A Kindle single is a type of

e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...

which is published through Amazon's

Kindle Store The Kindle Store is an Internet, online e-book e-commerce store operated by Amazon (company), Amazon as part of its retail website and can be accessed from any Amazon Kindle, Fire HD, Fire tablet or Kindle mobile app. At the launch of the Kindl ...

. It is specifically intended as a format for

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...

-length

nonfiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with be ...

literature or

long-form journalism Long-form journalism is a branch of journalism dedicated to longer articles with larger amounts of content. Typically, this will be between 1,000 and 20,000 words. Long-form articles often take the form of creative nonfiction or narrative journa ...

. The name "single" comes from musical singles which are shorter in length than an

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

record. The format, first released in January 2011, was welcomed by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

Virginia Heffernan Virginia Heffernan (born August 8, 1969) is an American journalist and cultural critic. Since 2015, she has been a political columnist at the ''Los Angeles Times'' and a cultural columnist at ''Wired''. From 2003 to 2011, she worked as a staff w ...

in her final column for the paper, who commented that "I’m thrilled to find these Kindle Singles, which add

narrative nonfiction Creative nonfiction (also known as literary nonfiction or narrative nonfiction or literary journalism or verfabula) is a genre of writing that uses literary styles and techniques to create factually accurate narratives. Creative nonfiction contra ...

to the forms I can savor out here. Narrative nonfiction in our digital era could exist almost no other way — and indeed, it once seemed headed for obsolescence. I’m extremely happy to see it back." The format has also been praised by literary critic

Dwight Garner Dwight Garner (born January 8, 1965) is an American journalist and longtime writer and editor for ''The New York Times''. In 2008, he was named a book critic for the newspaper. He is the author of ''Garner's Quotations: A Modern Miscellany'' and ...

, who welcomed "what feels almost like a new genre: long enough for genuine complexity, short enough that you don't need journalistic starches and fillers." ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' writer Rebecca Rosen commented that authors of Kindle singles have found the platform to be financially beneficial. She made a point of distinguishing Kindle singles, which are "curated and shepherded through an editing process by former ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...

'' editor-in-chief and Columbia adjunct

David Blum David Blum is an American writer and editor. Blum was born in Queens, New York, and graduated with a degree in English literature from the University of Chicago in 1977. He began his career as a reporter in 1979 for ''The Wall Street Journal''. ...

, much like a traditional publishing house" ("successful Singles authors aren't undiscovered gems but professional writers who have published elsewhere before") from

Kindle Direct Publishing Kindle Direct Publishing is Amazon.com's e-book publishing platform launched in November 2007, concurrently with the first Amazon Kindle device. Originally called Digital Text Platform, the platform allows authors and publishers to publish their b ...

, which is a platform for unknown authors to quickly publish and sell their works as e-books through Amazon.

References

{{Ebooks Amazon (company) Ebooks Computer-related introductions in 2011