Hello friends! This is Sonia, the new WEP team member, welcoming you to a new segment of #WEP, your foremost online writing challenge site. Denise has put me in charge of the guest posts.
We are into another year and the first challenge on the prompt 'Gone With the Wind' is already past us. Please check out the winners' post here!
This year we are offering a new format to replace the automatic guest post from the winner -- a 'HOW-TO' SERIES for our readers. These informative posts are by invitation only and will help us all navigate the up and coming challenges as well as changes/innovations happening in the writing world.
For Part I of this new segment we are proud to present an enlightening article on KINDLE VELLA by N.R. Williams (Nancy), a long-standing founding member of WEP. We know Nancy is especially impressed with her Kindle Vella experience and are grateful to Nancy for sharing her learned wisdom with us. Over to her!
What’s up? -
Kindle Vella!
Greetings,
WEPers. Denise has asked me to write an article about Amazon’s new platform,
Kindle Vella. So, here are the nuts & bolts of it. Pass the cashews,
please.
Kindle
Vella is two years old. Just a toddler, really. And only available in the USA.
I’ve been writing to Vella since May 2022. Instead of writing chapters, you
write episodes. It’s not a screenplay mind you, but episodes just the same as
your favorite TV (tellie for some of you) show.
Some
writers say it is different than writing a book, but for me, I just write and
try to make it compelling. You do want to end each episode with a cliffhanger,
which isn’t necessary if you’re writing romance. The first three of every
episode are free. So, you want to grab the reader by the seat of their pants. Amazon
requires that you write at least 600 words and no more than 5,000 words per
episode.
After
that, the reader pays in tokens, and each story is measured by word count. So,
if you have 600 - 699 words, the reader pays six tokens. If 1,000 - 1,999, the
reader pays ten tokens. I write until the episode is complete without paying
attention to word count, but generally, my episodes are anywhere from 600 to
1,400. I recently had to buy tokens. To give you an idea -
Cost of Tokens - $$
200
$1.99
525
$4.99
1,100
$9.99
1,700
$14.99
If
someone is a new reader to Vella, Amazon gives them 200 tokens free. After
that, there is a small fee to buy more. I buy the max when I do for $14.99,
which gives me 1,700 tokens.
At
the end of each episode is a place for the writer to leave a note. You should
make this as personal as possible, such as…’Oh my, do you think Cyril is
guilty? Or has he been framed? Whatever will happen next?’ Or ‘As a writer, I
always end up doing a little research…’ etc. I have noticed the more successful
authors follow this with directions on what the reader should do. Each episode
has a thumbs-up symbol the reader needs to press, or you won’t get paid. There
is also a + sign, which will notify Amazon that the reader wants to follow this
story, and they will get notified when new episodes are uploaded. Then, remind
the reader to make this story a ‘fave’ so other readers can find it. Amazon
asks readers to pick a ‘fave’ once a week from the stories their reading. This
makes you highly visible to other readers. And last but definitely not least,
ask them to leave a review on the first
story page. If a review is left on any other episode page, it doesn’t show up
on the main story page. That’s a problem in my view. Also, as a writer, don’t
leave a review because if the person who’s reading also leaves a review on your
story, neither of you will be allowed to publish to Amazon in the future, on
any platform. (That just irritates me no end.)
I’ve
since learned that the sky won’t fall if your episodes are more than a month
apart. I’ve left a lot of reviews of everything I’ve read. So, I had a panic
attack when I first heard that.
You
can also run a poll at the end of each episode if you’re inclined to do so. I
rarely do that.
The
best part about Vella is in publishing your story. No formatting is required.
Just cut and paste. It’s so easy. Then you fill in all the info, title, author
notes, poll, and select a publishing date, or just hit publish. I’m a
just-hit-publish kind of girl. Amazon reviews what you wrote to make sure it’s
within their standards. (Not to worry, I’ve read sex scenes and cuss words.)
After that, it’s just a few hours before your story is live.
Now
what?
There
are thousands of stories on Kindle Vella, and your new baby is at the back.
Thus begins your quest to make it visible to readers. Fortunately, there are
Vella groups on Facebook designed to help you do just that. There’s one set up
to help authors with questions. Several are designed just to let you advertise,
and more than two run challenges. I do two of them. Hella Vella runs a
challenge every weekend. You post your link, and then you have to read ten
other people’s stories, at least 5 paid episodes each. And there is Story
Stash, where you post your links and read 4 episodes from ten people. The free
ones are okay. I spend every weekend doing this. And my stories are climbing
toward visibility. Now, just between you and me, I can’t actually read that
much. So, I start out reading, but if the story lacks quality or doesn’t
interest me, I scan it and hit the thumbs up to make my quota. I’m sure others
do that too. I can honestly say I understand the problems agents have much
better now.
Anyone
can write to Vella, and they do. Many would-be authors don’t know the first
thing about writing, but they still write to Vella. Don’t try to correct anyone
because you’ll be eaten alive. But, the good news to that is, those of us who
are seasoned shine. The philosophy is for most writers that this is a way to
make money while writing their book. So, even good authors don’t always catch
mistakes. I run my stories through Grammarly because quality is important to
me.
