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Kindle-izing It

12:36 PM PST, February 7, 2008, updated at 1:13 PM PST, February 7, 2008

One of my favorite Kindle features is getting some recognition. After spending years in publishing and seeing some of the most promising manuscripts wilt in slush piles under an editor's desk, I've become a strong proponent of digital publishing. Last month, we posted on Daniel Oran's beta test--Oran posted his work-in-progress Believe (only one more day to download this title for 99 cents, all of which goes to charity) to the Digital Text Platform and asked readers for feedback. The book made it to number 7 in the Kindle bestseller rankings and Oran said he received "some great feedback on the novel during the beta test -- in reviews, blog comments, and email -- so now it's time to work on a revised draft."

To our absolute delight, Oran reported that he was contacted just this morning by a publisher in New York showing interest in publishing a paper version of Believe. Oran said of his experience: "It's a testament to the amazingly cool platform that Amazon has created!" Good luck, Danny, we're rooting for you.

And our favorite quote from a blogger at Bookseller.com: "No one has noticed yet one of the biggest features: they have set up DTP Amazon that allows anyone to publish their work for the Kindle. This is a leap on from Lulu.com because there is no printing or delivery costs and transfer is trouble-free and almost instant. The DTP aspect will be a massive self-supporting market in itself as people self-publish and then make their friends buy a copy. It could also transform publishing, as authors cut out all the middlemen except for advertising agencies. Even if this method of publication only works for the obscure unpublished author, that will be great. We think of self-publishers as naive/vain hobbyists, but the long tail contains a lot of great content that just doesn't fit inside the financial model of the current industry. Plenty of great poets only exist for us thanks to self-publishing. I think the kindle could allow us to access more talent previously hidden by economic realities."

Maybe you're the next Melville or Morrison. Visit the Digital Text Platform at http://dtp.amazon.com/mn/signin and show the world what ya got. --Molly