Amazon dropped a new service recently that I think will be very interesting for budding authors to test the waters of new work while potentially being able to earn and build their online community at the same time. Kindle Vella is episodic viewer that lets authors post their work one chapter, or episode, at a time. Viewers/readers get the first three chapters free, and then need to purchase tokens to view additional episodes/chapters. It’s a little wonky, and even the reporting on the back end is still very much in a beta stage (and that’s being kind), but it seems like a great experiment for writers who either want to write on the go, or tease out their work chapter by chapter, avoiding the ability for readers to “binge” their work, and digest it more slowly.
An interesting thing that I found was that at the end of each episode, while I was posting it, Amazon gives the author a little area to add their notes. This is a really fun way to interact with the reader, giving them little tidbits of behind-the-scenes motivations, character backgrounds, etc. It is the book equivalent to a DVD director’s commentary.
I needed a place to put all the short stories I had rattling in my head, and currently this seems to fit my needs. I created a catch-all title of Nic’s Flash Fics and I have two pieces of short fiction available, Dead Pixel and The Sound of One Hand Clapping. Check this link and enjoy! More stories will be coming in the near future!