Furry Writers' Guild Forum

KDP: Kindle Vella

Publishing and Marketing
#1

Looks like KDP is introducing a new way of releasing eBooks as a serial—Kindle Vella.

Pros:

  • If readers adopt the new format, it may lull them into paying more for a story than they would have laid out for a complete novel.
  • If a story runs out of steam or isn’t gaining a following, you could abandon it (although you will risk pissing off your readers) and still get the revenue for what has been read, as opposed to publishing a novel which is pretty much all-or-nothing.

Cons:

  • It reduces royalties from 70% to 50%, which is disappointing.
  • Readers won’t be able to use Kindle Unlimited to access your serial, which could damage Kindle Vella or Kindle Unlimited, depending which wins market share.

You can read more about it here: Kindle Vella

What do you think? Does it appeal to you as a writer? As a reader?

Personally, I think Patreon still better fits my goals as a writer who is building a following, but I think it could be a viable model under certain conditions. I’m interested to hear your thoughts on it too.

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#2

A bunch of folks have done the math on the percentages based on pay per word and Vella actually works out to pay more than KU or a solo book on Kindle. Because the reader ends up paying more for the whole work when they pay per chapter than buying the novel all at one time.

Because of that, I don’t think it’s going to appeal to the KU reader at all. My theory is, Vella will sink or swim based on whether or not Amazon can woo a new audience-- serial readers and app users independent of KU. You’re right, however in that it poses very little risk to the writer. If you begin a Vella serial, and Vella tanks, you can pull the story and post it elsewhere or sell it via KU. But if the 'Zon manages to woo that audience and it takes off, it could be really great, in particular as a discovery tool for authors who may not have a big readership yet. If folks rush to Vella to read that is. And that’s a big if. :slight_smile: I am trying it. I missed the boat in 2010 with the Kindle rush, and I figure I don’t want to miss another. Worse case scenario, I have a new serial or two to shop elsewhere.

#3

Oh, also, since Vella doesn’t demand exclusivity so long as the places you post the serial are pay sites and its not free, you can post to Vella and Patreon or other pay serial sites simultaneously. (we checked and got confirmation of this from KDP rep.) The only things you can’t do are:
give story away for free anywhere
use a pre existing long form book to chop up for Vella
publish your Vella story as a long form book without taking it off Vella first.

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#4

This could give me the kick in the pants I needed to start some of those longer stories I’ve been meaning to write.

I’ve tried starting a serial fic and posting it to SoFurry, but always end up losing steam. If I know that people are paying for them it might help keep me motivated.

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#5

Actually wondering if I might be able to get away with reviving this serial I tried to start years ago. Perhaps if I take it off the public sites…

On the other hand there’s this superhero story idea I came up with a few months ago.

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