Why You Can Trust CNET Amazon's Kindle Vella lets you buy serialized stories 1 'episode' at a time
Think "novella." The new reading feature in the Kindle app gives you short 600 to 5,000 word installments you can read on your mobile gadget.
Amazon says Kindle Vella was designed to be a mobile-first experience.
This week Amazon launched Kindle Vella, a "mobile-first" reading experience for serialized stories. Kindle Vella stories are offered in short 600 to 5,000 word "episodes" that can be purchased one at a time. The first three episodes of every story are free, Amazon said in a press release Tuesday, adding that readers can then buy additional episodes with tokens available through the Kindle App or from Amazon's site.
"In the three months since we opened Kindle Vella publishing for authors, it's been great to see thousands of authors begin publishing thousands of stories, totaling tens of thousands of Kindle Vella episodes across dozens of genres and microgenres," the principal product manager of Kindle Vella, Virginia Milner, said in a press release.
Kindle Vella also offers six interactive features, including notifications when new episodes of a series you follow are released and Author Notes that let writers share insights and behind-the-scenes content.
Kindle Vella has 15 different story categories, which range from action and adventure to romance to science fiction.
Kindle Vella is available in the US on the Kindle iOS app and Amazon.com.