress me.

Did you read the update? It doesn't sound like it's been revoked...

If by "update" you mean the link provided above. That appears to be related to people who pledged to their original Kickstarter drive. I purchased this full edition package (whatever it was called at the time) directly from GOG prior to the complete game being released. And one of the main advertised bullet points was that this expanded special edition would include the short story collection. I recall I paid anywhere from ten to twenty dollars extra for that expanded package (when I could have just bought the game). I've been checking back for it in my extras bundles every since the game was released in what--2014? 2016?--it's been literally years. And to this day it still says "Coming Soon." Now I'm basically being told that, no, we changed our minds. That's only going to be for Kickstarter people. I call that breach of contract. It was advertised as "we will provided you X Y and Z for X amount." And now, no, sorry--you paid for X Y and Z but we're only giving you X unless you were a Kickstarter.

Yes, but my point is that it's still being made, it's not been cancelled. Have you been explicitly told you won't eventually get it?

Here's a wayback machine capture to prove what you were promised:

[url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141013002601/http://www.gog.com:80/game/dreamfall_chapters_season_pass_special_edition]https://web.archive.org/web/20141013002601/http://www.gog.com:80/game/dreamfall_chapters_season_pass_special_edition[/url]

Don't give up, be polite but persistent. Contact everyone, GOG and Red Thread.

I will indeed inquire about it. Thanks.

this is a joke. Journeys Birth (coming soon) is still on the main page of the game sold on gog... and I (like you) paid also for those stories but got nothing.

So, it's mid March 2020 now. It still says Journeys Birth short stories (coming soon™); has anyone any info on if it's actually coming?

I think it's safe to assume that it's never coming. All mentions of the short stories have been removed from the Steam listing for Dreamfall Chapters and the developers haven't responded to questions about it on the Steam forum for years. My guess is that updating the GOG listing was simply overlooked.

Like others have said, the short stories were merged with other digital rewards in 2018 into a single book called the Tome of the Balance (Kickstarter Update #117).

In a different update the devs also said the Tome of the Balance would most likely not be for sale separately because thought it would be unfair to Kickstarter backers (Kickstarter Update #116).

I'm not a Kickstarter backer myself and I'm reading a bit between the lines, but to me that seems to imply that the devs wouldn't feel comfortable ripping out the short stories and giving that to non-Kickstarters who bought the special edition on various storefronts.

Note: I couldn't post direct links to the Dreamfall Chapters Kickstarter page, so I listed the update numbers instead.