Image by Guilherme Gomes from Pixabay
In October, Amazon announced they were shutting down Kindle Vella. The serialized story platform launched in July of 2021, offering an exciting new way for authors to self-publish their work—one episode at a time.
Unfortunately, the idea never really took off. There have been numerous articles theorizing why, so I won’t do that here. Instead, I want to pay tribute to the platform that inspired me to take the plunge and begin self-publishing. I want to talk about the rewards of taking risks, and how Kindle Vella changed everything for me.
When Amazon announced their plans for Vella in April of 2021, I was the author of one traditionally published novel and several more that didn’t seem to fit anywhere—mostly, they weren’t long enough. Amazon’s new site was built for short fiction though—it was even in the name (Vella is short for novella).
After reading the details, I thought, This is perfect! I’d been considering self-publishing my cozy mystery series for some time, but the costs and complications of book formatting and book covers stopped me. Kindle Vella solved these problems. I could simply cut and paste chapters into the text editor; they automatically formatted. For the cover I just needed one good photo; Vella did the rest.
I decided to try it out, preloading the first Sweet Dreams book in anticipation for the July launch. When Vella went live that summer, I was shocked to see Murder by Milkshake promoted on the front page—one of twenty-five Featured Stories chosen among thousands. It was a thrill being a part of that early excitement, and I won’t lie, I made some pretty good money.
Emboldened by Murder by Milkshake’s success, I uploaded my gothic suspense novel, The House on Linden Way, as well. But it didn’t take long to realize I wanted more than the online platform could offer. I wanted to hold my books in my hands and page through them and display them on bookshelves. Eventually I pulled my stories from Vella and published them on KDP instead.
Although I didn’t stick with Vella, I’m grateful to the platform that pushed me out of my comfort zone and into the realm of self-publishing. The serialized format was a lot of fun to work with, and I made enough money to purchase my own formatting software and commission my first book covers. Looking back, I’m so glad I didn’t hesitate when the chance came along to try something new. Even if it didn’t last.
So long, Kindle Vella.
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