How
do you get paid?
There
is a two-month delay in being paid for one month. You’re paid based on how many
thumbs up you get in the month and how many episodes you publish. So, it’s good
if you are dedicated to producing a lot of work. I usually get six episodes
written a week and publish on two stories - currently, King Julian and 5
Friends & Lovers. Julian gets 4 and Friends gets 2. Someone figured out you
make about $9.00 per story if someone reads all the episodes. Of course, this
depends on how many actual episodes you have. But what you actually get is very
small. What matters is the Amazon bonus. Each month varies. The most I’ve made
so far is $149.19.
What’s
New?
Amazon
just released the option for readers to connect with the author by commenting.
A link is at the bottom of every story. Once you have readers, this promises to
be an exciting tool.
Reading
Vella
If
you live in the USA, you can read Vella on your computer. If you have an
e-reader registered with Amazon, the story will automatically download to your
reader once you start reading on your computer. If someone deletes your story
from their e-reader, it won’t affect you negatively because your paid per
episode.
Negatives
Sad
to say, there are negatives to Kindle Vella. First, Amazon doesn’t have the
option to advertise. Sometimes they promote, but individual authors don’t have
an advertising platform with Vella on Amazon. So, Facebook and other social
media platforms are the only way to advertise at the moment. I tried Fussy
Librarian, but it was expensive, and I only had one person read more than three
episodes, so not a money maker.
Second,
it’s hard to find Vella stories on Amazon’s webpage. First, you have to type in
Kindle Vella in their search box. That takes you to a page with books on
Vella. At the top of the page, in small print it says, Kindle Vella: stories
that pull you in one short episode at a time. Click on that, and you go to the
Vella Stories. That takes you to a page that gives you search options to find
the type of story you’re interested in and also shows you any stories you’ve
read a little or a lot of. From there, you can scroll down to see the top
‘fave.’
That’s
a total of 3 clicks. Most people won’t do that. So, room for improvement.
The
Future
Amazon
said they wanted to keep Kindle Vella just in the USA to test it and see if it
would succeed. Well, I think the answer to that is, yes, it’s a success. It
will be an even bigger success if and when it becomes international. So, all
you great international writers, contact Amazon and let them know you want the
opportunity to write to Kindle Vella.
Dashboard
Just
like with your books, you’ll have a separate Kindle Vella dashboard to keep
track of your stories and to upload your episodes.
Have
I answered all your questions?
If
not, ask in the comments, and I’ll try to answer.
Now
it’s time to kick your heels up and enjoy a Vella story.
Nancy
N. R. Williams
***
Thank you, Nancy! This article is very informative. Give us some feedback in comments on Nancy's article. Do you like the idea of 'How-to' posts? Is there an area of expertise you'd like to share with WEP?
Dear reader, after all. what can be better than getting paid for your writing? Guess, participating in the #WEP Challenge, right? So, join us all through 2023. Check out the prompts given below and jump right in.
Here's more about Nancy Williams:
N. R. Williams - website
FOLLOW HER ON TWITTER
N. R. Williams
@authornrwillia1
Formerly from Colorado, Nancy now hails from New Mexico.
In her own words: Who knew I'd grow up to be a writer? Certainly not me.
Stories wove from my imagination changing me from a day-dreaming kid to a
published author.'
The story of King Julian, available to read on Kindle Vella.
Check it out. Nancy has other stories/episodes available to read.
In the beautiful month of April we will be celebrating life with the lovely Roberto Benigni & Nicoletta Braschi film, Life is Beautiful.
Look up the detailed Challenge blurb here. There are many potential directions to explore. Firstly, the indirect - the setting : war, fascism, the Holocaust, Italy, any one of them can inspire. The underpinning issues of World War II or any war - the racism, the random cruelty, the injustice, the tragedy, the humour and poetry and other spinoffs. Then there is the direct, intimate angle - the not-so-rich-boy-meets-upper-class-girl motif. There's the bond between father and son. The games adults play with (their) children. The desire to safeguard one's own even at the cost of death. Countless possibilities. Use any of these, or ignore them totally and come with your own - it's up to you!
Post - April 19th to 21st 2023
The all-new HOW-TO SERIES! #No1'HowTo'series #guestpost https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2023/03/wep-how-to-series-i-nancy-williams-on.html @DeniseCCovey @yolandarenee @jemifraser @SoniaDogra16,@authornrwillia1,#kindlevella,#amwriting,#writersoftwitter
Navigate your writing journey! #No1'HowTo'series #KindleVella
https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2023/03/wep-how-to-series-i-nancy-williams-on.html @DeniseCCovey @yolandarenee @jemifraser @SoniaDogra16,@authornrwillia1,#kindlevella, #writersoftwitter
"Writing" Beyond Writing! #No1'HowTo'series #HowToMakeMoneyFromWriting
https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2023/03/wep-how-to-series-i-nancy-williams-on.html @DeniseCCovey @yolandarenee @jemifraser @SoniaDogra16,@authornrwillia1,#kindlevella,#writersoftwitter
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