Going Exclusive With Fiction Serialization: Is it Worth It?

The pros and cons of joining Amazon’s new Kindle Vella serialization publishing platform.

Amazon announced on April 13th a new writing opportunity for US writers through their Kindle Direct Publishing program called Kindle Vella (presumably a take on “novella”).

Kindle Vella is structured much like other serialized fiction apps like Radish and Dreame, with short (500–5000 words) episodes and a coin payment system that authors receive 50% of the proceeds for (though there is no clear information on what a coin is worth). The notification of the new platform appeared in the early morning hours of April 13th through the KDP Dashboard that independent authors use to publish ebooks and POD paperback and hardcover books to Amazon’s platform.

Kindle Vella is likely an effort to compete with other serialized fiction apps, which are a popular and established reader market in countries like South Korea and Japan.

I believe that Kindle Vella is worth paying attention to as it will likely shake up the industry of fiction apps and be the first in many changes the general makeup of how authors sell their fiction to readers.

At the same time, there are some surprising and stringent terms that authors are agreeing to when they post episodes to the platform:

You cannot upload any previously published material, including serializing your current catalog and material that was once a book but has been unpublished
The content must be exclusively in serialization format; it sounds like you can publish it to other serialized fiction apps but it can not be available for free or as long-form ebook content like a book anywhere else
The content must be new to the platform in every language (no translations), and with no excerpts allowed in other materials
You can publish the content as a book later but must remove all episodes from the platform
Presumably, once your content is packaged as a book, you cannot republish it to the platform, ever

The Terms of Service (TOS) and more information about the program are still being made available, so I will continue to update this section with edits and corrections as more information unfolds.

The Good News Around Kindle Vella

Radish, one of the largest serialized fiction apps used by independent authors, has recently changed its payment terms to pay authors significantly less for their work. Further, it is in the process of being purchased by Kakao, a major South Korean internet company that is hoping to acquire it for two main reasons: 1) intellectual property that can be turned into television series, films, and games, and 2) to compete with the largest web novel and webtoon company, Naver.

Kindle Vella likely hopes to compete in these areas around securing intellectual property that has been tested. The requirement that the content cannot be translated into other languages and republished as a book while also on the platform indicates that Amazon is looking to the global markets, particularly in Asian countries where mobile fiction has taken off. It’s possible that the platform can launch new careers or take a midlist author to new heights on Amazon.

It’s also possible that Kindle Vella infuses greater competition into a nascent marketplace, which could mean better payments and terms for authors who produce content for these apps.

Kindle Vella’s Neutral Points

Amazon-backed Kindle Vella could spur popularity of serialized fiction to the US and Canadian markets. Is this a good thing? It’s hard to say whether this would increase general readership and bring new (and likely younger) readers to book-buying markets. If serialized fiction apps were to take off in the US, it could eat away at market share of the book industry as a whole. Only time can tell which direction this might swing.

Additionally, for authors with KDP Select (Kindle Unlimited or KU) books, the Kindle Vella platform may provide competition for KU readers, or it may grow Amazon’s overall reach and bring new readers to Kindle Unlimited. For non-exclusive wide authors with books at all retailers, this platform may be a means to increase book sales as well.

The Bad News Around Kindle Vella

Kindle Vella’s terms are strict for authors. To participate in the program, you would be unable to publish your participating content wide in ebook formats. And because of the inability to leave the program, test new waters, and later come back, any success through this platform would likely only keep your content tied up in exclusivity to the serialization format.

Further, given the business model of several other serialized fiction apps, I would be aware of a potential rights grab in the future. A rights grab is when a company offers terrible terms to aspiring artists in order to gain the rights to their intellectual property. Amazon is likely shopping for successful serialized fiction content that they can then turn into successful films and television series. Authors should be cautious to know what their intellectual property is worth across all serialized fiction apps and read the contracts to discern what rights these companies in nascent markets are hoping to exploit in the future.

The Bigger Picture for Independent Authors

Amazon has been investing in author tools more recently and improving their dashboard and author advertising platform. They’ve also specifically been focused on gathering series data for their backend visibility algorithms to improve their series pages. I’d be curious to know what is in the data, as the timing of this announcement is interesting.

When Amazon makes a move this big, and with no warning, it’s often to protect their ebook market share, which is heavily tied to their global e-commerce domination. There are several motives that could be at play:

Expanding their exclusive readership in the US — It’s likely that serialized fiction apps will not compete with their Kindle Unlimited subscription, at least not at first. This could be a move to build their overall readership and improve their hold on the ebook market.
Shift market share from their other business verticals before someone else does — The tech business can sometimes provide “kill or be killed” options. Perhaps the data is showing that serialization is where the book industry is moving, and Amazon is willing to shift its book-buying and subscription-based readers to a new style of reading before someone else does.
Response to the industry — Amazon has a history of announcing big changes in response to market shifts. When Apple Books opened to independent authors offering 70% royalties, Amazon offered the same, up from 35%. With Radish being one of the bigger fiction apps with traction in the US, changing its payment structure, and securing an acquisition, Amazon may be hoping to hurt the valuation of Radish or persuade authors from Radish’s platform.
Historic plans — Years ago in 2013–2015 when serialization was a popular business model among authors, Amazon beta-tested serialization with some of the more popular serialized series on its platform. The program had some flaws with keeping readers engaged and allowing them to pay and consume serials in a way that made sense. Amazon eventually shut the program down, though they had promised to expand it and open it to all authors for years. The fiction app space has proven a business model now, so it’s possible that this is a renewed effort on that original product, timed for when the market shifted.

How Independent Authors Could Use Kindle Vella

For Authors in KDP Select

If you are primarily a KU author, it could make sense to try this new platform as most of your readers are on Amazon anyway. However, splitting your catalog between pagereads and coins can be limiting for authors trying to get All-Star Bonuses, and most mega-successful authors have set their release schedule far in advance.

If you are not going for an All-Star bonus and you write fast, there’s a solid chance that you could break out or at least increase your Amazon readership through this program. Visibility will be at a high in the early days of Kindle Villa. Likewise, tokens will probably be worth more as well. If you think you could get up to ten episodes (their suggested number) done before their launch, it might be worth it.

For Authors Who Are Wide at All Retailers

Wide authors have enough trouble gaining visibility at Amazon and this could be a solution for the fast writer who doesn’t mind putting their content in temporary exclusivity through Kindle Vella’s platform.

Although wide authors often say that readers don’t cross over from exclusivity to book-buying, the data doesn’t support that for all demographics, especially in younger generations of readers. Younger book buyers are mobile and app-savvy and are able to easily switch between various platforms to find books from the authors they love. Many author friends have also reported that when their Radish stories get a bump on the platform, their downloads and sales on retailers see a bump too.

Apple Books serves a younger audience than any other retailer. If your books do well there or on fiction apps, it could be worth looking into or testing. Additionally, if you write romance or young adult, stories in these genres will likely have a decent chance of breaking out.

It will be interesting to see how Kindle Vella affects various areas of the book industry. If you’d like to get more takes on book industry news, make sure you sign up for my Substack newsletter, Aggressively Wide.