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Kindle Vella is Great for Anyone Who Reads on Mobile

Short can be sweet

By Sascha Brodsky Sascha Brodsky Senior Tech Reporter Macalester College Columbia University Sascha Brodsky is a freelance journalist based in New York City. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, the Guardian, the Los Angeles Times and many other publications. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on July 21, 2021 10:25AM EDT Fact checked by Rich Scherr Fact checked by Rich Scherr University of Maryland Baltimore County Rich Scherr is a seasoned technology and financial journalist who spent nearly two decades as the editor of Potomac and Bay Area Tech Wire. lifewire's fact checking process Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Smart & Connected Life Mobile Phones Internet & Security Computers & Tablets Smart Life Home Theater & Entertainment Software & Apps Social Media Streaming Gaming

Key Takeaways

I tried Amazon’s new Kindle Vella service, which offers subscriptions to serialized books and came away impressed.I thought that having to subscribe to chapters would be annoying, but it turns out to be a great way to read on mobile devices. The current selection on the Vella store is thin and you have to buy packs of virtual tokens instead of paying outright for books. felipepelaquim / Unsplash As someone who loves long writing, I was skeptical of Amazon’s new serialized e-book format called Kindle Vella, but a few days with the service has made me a fan of the text snippets. Kindle Vella stories are published one short episode at a time, ranging from 600 to 5,000 words. To hook you on the story, Amazon gives you the first three episodes of every story for free. However, the Vella service still has some growing pains. Mobile reading is perfect for serialized books. It’s hard to concentrate on long stretches of text when you are using a small screen.

Short Stuff

I started by navigating to the Amazon website and browsing the selection of available books. This was where I ran into my first snag. The Vella service was launched this month, and there weren’t many choices available. The Vella store offered lots of romance books and some amateurish-seeming science fiction. Amazon says Kindle Vella stories include new work from bestselling authors, such as Audrey Carlan’s romance “The Marriage Auction,” Hugh Howey’s memoir “Death and Life,” and C. G. Cooper’s thriller “Daring Hope.” There are also debut works like Bard Constantine’s young adult fantasy “The Pale Lord,” Ryan King’s science fiction story “Earth’s Exiles,” and Callie Chase’s dystopian “Bug.” Nothing grabbed my attention until I found “A Dog’s Life” by the author John Sibley. The narrative nonfiction structure of this book made it an easy read as a serial. As much as I enjoyed Sibley’s work, I wish there were some better-known nonfiction authors available on the Vella store. The service seems like a natural fit for magazine writers and I’d be happy to buy expanded versions of stories I read in publications like The New Yorker or Harper’s Bazaar. I was immediately impressed with the attractive presentation of the book. It’s not much different visually from regular Kindle books, but Amazon has added some new features that make browsing for books more fun. One important point to keep in mind is that Amazon doesn’t currently offer an Android app for its Vella service. I used the iOS Kindle app and it worked perfectly well. I also tried reading Vella chapters through a Chrome browser on a Google Pixel and it was a smooth experience. The service seems like a natural fit for magazine writers and I’d be happy to buy expanded versions of stories I read in publications like The clean, bright interface of the Vella store is a standout. It’s easy to search for books you like. You can use tags to browse for specific topics and genres to find stories. I also appreciated having the option to use the "following" feature. Once I subscribed to a Kindle Vella story, I was notified every time a new episode was released. There’s also an easy way to signal whether you like a book or not. You can leave a Thumbs Up for every episode you enjoy. Buying books isn’t quite as simple as using Amazon's One-Click purchase. If you enjoy the free sample chapters, you can buy more using a system of tokens that can be purchased in bundles. This makes it easy to spend more than you intended. I’m not sure why Amazon didn’t include the option to just pay for each book you want to buy.

Books as Video Games

The whole Vella experience seems designed to appeal to people with short attention spans, which frankly is all of us at this point. Amazon has managed to gamify the reading experience. Apparently, it’s not enough to enjoy literature for its own sake anymore. Amazon There’s the whole issue of liking stories, which is fun as a reader, but makes me queasy as a writer. Literature is a personal experience and artistic experience that can be devalued with a simple thumbs-up. Once a week, users who have purchased virtual tokens can favorite the story they enjoyed most. Amazon says it will feature stories with the most Faves in the Kindle Vella store to help other readers discover popular stories. Mobile reading is perfect for serialized books. It’s hard to concentrate on long stretches of text when you are using a small screen. I still prefer using my Kindle Oasis as a dedicated reader for books, but the Vella makes it easy to read in bite-sized chunks. I’m looking forward to seeing how Amazon expands this service. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit More from Lifewire 21 Best Places to Get Free Kindle Books (October 2022) 16 Best Free Audio Book Websites (October 2022) Is Buying a Kindle Worth It? 4 Reasons to Buy One The 30 Best Podcasts of 2022 10 Best Sites for Book Lovers 13 Best Ways to Get Free Books Online and Offline Amazon Fire Tablet vs. iPad: Which Is Right for You? What Is Amazon Prime? How to Get Free eBooks: A Step-by-Step Guide 19 Best Sites to Download Free Books in 2022 How to Find Public Domain Books Online 16 Best Sites for Free Kids Kindle Books How to Buy and Read Kindle Books on iPad Amazon Prime Reading: What It Is and How It Works Barnes & Noble Nook GlowLight 3 Review: A Great Nighttime E-reader The 17 Best Android Tablet Apps of 2022 Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies