In this article, senior writer and book critic for The New York Times (@nytimesbooks), Dwight Garner (@DwightGarner), spotlights Kindle Singles (submission policy): “works of long-form journalism (‘well researched, well argued, and well illustrated between 5,000 and 30,000 words’) that seek out that sweet spot between magazine articles and hardcover books. Amazon calls them ‘compelling ideas expressed at their natural length.’” Garner calls them “boutique mini-books” that may create a new genre: “long enough for genuine complexity, short enough to avoid adding journalistic starches and fillers.”
Amazon hardly has a monopoly on this novella-length form. Digital publishers like Byliner (@TheByliner) and The Atavist (@theatavist) are commissioning articles of this length that can be purchased and read on any e-reader, or on laptops or phones.
...Amazon offers 70% of the royalties to its Singles authors....So far Amazon has issued more than 160 Singles, at a rate of 3 per week....Barnes & Noble offers similar material in its Nook Snaps series, Apple has Quick Reads on its iBookstore, and Kobo has Short Reads....
See our previous blogposts, “Ebooks are the New Pamphlets” and "In the Year of the Ebook, 5 Lessons From — and For — News Organizations."
Also see paidContent’s (@paidContent) "E-Singles: ‘Journalism’s Extraordinary Challenges In An Entirely New Place’" and “Guide to E-singles”).
In keeping with the idea of short-form books or long-form articles (however you look at it), Christianity Today (@CTmagazine) has launched Christianity Today Essentials, a new series of “natural length ebooks,” described by editor-in-chief David Neff (@dneff) as content “longer than a longish magazine article, yet significantly shorter than the typical print book.” He says, “The format allows you, the reader, to go deeper and learn more than you could from a magazine article, without committing the time or money demanded by a full-length book.”
Leadership Network (@leadnet) is beginning a new series of “natural length experiences” under the brand Leadia (@leadiatalk). “Each piece is limited to 10,000 words and has live links to audio, video, and websites.” A Leadia app is available for iPhones and iPads.
And Patheos.com (@Patheos) has started Patheos Press, a “publisher of original ebooks.”
Capturing long-form content online is another aspect of this trend. Services such as Longreads (@longreads), Longform (@longform), and The Browser (@TheBrowser) help readers save and organize in-depth material on the Web.
Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you successfully navigate the world of digital publishing.
And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard; especially see the list of self-publishers in the Publishers tab.