If you follow the world of self-publishing and KDP, you’re aware that Amazon recently released a serialized platform called Vella. By the time this blog article posts, my first episode should be live. However, Amazon has provided little information on the platform, even for contributors. There’s also scant information in cyberspace about Vella’s user demographics, functionality, or even return rate; most articles simply repeat Amazon’s basic set of guidelines. As a newbie, I have the same concerns you do. Is Vella a good use of my time and energy? What’s the most effective launch? How much control of my work will I retain?
I decided to get the most up-to-date info by interviewing a friend who released her first action-adventure Vella episodes last month. N. Y. Seely’s other recent work, a mystery novel, was published through Kindle and IngramSpark.
What made you decide to publish on Vella?
I had a story that seemed like a perfect fit, a spunky heroine and a plot line that fell naturally into the episodic nature of Vella. It’s also a bit of a genre mash-up, and doesn’t fit readily into traditional niches. Plus, it’s a novella. And although the story isn’t completely finished, I could still get it out there and start generating some interest (hopefully) while I wrote.
How has this process been so far?
Interesting. As with everything, there’s a learning curve. The royalties are actually less than Kindle Unlimited (KU) but are balanced (in theory) by bonuses from Amazon. I haven’t been on the platform long enough to get a bonus, but some authors are doing well with those. It seems to be based on readership, reviews, and frequency of publishing. But the ‘Zon keeps its algorithms close. Check back in a couple of months!
How would you rate the ease of the process, especially for newer authors?
It’s pretty easy, and comparable to KDP. Make a cover image (no text: title and author are shown below the cover image), write a blurb, assign keyword tags, and upload individual episode files. Or you can write them directly on the platform. Episodes can be released as soon as they are finished, or scheduled for the future.
Do you have concerns about your work being available on only one platform?
They’ve changed their rules on that. It can’t be available in serial form anywhere else, but if you want to later collect your episodes and make a novel, you can do that without taking it off Vella. The work has to be original, and not a reprint.
How has writing for a live audience affected your creative process?
It definitely adds pressure, but it also works to keep me enthusiastic about my project. And since I’ve joined some Vella reader/writer groups, I get immediate feedback on what I’ve posted — mostly compliments, but also people calling out typos or errors. It just feels more fun, honestly, like a more fan-fiction vibe except with original stories. You know, it’s folks just writing what they love and not worrying about the gatekeepers. As you can imagine, the quality is all over the place, but there’s quite a bit of really good writing, and stories which are original and interesting. I’m becoming a fan, not just a provider of content.
Any concerns?
Amazon needs to do some work on the platform. Organic visibility is terrible. Genre categories are very broad, and finding particular stories or authors is a challenge. For instance, my story about a young woman who wants to be a hero sidekick falls into the Action and Adventure genre, for want of a better fit. The secondary genre is Science Fiction, because it takes place in the near future. But as you can imagine, there are thousands of stories in those categories. I’ve tried to niche down with keyword tags like ‘superhero’ and ‘near-future,’ but if readers don’t know that’s a thing, they’re not going to look for it. There’s some dynamic display of ‘featured’ works, but it’s not clear what criteria Amazon uses to decide which works are displayed. Some stories stay out front for days or weeks, some for an hour. It doesn’t seem to be tied to popularity, at least not entirely.
Your voice is so different in this piece compared to your mystery novel. Is this a matter of character, or has writing for Vella affected this?
Both, I think. I imagined a story about a bicycle courier who wants to be a superhero sidekick. The voice just came out as completely different. But I also think the more successful stories on Vella are those with strong character voices. And the platform is geared for a fast pace. I would say most of the stories are plot and voice-driven. As you might expect, Romance still has a huge presence on Vella just as it does everywhere. Fantasy and/or SciFi are probably second. There’s no literary fiction — maybe that genre doesn’t fit into the episodic format as well — and no Women’s Fiction.
Will you publish on Vella again?
Yes. I have an epic fantasy that’s already written which I’ve been struggling to fit into a format. It’s too long for a single novel. Plus, because my other novel is a mystery, I’d be starting at ground zero again to generate interest. So I’ll post it on Vella, maybe gather some readers, then put it on Kindle when it’s finished. It needs one more round of revision, but I can do that at the same time as I’m posting episodes. To me, that’s one of the major attractions of this platform — the ability to share my work before the whole thing is 100 percent finished.
Thanks, N. Y. Seely!
N. Y. Seely’s novella is called Who Wants to Be a Sidekick? and you can explore it here. (Like all Vella stories, the first three episodes are free, and the best way to learn about this platform is to surf it yourself).
It’s easy to infer that Amazon, to some extent, is making it up as they go and hoping to capture the buzz around platforms like Wattpad. I’ll be following up on this post soon. I’m hoping to examine strategies for visibility and the use of author comments to drive momentum and interest in each next chapter. Please send your questions!
Headline by permission of Canva
And they’ve changed the rules again since Kendra and I spoke. Now your serial is allowed to be on other serial platforms so long as it isn’t free.
Thanks for updating! It will be important for all authors who consider this platform to keep their eye on the (quickly) changing parameters. I am enjoying the flexibility of editing and posting chapters from a novel as I go, but if Vella were to pull their permissions to reuse later, I would likely bail. As long as I retain the rights, I’m willing to try this. It feels almost like a Nanowrimo activity — posting so often and forcing myself to stay on task!
I’m hoping to update on this topic next month!
What a fun interview. I found this both helpful and informative. I only wish it could have been a little longer. Given the dynamic nature of Vella, perhaps you can have Seely or another author to talk about their Vella experiences in the future. Great post, Kendra, thank you for educating us!
There’s a follow-up post now. Thanks for asking!