Amazon, the largest retailer on the Internet, launched a new service today in hopes of reviving short-form literature. Enlisting the aide of dozens of established authors, Amazon will offer their customers a brand new service and perhaps even find some new ones. For just 49 cents, one can download and enjoy essays and short stories by their favorite writers or find someone new.
“Amazon Shorts will help authors find new readers and help readers find and discover authors they’ll love,” said Steve Kessel, Amazon.com’s vice president of Digital Media. “We hope that by making short-form literature widely and easily available, Amazon.com can help to fuel a revival of this kind of work.”
I pulled some information from their press release:
Literature and Fiction
Audrey Niffenegger, whose debut novel, “The Time Traveler’s Wife,” was a New York Times Bestseller and nominated for the Orange Prize, has written a charming short story about a man who is experiencing a celestial infestation of sorts; he is having trouble keeping his attic angel-free.
Gregory David Roberts, who introduced himself to readers with an autobiographical novel describing a life of drug addiction, crime and prison, has written an Amazon Short in which the unfolding lives and spiritual development of the characters build upon one another in a consecutive timeline.
— Daniel Wallace enchanted readers with his novel “Big Fish,” which was adapted for the major motion picture of the same name. His Amazon Short is a two-part illustrated fable that takes place before recorded time and chronicles the story of a tribe of hunter-gatherers.
Memoirs
Stuart Woods, known for his bestselling crime thrillers, has written a personal account of an obsessive and nearly lifelong struggle to find, obtain and hold onto the only luggage a man could ever want.
— Richard Rhodes is the author of 20 nonfiction books and a Pulitzer Prize winner. His Amazon Short is an essay connecting his experience with the birds of the Pacific and the magnificent drawings and writings of John James Audubon.
— Terry Brooks is a master of the fantasy genre, with over 12 million books in print and 18 consecutive New York Times bestsellers. His Amazon Short details his writing process, as well as his motivation and why his work is often misunderstood.
Mystery and Thrillers
Robin Cook is widely credited with introducing the word “medical” to the thriller genre. His Amazon Short is a medical drama about a young surgeon looking for accolades and attention, who experiences a tremendous range of emotions in the operating room.
— James Lee Burke, a two-time winner of the Edgar Award for Best Crime Novel of the Year, has been dubbed the “Faulkner of crime fiction.” His Amazon Short is a compelling new coming-of-age drama about experiences growing up during the Depression era and the war years.
— F. Paul Wilson, an award-winning author of 30 novels and over 100 short stories, including the bestselling Repairman Jack series, offers fans a special treat. His Amazon Short is a new mystery/thriller about this popular character with the theme that no good deed goes unpunished.
Nonfiction and Essays
Danielle Steel, novelist, children’s book author and non-fiction writer, shares her own experiences of the roller coaster ride of life in her Amazon Short, “Candy for the Soul.”
— Ann Beattie, renowned novelist and award-winning short-story writer examines the process of writing fiction, the power of words and the mirror that we hold up to examine ourselves when we read fiction in her Amazon Short.
— Pico Iyer, a prolific travel writer whose articles appear in “Harper’s,” “The New York Times” and “Conde Nast Traveler,” has departed from his usual travel pieces to write about a place he has never been.
Sci-Fi and Fantasy
Walter Jon Williams, a Nebula Award winner and author of more than 25 novels, writes a lagniappe intended for readers of the “Dread Empire’s Fall” series to enrich their appreciation of certain characters. For new readers, it’s an introduction to the sort of surprises that are found in his books.
— Kevin J. Anderson, an award-winning science fiction author with 16 million books in print in nearly 30 languages, gives readers a rare advance preview of his next novel with his Amazon Short. He offers the first four chapters of “Of Fire and Night,” the fifth installment in his “The Saga of Seven Suns” series, a year in advance of its release.
— Robin Hobbs’s popular fantasy trilogies have been translated into 17 languages. In her Amazon Short she revisits the Bingtown area, also the setting for her “Liveship Traders Trilogy,” and weaves a captivating “tale within a tale” about family perceptions and how they shape each generation.
“Publishers have always had a hard time selling and marketing the single, short-form work — the novella, for instance, or the novelette, or its even more diminutive cousin, the novelini — and these days it’s even harder. Amazon.com has created a new way for authors to get that kind of work out there, which is incredibly exciting,” said author Daniel Wallace. “It’s my hope that their Shorts program brings a renewed interest to the genre, as well as the opportunity for us to keep in touch with our readers in a really direct, fun way between books.”
There’s a tremendous number of authors and there’s not room here to list them all, suffice it to say, anyone with 49 cents and a few minutes can download original, entertaining and engaging content from established authors who really had no mass direct outlet for the majority of their short form work. I think it’s safe to assume that in a short time, a lot of work will show up in Amazon Short. Check it out.
John Stith is a staff writer for murdok covering technology and business.
