In germany we don't have Kindle Vella. Therefore it's interesting to read all these insides. I was a big fan of webnovels in the past and I always thought Vella was exactly like that. A place for serialized bits that will grow with time.
But the more I read about it the more I think that without bonus from Amazon, 90% of writers would make nearly nothing in royalties, because the visibility/audience isn't there without any marketing.
Thank you for your dataporn.
I am hoping that it will grow over time, but I'm not getting my hopes up. I'll keep using it because it's worth it right now, but if the bonuses dry up, I'll probably figure out a new way of staying accountable!
I'm curious about the royalty structure. The story with the most episodes read had a lower earning per read compared to the others. 0.015 per read vs 0.038 and 0.048.
Was that a niche thing or something else? 0.015 is rough, but I can see this being lucrative with multiple stories earning 0.048 (combined with the fact that you can also publish the full story later).
Edit: nvm. I get it now. It's about tokens spent, not page reads. Makes it pretty hard to figure how much a story will earn, imo.
Yes! Sorry, I mentioned this in my 30 days but forgot to mention it here. The second week of October, Amazon offered free episode reads on all Vella stories. They were still paid out at the 200 coin price (approx. 0.05). None of those metrics were added to the royalties earned or the locked episodes read. They were added to the bonus for October though. So, about $60 of my bonus from October was my payout for the free week!
Edit: You can do the math for your episodes based on how long each episode is. 100 words = 1 token. My episodes are all about 14 tokens which is about 0.05-0.07 depending on which bundle of tokens people bought.
Basically, yeah. The first 3 episodes of a story are free to read, but every episode after costs. So, that's the biggest difference between Vella and other free serial platforms.
I'm curious about how you ended up attracting readers to your stuff. You mention you only have a small handful of readers, but you have almost 1500 reads, so how did you end up spreading the word about it? Also when you wrote the pieces, did you include any sex scenes in the free chapters, or did you wait until the paid chapters started?
So I'll be honest, I'm not too sure how I was able to attract the thousand or so reads. There was a free week that happened the second week of October that contributed to a little over half of the reads from my first season. I think maybe the traction from that boosted my story up in the rankings a bit so I was easier to find, but I'm not too sure. So, luck really lol
And I do not include sex scenes in my free chapters, but I do write more of romance on Vella. My sex scenes in my first season didn't start until about half way through. Second season I had one in chapter four because I didn't want to give it for free lol. Season three teases it a bit and then there's a sex scenes around episode eight. I've read some smut on there that has included like a teeny bit in the free episodes so you get hooked and want more.
In germany we don't have Kindle Vella. Therefore it's interesting to read all these insides. I was a big fan of webnovels in the past and I always thought Vella was exactly like that. A place for serialized bits that will grow with time. But the more I read about it the more I think that without bonus from Amazon, 90% of writers would make nearly nothing in royalties, because the visibility/audience isn't there without any marketing. Thank you for your dataporn.
I am hoping that it will grow over time, but I'm not getting my hopes up. I'll keep using it because it's worth it right now, but if the bonuses dry up, I'll probably figure out a new way of staying accountable!
This is really interesting and a great insight into Vella! Thank you. And congrats on your bonuses and new job :)
Thank you :)
I'm curious about the royalty structure. The story with the most episodes read had a lower earning per read compared to the others. 0.015 per read vs 0.038 and 0.048. Was that a niche thing or something else? 0.015 is rough, but I can see this being lucrative with multiple stories earning 0.048 (combined with the fact that you can also publish the full story later). Edit: nvm. I get it now. It's about tokens spent, not page reads. Makes it pretty hard to figure how much a story will earn, imo.
Yes! Sorry, I mentioned this in my 30 days but forgot to mention it here. The second week of October, Amazon offered free episode reads on all Vella stories. They were still paid out at the 200 coin price (approx. 0.05). None of those metrics were added to the royalties earned or the locked episodes read. They were added to the bonus for October though. So, about $60 of my bonus from October was my payout for the free week! Edit: You can do the math for your episodes based on how long each episode is. 100 words = 1 token. My episodes are all about 14 tokens which is about 0.05-0.07 depending on which bundle of tokens people bought.
Thanks!
That's interesting, so is Vella their way of taking on services like Royal Road?
Basically, yeah. The first 3 episodes of a story are free to read, but every episode after costs. So, that's the biggest difference between Vella and other free serial platforms.
I'm curious about how you ended up attracting readers to your stuff. You mention you only have a small handful of readers, but you have almost 1500 reads, so how did you end up spreading the word about it? Also when you wrote the pieces, did you include any sex scenes in the free chapters, or did you wait until the paid chapters started?
So I'll be honest, I'm not too sure how I was able to attract the thousand or so reads. There was a free week that happened the second week of October that contributed to a little over half of the reads from my first season. I think maybe the traction from that boosted my story up in the rankings a bit so I was easier to find, but I'm not too sure. So, luck really lol And I do not include sex scenes in my free chapters, but I do write more of romance on Vella. My sex scenes in my first season didn't start until about half way through. Second season I had one in chapter four because I didn't want to give it for free lol. Season three teases it a bit and then there's a sex scenes around episode eight. I've read some smut on there that has included like a teeny bit in the free episodes so you get hooked and want more.
Thank you so much for your insight. I will try to keep at it! I definitely need something like this to keep me accountable.