Today, Amazon announced that it will launch "Kindle Singles"--Kindle books that are twice the length of a New Yorker feature or as much as a few chapters of a typical book.

Amazon called on writers and publishers on Tuesday to submit short works to "Kindle Singles," a new section of the US online retail giant's electronic bookstore.

Writers that will participate to Kindle Singles will have their own section in the Kindle Store and be priced much less than a typical book.

"Ideas and the words to deliver them should be crafted to their natural length, not to an artificial marketing length that justifies a particular price or a certain format," said Russ Grandinetti, Vice President, Kindle Content. "With Kindle Singles, we're reaching out to publishers and accomplished writers and we're excited to see what they create."

Like all Kindle content, Kindle Singles will be "Buy Once, Read Everywhere"--customers will be able to read them on Kindle, Kindle 3G, Kindle DX, iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, Mac, PC, BlackBerry, and Android-based devices. Amazon's Whispersync technology syncs your place across devices, so you can pick up where you left off. In addition, with the Kindle Worry-Free Archive, Kindle Singles will be automatically backed up online in your Kindle library on Amazon where they can be re-downloaded wirelessly for free, anytime.

Amazon also offers a self-publishing platform that allows authors and publishers to format and upload their own books to the Kindle Store.

To be considered for Kindle Singles, interested parties should contact digital-publications@amazon.com.

Amazon's Kindle is the leader in the e-reader field but it has been facing pressure recently from Apple's iPad, the "Nook" from US bookstore Barnes & Noble and others.