"A magazine article stretched to breaking point" must be one of the most popular put-downs in non-fiction reviewing. It's a feeling familiar to anyone who, full of enthusiasm, has picked up a book on etymology/netsuke/French children not throwing food only to find, 100 well-padded pages in, that the subject has outstayed its welcome. Pity the writer, though, forced to choose between a measly word limit and even measlier Marie Claire fee, or squeezing out a whole book and crossing fingers for the Costas.
Until now. Step forward the mini-ebook: a new home for ideas that need a little bit of space. Amazon announced this month that sales of Kindle Singles, its digital platform for novella-length fiction and non-fiction, have passed the 2m mark. Americans, a year ahead of us in ebook terms, have been going mad for the format, the New York Times heralding "what almost feels like a new genre". Mini-ebook publisher Byliner, which boasts Ann Patchett and Margaret Atwood among its authors, hopes to sell 1m in the next year. Mishka Shubaly, a writer who's made $130,000 from three Singles, says he plans to call his first child Amazon.
While the mini-ebook is yet to take off over here, publishers are experimenting. Last December Penguin launched Shorts, an exciting idea let down by a feeble range of titles, including a Toby Young guide to setting up a free school, something Anita Brookner pulled out of the back of a drawer, and Economist reports all freely available online. Random House's Brain Shots series, a mix of abridged non-fiction and one-offs such as Alastair Campbell's depression memoir, is another to watch, as is the Guardian's own shorts series.
With the excuse of a short-haul plane journey, I decided to stock up on a couple of Singles. A thrilling half-hour later, the combination of pocket-money prices and alluring titles such as Sleeping With Famous Men and The Heart of Haiku meant I'd ended up with a dozen. Mini-ebooks might make thousands for writers and publishers but this could be a costly habit for omnivorous spendthrifts.
