Back in 2011, Amazon launched a series of short form pieces for the Kindle called Kindle Singles. Today, Amazon has announced a new series called Kindle Singles Classics.

The new series is described as “a way to make iconic articles, stories and essays from well-known authors writing for top magazines and periodicals available in digital form, many for the first time.”

According to the press release, the initial launch features over 140 works that consist of both fiction and non-fiction. A variety of writers are represented: Susan Orlean , Norman Mailer, Gloria Steinem, Lawrence Wright, Margo Jefferson, Gay Talese and Chang-rae Lee, as well as short stories from best-selling authors like John le Carré and Kurt Vonnegut.The works draw from magazines like Time, Playboy and the New York Times Magazine. Some of the pieces date back decades.

Singles Classics are priced from 99 cents and are available for free to Kindle Unlimited subscribers.

In the press release, Amazon does note that “writers and publishers sell their previously published work via Kindle Direct Publishing”, which means that we will probably be seeing more previously published content in the series. If the series works the same way as Kindle Singles, works will probably require approval before they can be published.

Back before Amazon established the 99 cent threshold for books and stories published for the Kindle, I used to find a large number of (undoubtedly illegal) science fiction and fantasy stories available for pennies. I remember seeing Damon Knight’s classic  “Not With a Bang” priced at only 10 cents for the short story.

While I am not overly excited about a glut of old material surfacing on Amazon, there are some amazing short works, especially in the SFF genre, that I would love to read again. Many were originally published in anthologies that have been orphaned or gone out of print and are not available in e-versions. Seeing some of those works available would be wonderful!

Can I be the first to request “Whatever Became of the McGowans?”