Are serials becoming tasty? 🤔

A new shiny for fast writers. View in browser Hey, I was planning something else this week, but I'm getting a lot of questions about Amazon's shiny new toy: Kindle Vella – basically Amazon's answer to Radish. And your excitement levels about that probably map closely to whether you are asking "what is a Radish?" There have been a few attempts to popularize serialized fiction in the last ten years from open platforms like Wattpad, which leaned more towards newer authors and building a community, to curated operations like (the now-defunct) Kindle Serials – which attempted a more top-down approach. It's only in the last couple of years where authors have really started to make some money from serialized fiction – predominantly via a clutch of serialized story apps like Radish, and mostly in romance. Not all readers are into serials, and not all authors like writing them, but there are people making money from them – which has now caught Amazon's attention. This isn't something I'm super interested in as a writer or a reader, so I'll point you to some other sources for more in-depth analysis, but I will add a few comments about author compensation in a moment – because that's going to be critical. This post from Monica Leonelle on Medium breaks down the pros, cons, and mehs for authors interested in Kindle Vella, and this post from Publishwide has a closer look at the numbers and other terms for participating. (Do pay close attention to those terms if you are interested because there are some pretty big restrictions – e.g. you can't serialize the books you already have on sale.) This will probably be of most interest to romance authors, as serials are much more popular with romance readers than any other niche – AFAIK – and will generally suit a fast writer who is able to adapt quickly to market trends. Plus ça change, says you. Before anyone gets too excited – if indeed you are excited, reactions have been quite mixed as far as I can tell – I just want to add a note of caution around the author compensation terms, which you can find broken down in the above post from Publishwide in more detail. The compensation system is, of course, quite opaque. Not quite ACX-levels of opaque, but not exactly straightforward. There are a couple of aspects we definitely need more information on. On the surface, it seems simple: readers pay to read stories with pre-paid tokens, and Amazon says it will be sharing 50% of the proceeds with authors. But the devil is in the details. For example, some form of dynamic pricing of these tokens seems on the cards – which will affect the pay rates, as those are directly related to the price charged for tokens. Amazon also seems to have left open the possibility of dishing out free tokens to readers without compensating authors - which is great for Amazon and helps build its walled garden a little higher. Perhaps less great for authors. Self-publishers have pored over the examples from Amazon and worked out the numbers to be more favorable than Kindle Unlimited pay rates – but this is exactly where you should be cautious. Those who have been around for a while will remember Amazon having some pretty misleading examples to accompany the rollout of KDP Select and Kindle Unlimited. Indeed, some have noticed the price of tokens changing already (and you can guess which direction that went in). That's all I have for the moment – I'll be back next Friday with something meaty on metadata and marketing. Check out the above articles for a deeper analysis if the idea of writing serials has piqued your interest and you want the nuts-and-bolts. Oh and if you are an international author who is wondering what I'm speaking about, Kindle Vella is for US-based authors and readers only so you'll have to get your confusingly funded kicks elsewhere. For now, at least. Dave P.S. Writing music this week is a fab Nina Simon cover of a George Harrison number – Isn't It A Pity. Sorry George, it's Nina's song now. DavidGaughran.com Broomfield Business Park, Malahide, Co. Dublin, Ireland You received this email because you signed up at DavidGaughran.com. Unsubscribe