Amazon, in what it described as a “tough choice,” is winding down Kindle Vella and shutting it down utterly in February 2025. When the corporate launched the serialized story platform in 2021, it mentioned Vella was a means for readers to find new fictional tales and a brand new means for authors to earn from the Kindle Direct Publishing service. But it surely hasn’t caught on because it had hoped, Amazon explains on its website, and it has determined to throw within the towel three years after Vella’s debut.
Authors can solely publish tales on Vella till December 4, which can also be the final day readers should buy tokens. Whereas readers will now not have the ability to buy tokens after that, they’ll proceed utilizing these tokens to unlock episodes till this system closes in February. The excellent news for individuals who’ve been following particular authors or tales on Vella is that they will not lose their entry to no matter episodes they’ve already unlocked even after the platform shuts down. They’ll all the time learn the tales they’ve bought of their library within the Kindle app for iOS and Android, although they’ll now not open them on the internet. Any token they do not use by February can be refunded.
Responses to Vella have been fairly lukewarm because it turned out there. Some authors appreciated the truth that they might use it to earn cash from unfinished tales, whereas some readers mentioned they’d desire getting a complete e book as an alternative of paying for installments. Personally, as somebody who follows plenty of indie authors, I solely know of 1 who publishes on Vella and really, only a few readers who truly use it. Amazon tried drumming up curiosity earlier this 12 months by making the first ten episodes of a narrative, as an alternative of simply three, out there to readers without spending a dime. The corporate has additionally tried holding authors on the platform by giving away bonuses, however its methods most likely did not work sufficient to make it contemplate holding Vella round longer.
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