22 | May | 2014 | YOURS IN STORYTELLING...

I still do better at Kobo than I do at Amazon – but that doesn’t negate the fact that Amazon is definitely the 500 pound gorilla in the chimpanzee tent – so I keep a close eye on what Amazon is up to.

Just today they announced a brand new section of the Kindle store dedicated entirely to short stories and quick reads. I think this is a great idea. Whether or not they can run with it is another question entirely.

Only time will tell.

Still, there is a market out there for short stories. You can read a short story on a bus ride to work. You can read a short story before you go to bed. You can read a short story in the doctor’s office. Heck, you can even read a short story while sitting on the throne.

There are readers of all shapes and sizes out there. Some folks are looking for t-bone books while others are hungry for a cheeseburger read. Short stories are the potato chips and candy of the e-book world. They taste great without filling you up. There is very little commitment involved. Reading a short story is a little like speed-dating. You like that story you might want to hunt up a novel and take it out to dinner and maybe even get lucky with it if you play your cards right.

I write short stories because I like to read short stories – and you should ALWAYS write what you like to read.

Which is why I will most likely NEVER write a parlor mystery.

If you want to read more about the Amazon Short Reads section swing on over to the DIGITAL READER – which you really ought to be following anyways – and read all about it.

You might also want to check out kboards – which you likewise ought to be following – as they have an entire multi-page forum thread dedicated to this particular topic.

And – because a day without spam is like a day without sunshine why don’t I advertise one of my own short reads. Pick this up today and I’ll come home tonight from my night shift and grin out loud.

We writers are such a needy lot!

🙂