Steven Helmer Publications

I learned a short while ago Amazon will be discontinuing its Kindle Vella platform later this year, winding it down at the end of the month and no longer publishing new episodes by December. This is a disappointment for both me and every other independent writer that has published Vella content. However, it frankly also wasn't much of a surprise since Amazon failed to make it what it could have been. Image courtesy of Pixabay For those of you unfamiliar with the platform, the premise wasn't a bad one. Instead of paying for an eBook you may or may not like, you could purchase a book or series an episode at a time for a few pennies each episode. Authors, in turn, were paid a 50% royalty plus a bonus from a monthly pool. The problem was, Amazon never seemed to be fully invested in the idea. They didn't offer any sort of marketing program, forcing authors to do their own marketing through social media and at their own expense. This meant Vella stories were less visible and made...