By Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg

Such big-name writers as Jeffrey Deaver, Stephen King and Janet Evanovich are driving sales of short e-book titles as consumers use their digital devices to dip into an increasing pool of such works.
For the second quarter ended June 30, the number of new e-book “singles” increased 18% to 96 titles, compared to the first quarter, according to Thin Reads LLC, a privately held company that tracks digital book singles sales at Amazon.com Inc., Barnes & Noble Inc., and Apple Inc.’s iBookstore.
“In fiction, this market is completely dominated by the big-name authors,” said Howard Polskin, editor and owner. “It’s hard for unknown fiction writers to break through.”
By contrast, the nonfiction category is more receptive to new names. “Anybody with a timely topic, a good cover, and a good title, has a decent chance of punching through,” said Mr. Polskin. Recent examples, he said, include Tiffany Peon’s “Drinking My Way Through 14 Dating Websites.” The book, published in April by Thought Catalog, has a suggested retail price of $2.99 but was selling for $2.51 on Amazon on Monday.
Mr. Polskin said that that singles don’t have a set form, although they basically range between 5,000 and 30,000 words, compared with 90,000 words or more for a traditional book. “In my mind, if you can finish it on the flight between New York and Chicago, it’s a single,” said Mr. Polskin. “If not, it’s a traditional book.”
Mr. Polskin noted that newspaper and trade magazine publishers are entering the singles publishing market more aggressively. Publishers Weekly, for example, has published a single about the e-book pricing wars titled “The Battle of $9.99: How Apple, Amazon and the Big Six Publishers Changed the E-Book Business Overnight,” by Andrew Richard Albanese. The book is selling for $1.99 on Amazon.