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The Science EBook Review

This is pretty good. A site that reviews original science-based long-form factuals on ebooks. OK, that means serious non-fiction that is shorter than a book, but longer than a normal magazine article, yet that is only available as an ebook, and not available on paper or previously published. In other words a true digitally native “book.” These new things also colonize a middle duration between a blog post and a epic saga. They take a couple of hours to finish reading rather than days, and more than minutes. This emerging genre sports the marvelous compression and intense editing of a good magazine story, but gives the subject a bit more depth. And the e-booklets generally sell for $3 or less, download instantly, say as a Kindle Single. Amazon itself is publishing these at a rapid rate, dealing with authors directly. TED conference is publishing them. Scientific America is publishing them. And this website, a gang of science writers, is reviewing them. So far, the quality is great.

I am using it to find great writing about fascinating topics where I don’t want or need a whole book. This is a bright spot in an industry that could use a bright spot.

— KK

03/7/12