So You’ve Heard of E-books, But What About E-book Shorts?

If you haven’t heard of e-books by now, you most likely reside under a rock. But just because you’ve heard of or have read e-books doesn’t mean you know what e-book shorts are.

E-book shorts are e-books that are longer than articles but shorter than books. Often times, they’re short stories excerpts from a novel. They’re also cheaper than a full-length book. Up until last week, they had been available  through Amazon. Amazon calls them Kindle Singles.

But now, Princeton University Press is jumping on the e-book short bandwagon, publishing 5 e-book shorts. According to this article by the L.A. Times, the shorts are all excerpts and became available last week. They include an excerpt from Walden by Henry David Thoreau. Princeton University Press’s shorts are available through a variety of vendors, but are separate from Amazon’s Kindle Singles program.

The question here is whether or not these shorts hurt or help the book industry. On one hand, people will buy them and consider not buying the entire (and more expensive) book. But on the other hand, reading an excerpt may help a reader realize they want to read the whole book. I think it’s an interesting idea nonetheless and hope it means more business for the book industry. What do you think?

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3 Comments

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3 responses to “So You’ve Heard of E-books, But What About E-book Shorts?

  1. I don’t think I would pay for an excerpt. Many book selling sites have an option where you can read part of a chapter to judge whether or not this is a book you would like to read. Usually that small piece of the story is enough of a taste of the author’s writing for me to determine whether I want to read the full length version.

  2. Pingback: Just in Time for Titanic 3D, an E-Book Short About Costa Concordia | Lara's Book Club

  3. Pingback: Kindle Singles Publishing Soars | Lara's Book Club

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