.png)
What is Kindle Vella?
Kindle Vella is Amazon's new publishing platform that allows you to read short episodes on the go. These serialized stories are released gradually over a longer period of time, similar to your favorite TV shows.
The first ten episodes of every story are always free. After that, purchase and redeem tokens to unlock episodes at 10 tokens each.
Kindle Vella stories are available to US residents and can be read on the Kindle app (iOS/Android), Kindle Fire, and on the web at www.amazon.com/kindle-vella.
Stories are grouped by genre and tags. You can see the popular tags on the homepage, and the stories are listed by popularity. Some stories have multiple seasons. Check the story blurb on the main page to see how it is set up. For example, A Forest of Stolen Memories has two seasons.
New for 2024: Prime Student account can read stories on Vella for free!
.png)
Key Features
Episode Release Dates
Instead of getting the entire story at once, you receive a chapter at a time called an episode. Each author has a different release schedule, usually listed in their blurb or author notes of their first episode. For example, I usually release an episode every Friday.
Author's Notes
Want to hear the inside scoop about the creation or inspiration behind an episode? Or get up-to-date announcements from that author? Then make sure you read their author notes! They are at the end of the episode, so be careful not to skip over them.
Follow Favorite Stories
To receive notifications via the Kindle app when new episodes of a story are released, make sure you press the Follow Story button. All the stories you are following show up on the Kindle Vella homepage under Your Stories.
Tokens
The first ten episodes of every story are always free. After that, purchase tokens and redeem them to unlock episodes. Packages of tokens can be purchased for as low as $.99. Episodes cost 10 tokens each.
Likes
When you like an episode, you let the author and other readers know you enjoyed it. Each episode can be given a like by clicking the Thumbs Up right after the author notes.
Faves
Each week, when you unlock a new episode with purchased tokens, you get the added benefit of faving one story. Top stories are listed on the leaderboard and show a crown over the story image.
Polls
Cast your vote on favorite episode moments, future episode predictions, or just silly things that will make you smile. Keep an eye out! Sometimes polls allows you to change the course of the story or name character/locations/object.
Comments
Do you have questions about a story? Or maybe you want to discuss all your favorite details about an episode? Now you can mingle with other readers and Kindle Vella authors at the bottom of each episode.
** Turn on your comments notification in your Kindle App settings.
Pricing from Amazon's website. Prices may differ in the app.
What is an incentive goal?
This is something I provide my readers but is not a common practice among Kindle Vella authors. I like to reward my readers when we hit milestones (a certain number of story likes) to earn bonus episodes, giveaways, or merchandise. Sometimes I leave it up to you to decide what the next goal is!
**I also post them frequently on my social media.