Amazon Publishing has introduced a new imprint to its successful line-up of publishers — Original Stories.
The new imprint will publishing short-form fiction and non-fiction. The first two titles are The Sign of the Beast by Joyce Carol Oates and Crown Heights by Colin Warner and Carl King.
The psychological suspense fiction title from the prolific Joyce Carol Oates is advertised on Amazon as being a ’66-minute read’ and 40 print-equivalent pages long. It is currently in the No 1 spot on the US Kindle store Contemporary Short Stores best-sellers’ list, tops the Kindle Singles list and is No 22 on the US Kindle store Paid Overall list.
Crown Heights by Michael Warner and Carl King is a non-fiction account of a struggle over two decades for justice and freedom. It is advertised as being a ’98-minute read’ and has a print-equivalent length of 103 pages.
Titles from the Original Stories imprint are priced at $1.99 for sale (£1 in the UK) and are also available through the Kindle Unlimited ebook subscription service.
The new imprint seems to be an adjunct to Kindle Singles, which was launched in 2011 but never appears to have become an actual imprint.
Amazon Original Stories editorial director Julia Sommerfeld, who became editorial director of Kindle Singles in May this year, says, ‘The goal of Amazon Original Stories is to champion stories, essays, and reporting by the premier storytellers of our time and to introduce unforgettable new voices to Prime and Kindle Unlimited members.
‘As we’ve seen through the great response to work available through Kindle Singles, powerful stories can be told in a single sitting and are another wonderful outlet for writers to reach readers. We plan to introduce new storytelling experiences in the coming months.’
Amazon Publishing’s imprints include:
- 47 North — Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror.
- AmazonCrossing — Works in Translation.
- AmazonEncore — Rediscovered Works.
- Grand Harbor Press — Personal Growth, Self-Help and Inspirational.
- Jet City Comics — Comics and Graphic Novels.
- Lake Union — Contemporary and Historical Fiction and Non-Fiction.
- Little A — Literary Fiction and Non-fiction.
- Montlake Romance — Romance.
- Skyscape — Teen and Young Adult.
- Thomas & Mercer — Mystery, Thrillers and Suspense.
- Waterfall Press — Christian Non-fiction and Fiction.
Amazon Publishing imprints take eight of the top 20 places in Kindle ebook best-sellers of 2016