Daily email 1,000-word installments arrive at a time a reader determines. And one can read that portion of the novel or non-fiction book or short story on a desktop, laptop, or cell phone. Danziger, a former staffer at Random House, says users have begun embracing new ways of reading.

A reader only needs to pick a book (browse the collection or use the search box), select how often and when you want to receive messages, and provide an email address. Click on the big Subscribe button. DailyLit does the rest. By registering, readers can join in forum discussions by author or subject, post questoins, list books they read, and request books.

And it’s all free. DailyLit works with sponsors and publishers to make books available for free.

I discovered that I concentrate better and speed-read less when I read a book on my iPhone. Despite my love of the feel and look of paper, book cover designs, and joy in seeing books on a shelf or piled on a table, I just can’t seem to read without becoming distracted. My theory: the high resolution of an image and text on the iPhone screen, plus the light weight and close focus offers comfort and few distractions. The only distraction occurs when I stretch out on my side and the screen moves vertically or horizontally.

I’ll pay $5 for one of Chemin’s ebooks, since I like and own his paper books, to see how they compare. Meanwhile, I’ve downloaded the complete works of Shakespeare to my iPhone. There’s a reading challenge–and a contrast from the past. What would Shakespeare think of this?

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” 

William Shakespeare / Hamlet Act 1. Scene V abt. 1601

As a side note, I’m also writing and adding this to the website using, you guessed it, an iPhone.