Amazon is shutting down Kindle Vella

[Quoth]

Vella and KU are nothing like each other.
Vella is competing with free and serials are a niche now compared to 1850s to 1950s.
KU has entire novels and ALL the KU content is available for regular purchase without a subscription. The KU also has major publishers for people that want a subscription library rather than outright purchase to re-read, though a lot of the non-exclusive content on KU would be on regular libraries (which are free in some countries, being paid for by general taxes).

[nabsltd]

[QUOTE=Paperbackstash;4463830]Systems like this have never been that successful from my understanding, and I had no interest in it personally./QUOTE]

"Never" is a bit of a stretch, unless you are only talking about e-books.

Many authors gained fame from serializing novels (Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, etc.). And, the serializing platform (usually a newspaper, but sometimes a magazine) often gained readers because of the inclusion of that content.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by nabsltd

Many authors gained fame from serializing novels (Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, etc.). And, the serializing platform (usually a newspaper, but sometimes a magazine) often gained readers because of the inclusion of that content.

It was the most common way up until the mass market paperbacks of the fifties

I kinda wonder if Amazon could have some success by creating some modern day pulps. A horror one, mystery, romance, science fiction, fantasy. Once a month.

A mix of short stories and a serialized novel with a mix of popular authors (Koontz is under contract to Amazon now isn't he?) and some indie KU authors.

[Paperbackstash]

[QUOTE=nabsltd;4464061]

Originally Posted by Paperbackstash

Systems like this have never been that successful from my understanding, and I had no interest in it personally./QUOTE]

"Never" is a bit of a stretch, unless you are only talking about e-books.

Many authors gained fame from serializing novels (Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, etc.). And, the serializing platform (usually a newspaper, but sometimes a magazine) often gained readers because of the inclusion of that content.

I mean in more modern times than Dickens and Twain and the old newspaper serials and when literary magazines were so popular. People today are more about quicker gratification, it's hard now to even wait for new TV show episodes. And the authors then with the serials were at least a bit more reliable than risking random authors disappearing on you after getting hooked on these, many use free publishing programs through the ku system.

[Paperbackstash]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

It was the most common way up until the mass market paperbacks of the fifties

I kinda wonder if Amazon could have some success by creating some modern day pulps. A horror one, mystery, romance, science fiction, fantasy. Once a month.

A mix of short stories and a serialized novel with a mix of popular authors (Koontz is under contract to Amazon now isn't he?) and some indie KU authors.

I really like their idea of Amazon Originals - these are short, released at once as a series, have the free KU borrowing and free audible listening, all themed. They're fun. Koontz has two with them for these.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Paperbackstash

I really like their idea of Amazon Originals - these are short, released at once as a series, have the free KU borrowing and free audible listening, all themed. They're fun. Koontz has two with them for these.

My only experience with them is the Guillermo Del Toro/Chuck Hogan collab The Boy in the Iron Box (bought, but not yet read). Mostly it feels like an excuse to split a novel up into shorter parts and sell them individually for an overall greater cost. At least with a pulp magazine you would get a bundle of things within that genre. I'd have been happy if each volume also contained short stories by other authors. Buy for Del Toro, read other authors new to you.

[Paperbackstash]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

My only experience with them is the Guillermo Del Toro/Chuck Hogan collab The Boy in the Iron Box (bought, but not yet read). Mostly it feels like an excuse to split a novel up into shorter parts and sell them individually for an overall greater cost. At least with a pulp magazine you would get a bundle of things within that genre. I'd have been happy if each volume also contained short stories by other authors. Buy for Del Toro, read other authors new to you.

I havent read the series with Del Toro. Most of the series are different stories / different authors, sort of like an anthology broken up instead of a large story made into a serial - at least with a few of them. I'm sure the ones that share the same author, like the Dean Koontz, are more likely serial storyline broken up.

On the plus side, if you have Prime, they're all free, Kindle Unlimited free, and Audible if borrowed they are free audiobooks. If you chose to buy each The Boy in the Iron Box outright, at 1.99 each it comes to 11.94, which is cheaper than most publishers. I think Amazon is decently generous with these, but since they're shorts mainly only for members of a service who get them free.

[JSWolf]

So what else is Amazon shutting down that was a bad idea in the first place?

[JBaby]

Another reason for the failure, imo, is you couldn’t read them on a Kindle. That never made any sense to me.

I am a fan of serialized books though. I was a huge fan of Podiobooks from back in the day.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by JBaby

Another reason for the failure, imo, is you couldn’t read them on a Kindle. That never made any sense to me.

I am a fan of serialized books though. I was a huge fan of Podiobooks from back in the day.

I've never been a fan of serialized books except if a magazine. These days if it's a book I want to read, I'll wait until the full book is out.

[Gardenman]

Originally Posted by Apache

Me too.
Apache

Add me to the list

[JBaby]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I've never been a fan of serialized books except if a magazine. These days if it's a book I want to read, I'll wait until the full book is out.

I liked it for podiobooks because I’d only choose books that were already completed. Then I’d choose the frequency for how often I got a new episode sent to me. They were perfect for my lunch break. I wouldn’t accept it for actual ebooks today.

[rkomar]

Serialization in stand-alone issues is alive and well for comics/graphic novels with longer story arcs. Those who can't wait for the next installment can buy the thirty-two page issues, while those like me who want to read in bigger chunks can wait for the volumes with collected issues.

[Deskisamess]

You couldn't read "Kindle Vella" books on a Kindle?

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

You couldn't read "Kindle Vella" books on a Kindle?

No. And at least for awhile, it was only for the iOS Kindle app.