Amazon is shutting down Kindle Vella

[ZodWallop]

From Engadget: Amazon is shutting down its Kindle Vella serialized story platform in February 2025

It wasn't a service for me, but it would have been nice to see an experiment succeed. Though it's failure isn't a complete shock. I can't remember the last time I heard about Vella.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I can't remember the last time I heard about Vella.

This is the FIRST time I've heard of it.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

This is the FIRST time I've heard of it.

Me too.
Apache

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by Apache

Me too.
Apache

I think it just wasn't very memorable given that you both have multiple comments in the original announcement thread.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...14#post4115514
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...65#post4117565

[jhowell]

I’m shocked…that it took so long for them to kill it. I tried it using free credits but it just wasn’t for me.

I didn’t enjoy having to wait for each short segment of a story to be released. Even reading novels I prefer to wait until a series of books is complete before starting the first one.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by jhowell

Even reading novels I prefer to wait until a series of books is complete before starting the first one.

Same for me. But I don't begrudge them for trying something.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Same for me. But I don't begrudge them for trying something.

They do try new things occasionally, mostly attempting to replicate successes that others have had.

Vella was their attempt to copy Wattpad. In Japan they now have Fliptoons, their version of WebComics. I don't know how that is going so far.

Kindle Unlimited has been successful for them, but I wonder how long that will last. The content there is almost all self-published and the good books are being crowded out by webscrapers and AI generated garbage. They really need to make it harder for scammers to publish books there.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

I think it just wasn't very memorable given that you both have multiple comments in the original announcement thread.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...14#post4115514
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...65#post4117565

Wow! Great memory (and/or search skills). So this was the second time I've heard of it. **waits to be proven wrong again**

[Dazrin]

I looked it up because while I remembered the name, I couldn't remember what it actually was. I saw you two when I found my old post on that thread.

Like I said, not a very memorable product. I guess that's one reason it's going away.

[Paperbackstash]

Not at all a surprise to me

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

[DNSB]

One friend of mine in the US is the only person I know who tried Kindle Vella. Her main issue was that several stories she tried reading were abandoned before they ended. We suspect the authors weren't receiving enough from Kindle Vella to make it worth their effort.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by jhowell

Kindle Unlimited has been successful for them, but I wonder how long that will last. The content there is almost all self-published and the good books are being crowded out by webscrapers and AI generated garbage. They really need to make it harder for scammers to publish books there.

On the one hand, I agree. But then I've also been moving my purchasing to Kobo when I can and I do find a number of interesting books that are tied to Amazon due to Kindle Unlimited exclusivity requirements.

In my paper book days, I would never try indie books. But I do feel like the ease of digital publishing and the ubiquity of Amazon has led to better writers to experiment with self publishing and made it easier to sort out the dross.

So I know from articles that AI generated garbage clogs KU, but I don't ever see those books when I am on Amazon.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

I think it just wasn't very memorable given that you both have multiple comments in the original announcement thread.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...14#post4115514
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...65#post4117565

Hey, I'm old and allowed to forget things.
Apache

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

On the one hand, I agree. But then I've also been moving my purchasing to Kobo when I can and I do find a number of interesting books that are tied to Amazon due to Kindle Unlimited exclusivity requirements.

In my paper book days, I would never try indie books. But I do feel like the ease of digital publishing and the ubiquity of Amazon has led to better writers to experiment with self publishing and made it easier to sort out the dross.

So I know from articles that AI generated garbage clogs KU, but I don't ever see those books when I am on Amazon.

I find quite a number of big-publisher backlist titles (e.g. Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari) are on KU, and have no trouble finding quality books more generally.

I think I encountered one AI title (or it was written by someone who wrote like one), but it was so uninformative that I couldn't make it through one chapter (it was supposed to be a book about Babylonian history). There is a lot of garbage too but it's pretty obvious when that's the case.

As for Vella, I did try it a little but it had no appeal for me. I gather it was supposed to be reading for people without time to read? But for me it was more of a distraction from the reading I enjoy doing.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by jhowell

They do try new things occasionally, mostly attempting to replicate successes that others have had.

Vella was their attempt to copy Wattpad. In Japan they now have Fliptoons, their version of WebComics. I don't know how that is going so far.

Kindle Unlimited has been successful for them, but I wonder how long that will last. The content there is almost all self-published and the good books are being crowded out by webscrapers and AI generated garbage. They really need to make it harder for scammers to publish books there.

KU will last unless regulators kill it. It's profitable because:
1) A subscription
2) Unlike any other libraries, they get the content up front for free.
3) Exclusive except big publishers. You can't even give away your novel by email, or they will cancel the title if they find out.
4) Only an advantage to a minority of readers (subscription)
5) Only an advantage to a minority of authors, because Amazon decide the total pot to be split on basis of pages read.

Why might a Regulator kill it or want it changed?
1) Exclusive clause for KDP Select uploaders (doesn't apply to bigger publishers not using KDP).
2) Invades privacy more than any library as it tracks pages, not just if you borrowed the title.

KU could be done differently.

So I know from articles that AI generated garbage clogs KU

Not really more so than non-KU based KDP and all other free access Self publishing platforms (Google, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Tolino etc), except that KDP-Select originated KU isn't on the the competitors due to the Exclusive clause.

If a KU title via KDP Select is garbage then only a few pages are read and no income. In reality most titles read are by authors the reader already knows. While it's a lottery with few winners to get an Agent and then Trad Published, getting noticed as a new author on Amazon (or any SP outlet) via KDP or KDP Select (KU) is mix of luck and hard work, very difficult.

Really, while LLM AI is a mix of con and plagiarism, it's not a huge threat to creatives when Self Published. It's only a threat if the House of Random Penguins (or Record Labels) puts a fortune into promoting it, or if TV & Hollywood write scripts with it instead of paying for rights of a novel and/or hiring scriptwriters.

Ask any real authors without corporate marketing how hard it is to break in. Don't ask the successes, because they are the less than 1% and are outliers who are mostly lucky.

Average UK income for FULL time authors is thought to be about £7,000 p.a.


The people spinning out the AI junk are more likely to make money studying horse form or taking their clothes off on Only Fans.