It was all the rage in the day of Charles Dickens, Mark Twain and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. No, I’m not talking about smallpox.
I’m talking about serialized fiction.
Basically, it’s a novel published in chunks. Chapter by chapter. Sort of like the movie serials of the 1930s where you’re left with a cliffhanger or hook ending to keep the audience coming back for that next installment. Over the past decade it’s been making a return on such platforms as Radish and Wattpad, but now Amazon is getting onboard with their new format, Kindle Vella.
I had heard of serialized fiction from listening to old Sherlock Holmes radio programs of the 40s and 50s where they mentioned the format from the old Strand Magazine where Doyle published many of his Holmes stories. I’ve always been a huge fan of movie serials such as “The Green Hornet” and Gene Autrey’s “The Phantom Empire” as well as comic books, so the format for me was a no-brainer as far as I was concerned.
Vella launched back in July of 2021. I don’t remember how I came upon it, but it was around November of last year (2021) when I decided to give it a try. I had an old story I had written for National Novel Writing Month, back in 2011, that I figured would be as good a candidate as any to try. It would need some pretty heavy editing (12 years ago I apparently thought the constant use of ellipses was ‘good writing’.) and it didn’t have an ending, but nothing I couldn’t handle. That November, I published my first episode of “The T.E.M.P Agency”. Last month I got brave and decided to start an entirely new story, writing it per episode as I go along and seeing how it turns out. It’s called “The Beacon: Light of Justice” and I hope to make it a series using different characters from a world I will slowly be defining with each new tale.
Once you sign up and get set, it’s pretty easy to post an episode (which Amazon considers to be between 600-5000 words) and they also make it simple to go back and edit after publishing. They help you with the cover whereby you only need to upload and center a picture (make sure it’s a royalty free stock photo) as well as take care of the text. You can also choose extra tags if your story fits different genres besides the main categories offered.
As for the pay structure, the first three episode of any Vella story are free. Any episode that you want to read after that uses a “token” system. Episodes are priced at one token per 100 words, so if my episode is nine hundred words, it will cost 9 tokens.
Amazon pays the authors 50% of what readers spend on Tokens to unlock your stories in royalties per month.
You can buy tokens fairly cheaply:
Oh, did I mention the bonuses for writers? Much to my surprise, the month after I had posted some episodes, I got an email telling me I would be getting a monetary bonus from Amazon. It wasn’t much, only around $30.00, but it was still nice to actually get paid for writing. I’ve yet to read / hear of anyone who has the slightest clue as to the exact structuring of these bonuses, but Amazon says; “You're also eligible for a bonus based on customer activity and engagement”. Engagement meaning reading and unlocking episodes, giving episodes a “thumbs up” (at the bottom of episode), following stories and giving ‘crowns’ (something you’re given once each week when you use Tokens) or “favoriting” a story. My bonuses each month have all been double digits except for last month when I started my second story. My bonus for that month was triple digits (over $200.00). Not that I’m going to be quitting my job anytime soon to become a Vella author, but it’s still nice to get something for my efforts.
A few pros and cons of the Vella format:
Pros:
There are a ton of diverse story genres and something for everyone.
You can find a lot of undiscovered talent who might not have gotten a chance to get their work out there under the traditional avenues.
The first three episodes are free.
Most are quick reads (I like to keep my episodes are around 1500 or less words) that you can check out on a work break or when time is tight.
If you get into a story and find you’re not enjoying it, you’re not locked in like when you buy a whole book.
You can get a token refund on any episodes you didn’t like.
Writer bonuses!
The Vella community is extremely welcoming and supportive as we’re all learning together. A Facebook search will find you some really great groups.
Cons:
As an author, you’re on your own when it comes to marketing. Amazon isn’t helping you there.
As of this writing it is only available in the U.S. They keep saying they will be expanding, but who knows when that will be.
If you find a story you really like and the author is long winded, the Token costs could be as much as a physical book.
Amazon isn’t being very forthcoming with details, which hinders effective marketing.
All in all, though, I’ve been pretty happy with my Kindle Vella experience as both a reader and a author. From what I hear the serialized fiction format is already wildly popular over in Asia, so when Amazon does decide to expand past the U.S. market it should really take off.
Here’s hoping!