Amazon Killed Vella.

It could have been great but…

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Am I just different, or does anyone else love serial fiction as much as I do? Serial stories aren’t just thrilling to read—they’re equally exciting to write. I first dipped my toes into the world of serial fiction on Radish, a platform that, at least when I joined three years ago, felt like the gold standard. Sure, it leaned toward romance and had an application process, but once you were approved, it was a dream. The interface was easy to navigate, customer support was reliable, and best of all, there was an enthusiastic readership ready to dive into new stories. I first wrote about serial fiction writing on May 23, 2023.

At the time, I had just one story on Radish. I’d put it up there, unsure if it would hold readers’ attention. Serial fiction turned out to be the perfect format to test that. That initial story later became the foundation for a series, and here I am now, working on books three and four.

The short three months I spent on Radish taught me a lot—about audience engagement and pacing. To my surprise, I also earned more on Radish during that three month period than I did when I later released the reworked book with my small publisher and to be perfectly honest, had a whole lot more fun.

After later switching to self-publishing the next two books, I thought I’d try Amazon’s serial fiction platform, Vella, with another book, a novella. But the experience was worlds apart from Radish and not fun at all. Let me explain why Vella fell flat for me:

The Challenges of Amazon’s Vella Platform

1. Visibility Issue
   On Amazon, you’d be hard-pressed even to find Vella anywhere on Amazon’s front page. With the platform’s vast reach, you’d think if Amazon had decided to start selling serial fiction and they wanted to compete with Radish they would want to promote its platform in a visible way. But instead, it’s as though they hid Vella away as if it were something to be ashamed of.

2. Writing for the Algorithm
   Vella pushed authors to cater to algorithms rather than craft compelling narratives. Writers had to strategize around release times and focus on which cliffhangers would maximize clicks, which made it hard to focus purely on storytelling. I heard this over and over in the Facebook group: Certain times were better than others to release your stories. Never mind your plot; certain cliffhangers were preferred over others. Really?

3. Lack of Support for New Authors
   On Radish, new authors got featured on the main page, helping them find an audience. With Vella, authors had to rely on Facebook groups or other means for support, which felt isolating and ineffective.

4. Sparse Author Promotion
   Platforms like Radish promoted themed books on the main page each month, giving authors a fair chance to reach new readers. During my time on Radish, my book was featured several times, bringing in thousands of reads. On Vella, there was never an opportunity. Vella used crowns, which readers were supposed to give out if they liked the episode, but first, you had to get readers. There seemed more writers than readers on Vella which did not seem beneficial to me.

5. Limited Reader Engagement
   Radish encouraged lively reader engagement. As a reader, I got an email everyday telling me what’s new that day on the platform to read, offering me enticement’s etc. Readers could see when authors were online, which led to real-time chats and interactions. By the time I left, my story on Radish had over 40,000 episode reads. On Vella, the experience felt empty in comparison. I had 19 reads but not one single person read all the episodes and no one ever paid for one, they just read the free ones. That was not the case on Radish where I earned actual money.

So, why did Amazon let Vella falter? It seems they simply didn’t invest fully in the platform. It felt like they dipped a toe in the water but never fully committed, which is a shame because there were some talented writers on Vella.

What’s Next for Serial Fiction Writers?

Authors can certainly take their work to other platforms. My top recommendation is Radish. Yes, the application process takes effort, but if you’re serious about serial fiction, it’s worth it—and you can even make some money if you have more than one story. Other authors mention Wattpad, which is a good option if you’re not focused on monetization. But do proceed carefully with other platforms: read the fine print, as some contracts can be restrictive, locking up your work for years.

Of course, when researching this article I discovered not everyone shared my enthusiasm for serial fiction. Some were skeptical of serial fiction—and of Vella in particular from the very beginning.

“Vella is an asinine idea, and WHEN—not if—it fails, remember that I said it first.”
—Chris Rivan

Turns out, Chris Rivan was on to something. You can read the rest of his riveting article, Can There Be Anything More Worthless on his blog Literature & Latte.

“Wattpad and Blogger are full of two chapter long “novels” abandoned by writers with good ideas and no clue how to organize them or even write them coherently. I’ll wager a shiny quarter right now that more than 75% of these “books” by “authors” will be abandoned after three or fewer chapters. Item: Readers will stop buying serial fiction the very first time the author of a book they’re reading misses an update.” —Chris Rivan

So is this true? Is this the reason Vella failed, readers got tripped up when an author didn’t finish their story and then gave up reading serial fiction?

I’m thinking, NOT. If this were true, platforms like Radish, Wattpad and Royal Road wouldn’t exist and thrive, they wouldn’t have enough readers to support all the writers on there.

I can’t help but believe if Amazon wanted to succeed with Vella they could have. They missed the mark with Vella because they just didn’t care enough about it to invest in its success.

"‘Let them eat cake,’ or rather, ‘Let them read books,’ became Amazon-land's backdrop logic—a nod to the early days when Jeff Bezos started selling books from his garage. The thinking behind discontinuing Vella seems to be that customers aren’t truly losing out; they can still buy and read books instead. While Bezos may not fully appreciate the creative process of authors, he certainly understands the need to give visibility to the books he’s selling—and does so quite effectively. So effectively, in fact, that traditional bookstores struggle to compete with him."

Unfortunately, Bezos and his management team couldn’t cultivate a community or commit to providing the visibility Vella needed. As a result, the platform gradually weakened, faltered, and it was ultimately decided, it would be no more—a mercy killing, you might call it. While some might see it as a failure to support innovation, others might argue they’ve done the right thing, cutting losses on a struggling venture.

For those of us passionate about the craft, serial fiction is more than a trend—it’s a timeless form of storytelling. Platforms may change, but the art of building suspense and leaving readers wondering "what's going to happen next?" is here to stay, regardless of whether Amazon is serving it up.

But in this case of ‘what’s going to happen next?’ We know the answer to the story and there is no cliffhanger to be had.

Please leave a comment on your experience writing serial fiction. I know a few of you have had some positive experiences, so please share, and let us know what you’re doing next.

Have a great week writers & readers!

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