Startup Showcase: Byliner: Writing Short and Selling Big

Tayman explains how the process came to market: "… the minute the Kindle came out and the first iPad it became obvious the time to start releasing our titles was here." The site launched with non-fiction (their first entry was Jon Krakauer's Three Cups of Deceit) then moved into fiction (Amy Tan's Rules for Virgins.)

Pieces run from 5,000-30,000 words and are readable in a single sitting. They are "the reading equivalent of sneaking out for an afternoon at the movies." Retailers call it everything from a "Short" (Kobo) to a "Snap" (Barnes & Noble). Byliner calls it an e-short, and Tayman calls it successful: "One quarter of every title sold in this space is from Byliner."

Tayman, the company's founder and CEO, jokes that he started Byliner so he could write in this new short form, but now has no time to do so. As to how the writer morphed into the business man: "If you have an exciting idea with promise you can build a team that helps you execute that idea."