Amazon.com is way ahead of its fellow online book retailers. You can still buy the latest 50 Cent album, as well as cameras, phones, jewellery–bless their cotton socks–almost anything. Earlier this year you could also watch short films, and now you can buy short stories for 49 cents. Right, I forgot they also sell books.

Amazon announced this week Amazon Shorts. They are starting with 59 authors who’ve submitted short fiction, and Amazon is selling the stories for 49 cents each. You get a digital file. I haven’t bought one yet so I don’t know what it looks like.

Amazon Shorts web page

Categories include Literature and Fiction; Nonfiction and Essays; Biography and Memoirs; Maybe You Know …; Mystery and Thrillers; and Editors’ Picks.