In what Amazon described as a “difficult decision,” it is discontinuing Kindle Vella service and plans to shut it down completely in February 2025. When the company launched its serialized fiction platform in 2021, Vella said it was a way for readers to discover new fiction. We offer new ways for stories and authors to earn money from Kindle Direct Publishing Services. However, it didn’t catch on as much as expected, and three years after Vella’s debut, Amazon decided to stop using it, Amazon said on its website.
Authors can publish stories on Vella only until December 4th, which is also the last day readers can purchase tokens. After that, readers will no longer be able to purchase tokens, but they can still use them to unlock episodes until the program ends in February. The good news for those who follow specific authors or articles on Vella is that you won’t lose access to the episodes you’ve already unlocked even after the platform shuts down. Novels purchased from your library are always available to read in the Kindle app for iOS and Android, but you can no longer open them on the web. Tokens not used by February will be refunded.
The response to Vella has been pretty muted since it became available. Some authors liked the fact that they could use their unfinished stories to generate income, while some readers said they would rather buy the entire book than pay in installments. Personally, as someone who follows a lot of indie authors, I only know one person who publishes with Vella, and very few readers actually use it. Amazon tried to drum up interest earlier this year by giving readers the first 10 episodes of the story for free, rather than the first three. The company also tried to keep authors on the platform by handing out bonuses, but that strategy probably didn’t work well enough for it to consider keeping Vella around longer.
If you buy something through links in this article, we may earn a commission.
