Ever since the Kindle platform launched, authors and publisher alike have been using it to publish short fiction and non-fiction as well as long. Which is why it was always a bit silly that Amazon shelved Amazon Shorts which was an ebook marketplace for short fiction (articles, short stories, novelettes, etc). Greg Banks, who I interviewed back in March of 2009 about his successes with the Kindle, was one a fiction author who had a lot of success with Amazon Shorts and the program was really only in its infancy when they started to quietly put it aside. 

But that program is back now but totally revamped under a new name: Kindle Singles.

In the end, the only real difference between Kindle Singles and the normal Kindle Publishing process is the length of the content (5-30,000 words).

From an author standpoint, I like this because, even though people were already publishing short fiction to the Kindle, now, at least, Amazon is intentionally directing buyers who want shorter content to this section of the Kindle store. It’s almost a way for buyers to sort content by length.

What worries me the most? Many people were already offering their entire book for under $5. Will buyers be willing to pay between $1 to $5 for shorter content?

Secondly, why did they shelve Amazon Shorts in the first place? Might they pull the rug out from under authors and publishers with Kindle Singles too?

Would you consider buying shorter eBooks from the Kindle Singles store? What pitfalls do you see?

(For a good, step by step walk-through of the process, I recommend this article.)