Kindle Vella: Return of the Serial

Yesterday, we had an introductory article about Kindle Vella. Today, Melissa Bowersock delves a little more deeply into Amazon’s newest offering.

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Amazon, never content to rest on its laurels, has announced a new avenue for storytelling: Kindle Vella. Many writers have already discovered the lure of publishing a serial, a short episode or a chapter at a time. Hugh Howey’s Wool, if you remember, started as a short story, then he expanded on the series little by little. It was already wildly popular before he accepted a six-figure deal with Simon & Schuster.

We’ve all seen how some series, either books or movies or both, can garner a large following. If we’ve got a captivating story line with complex characters interacting in interesting and surprising ways, our readers want to know what happens next. Continue reading “Kindle Vella: Return of the Serial”

Coming Soon from Amazon: Kindle Vella

Kindle Vella logoYou may be hearing some buzz about a new publishing platform that KDP is rolling out soon. It’s called Kindle Vella and it’s set to launch in mid to late July.

This is a slightly different beast than an eBook. For one thing, Kindle Vella stories are not going to show up on anyone’s Kindle device. Vella is aimed at folks who read on their smartphones and other small electronic devices. You may think that’s nobody, but I can tell you that neither of my kids has ever had an actual Kindle, but they’ve been reading fanfiction on their tablets and phones for years. Even I tend to read news stories on my phone anymore. So this is a way to capture the kind of audience that always has a phone in their hands.

I should mention a couple of things before we get any further. Continue reading “Coming Soon from Amazon: Kindle Vella”

Theodore Jerome Cohen Wins Flash Fiction Popular Vote

Theodore Jerome Cohen is the Readers’ Choice in this week’s Indies Unlimited Flash Fiction Challenge. The winning entry is decided by the popular vote and rewarded with a special feature here today. (In case of a tie,  the writer who submitted an entry first is the winner per our rules.) Without further ado, here’s the winning story:

Continue reading “Theodore Jerome Cohen Wins Flash Fiction Popular Vote”

Bill Engleson Wins Flash Fiction Popular Vote

Bill Engleson is the Readers’ Choice in this week’s Indies Unlimited Flash Fiction Challenge. The winning entry is decided by the popular vote and rewarded with a special feature here today. This week there was a tie,  so the writer who submitted an entry first is the winner per our rules. Without further ado, here’s the winning story:

Continue reading “Bill Engleson Wins Flash Fiction Popular Vote”