What is Byliner.com?

Byliner is a showcase of long-form journalism.  It's articles and stories longer than 3,000 words but shorter than a novel.  I guess you could say they are mini-books that can be read in two or three hour spans of time.  Inquisitive readers with short attention spans should love Byliner.com.  It's mostly nonfiction journalism like the article that placed Byliner in the spotlight--"Three Cups of Deceit" by Jon Krakauer (author of Into Thin Air).  It's about Nobel Prize nominee Greg Mortenson fabricating his best selling book Three Cups of Tea and misusing donations.  More about Mortenson's story can be found in this Washington Post article.
Anyway, the article by Krakauer and 60 minutes coverage of it helped launch Byliner into the spotlight in 2011.  The site offers quality writing by today's most famous journalists as well as up-and-coming journalists and authors.  For around $9.99 a month, a reader can subscribe to the site and have access to these articles.
The writers of these long-form articles and stories also reap the benefits.  It's been said that Byliner splits the profits with authors 50/50.  The advantage Byliner authors have is the editorial assistance that the site offers to the writers.  In a nutshell, Byliner.com is heaven for journalist; not so much for the mass audience.  If you're an aspiring writer for the New Yorker or Vanity Fair, then you'll definitely want to check out Byliner.com.

Who gets published on Kindle Singles?

Curious as to whether or not my little book stood a chance of being accepted by Kindle Singles, I did a little digging around on the Amazon Kindle Singles site.  Since it's launch in January of 2011, Kindle Singles has published 3 new titles each week.  Their editor received around 50 unsolicited submissions each week, so Dave Blum's job leaves knee deep in manuscripts every day.  Most of the lucky ones who are chosen to live on this list of Kindle Singles are exclusive to Amazon, meaning this is mostly original material.  Others accepted come from traditional publishers and also e-singles publishers The Atavist and Byliner.  More about those sites later.
Most authors covet the Kindle Singles list over the Barnes & Noble Nook Snaps and Apple QuickReads because they receive more marketing and promotion help from Amazon.  Also, you've got to admit most people use Amazon not only for book shopping but for looking up info on a book in mind.  It's like a library helper site as well as a book seller.
So in a nutshell the answer to the question "Who gets published on Kindle Singles?" is the lucky ones.  Also, I've got to admit the talented ones.  So I guess even if you do have a flashy book cover, it's still not going to fly with Kindle Singles because they are looking for quality; not just bling.