You know those times where a magazine article just doesn’t hold enough information, but you don’t exactly want to read a book on the subject? Amazon is attempting to solve that problem with Kindle Singles, lengthy selections (which to them means twice as long as a New Yorker article, yet shorter than a full book – think 30 to 90 pages) on certain topics that may strike your fancy. They’ll be priced less than a full book as well, so you’re not forced to shell out the bucks for shorter content. (More on Techland: Scrabble for Kindle Review: Good Fun Bad Graphics)
“Ideas and the words to deliver them should be crafted to their natural length, not to an artificial marketing length that justifies a particular price or a certain format,” said Russ Grandinetti, Vice President, Kindle Content in the press release. “With Kindle Singles, we’re reaching out to publishers and accomplished writers and we’re excited to see what they create.” (More on Techland: Ask Techland: Kindle or Nook?)
It seems that they are trying to appeal to novella writers. Or people who like to create heavily abridged versions of classics. Perhaps it’s a space for your well-researched-yet-commercially-unappealing thesis to finally get more readers than you and your advisor. Who knows? At least articles and stories at this length have a place to be published and can be readily available, which is something that typically doesn’t exist.
More on Techland: