Here’s my take on the Kindle Unlimited Price Hike.
Leave your thoughts and comments below 👇
Kindle Unlimited Price Hikes
Writing industry
Kindle Vella: Sucker Punch
The sentiment among authors on the Kindle Vella platform where highly optimistic despite last month’s March bonus announcements of the free tokens no longer being counted towards payouts; they marched on and continued to publish and believe in Vella; what they got for their faith was a massive sucker punch to the gut.
April’s bonus announcements delivered in giving less than nothing to people who double their publishing activity, double their unlock reads and double their likes. One user who spoke out about his frustration with Vella made $2,000 in March; in April, they were given an $87 payout—a 95.65% drop.
A payout of $87 was given to another user, who said they did the bare minimum. I stated in the past article that it was up to Amazon to dictate how they would approach the situation; if they continued to give a somewhat large payout to those within the platform, the company wasn’t ready to roll over dead. But if Amazon pulled the rug early and without mentioning going worldwide, this spelled doom for the platform, and it is.
One user stated that she had received a $2,000 bonus for April by being a part of the top 25 on Kindle Vella, meaning Amazon has gone the Kindle Unlimited approach and is only paying out to those at the top and cutting off everyone below. They’ll continue to dwindle payouts for bonuses till they reach $0.
This horrifying realization caused an uproar within the Kindle Vella groups, with many pulling their content out on that day and making it clear that they would no longer pour any income into coins and help their fellow authors, a system that has kept Kindle Vella on its feet and running. The potential loss of losing the Author, your core consumer, will cause the remaining Kindle Vella community to fall in dark times.
Exactly how much did Authors themselves proudly invest in Kindle Vella; a poll was run on a Facebook Group on how frequently one buys coins; the answer was $120 to $250 twice or three times a month just to read and help other authors—an artificial way to prop up the platform, one that did more harm than good.
The shockwave of creators rushing to the exit has forced some within the Kindle Vella Community to douse the doubt with positive reinforcement to keep said Facebook groups alive and convince Authors to keep purchasing coins and helping the community.
Another growing sentiment, with those remaining and dedicated to Amazon in a cult-like way, sees this as the opportunity to cleanse the platform and make a significant payday for themselves as the herd thins. An ideology that is a fantasy at best since corporations don’t feel motivated nor feel the milk of mothers’ kindness to pay workers more when trying to preserve their revenue stream; in fact, you find an opportunity to exploit the creator in ways never imagined.
With Amazon tightening its financial belt during these difficult times, losing Kindle Vella wouldn’t be a major loss; it’s not a step back, nor will it hurt its reputation.
We now wait for May’s bonus announcements to see how the Kindle Vella community reacts.
Kindle Vella Is Ending
This might be a harsh truth that nobody within the Kindle Vella community wants to admit, but the writing is on the wall, and it’s clearly on its way out. A few factors point to all this, but one stands out more than the rest, and that lies with the free token compensation no longer being a part of the Kindle Vella monthly bonuses.
The free tokens were a way to bring new readership into the new serialized format that Amazon hoped to conquer. The monthly bonuses were tied into the free tokens, publishing activity, likes, and crowns (which were a way to boost a story to the front of the store page.) As long as Amazon kept to the same format, the payouts would continue as is, meaning Kindle Vella was far away from closing shop.
They even made it a priority to specify how long this would continue with free token payouts. In previous months they would state that it would be extended by three or even four months, guaranteeing content creators that the bonuses would be distributed evenly and fairly. The problem is, this past March 29th, it’s been stated that it would no longer extend the free tokens for content creators on the platform. Signaling a change in bonus payouts, one that would cut off many content creators on the platform from now on. Vella is preparing to pay out the highest read and ranking people on the platform.
This is pretty much stating a farewell to all the people who poured months and months into providing content to the platform, and going forward; it looks like their hard work will not be rewarded anymore.
There is a small pocket of resistance within the Vella community that is exceptionally excited over the fact that not everyone will be getting a bonus anymore; they state that this shows that the company has finally found its footing and the readership is there, which is why bonuses no longer have to be paid out to anyone, that going forward Vella will only see more success and become the dominant platform.
But where’s the readership? They keep speaking of this vast fan base that has migrated to Kindle Vella, yet these people seem invisible. A popular new app would sprout waves and waves of fresh tweets, people gushing about how amazing Kindle Vella is. We would see articles and articles of people finding new stories that have never been read before; it would be the Hot topic of every book club on Facebook. But then why can’t I find it at all?
This huge readership must be an introverted group; if I were them, I would start speaking out now.
The fan base I see is a massive collective of authors pushing Vella, and it’s an author-to-author readership. I am confident that the revenue going towards Vella is roughly 80% authors. Yes, we could use the old saying, ‘authors are readers as well,’ but to have a successful business, you want to branch out to people who are not within the industry, people who will be willing to spend and not contract when competition stiffens or when bonuses dry out.
Amazon paying bonuses just for authors to redistribute a small percentage back into its pockets doesn’t put the company in the green; they would need to have readership outpace the bonuses within a year and a half, the moment they started dishing out payouts, which was on June 2021.
And as the economic situation in the US begins to turn dire, Amazon cannot afford to keep paying out bonuses the way they were before. Inflation is outpacing wage growth in the US; interest rates are rising, the banking sector is collapsing, and layoffs are hitting each industry.
Kindle Vella was created during the fantasy phase of money being printed like crazy, zero interest rates; they were banking that anyone who got a stimulus or unemployment during the whole lockdown and pandemic would be enough to support their gambles. Kindle Vella wasn’t made because they had a plan; it was created because they wanted to cash in on the insanity hitting the US; they figured they had a chance to win or lose.
This is why Kindle Vella has struggled to find a consistent pattern and refusal to go worldwide; the company itself knew they weren’t entirely behind the whole idea, to begin with.
Amazon is in a bind as it slowly begins to decline in cash, revenue starts to decline, and net income itself is no longer what it used to be for the company.
There is no, “Well, if there are competitors out there, Amazon will refuse to close up shop; this is a market they can’t let go.” This might be one of the most idiotic hills to die on for any company, and if Amazon leadership is actually going to run on that campaign, then God help that company.
Vella will phase out slowly and slowly. First, it will start with trying to manage the downfall and contain the mass Exodus of people trying to run for the exit. If the company doesn’t care, they’ll brutally make that clear with the March bonus payouts, which are due to be announced mid-April, leaving people with a small sum of perhaps 56 bucks for all the hard work, a lot of people getting nothing. If Amazon wants this to limp on and still wants people to stay in this as long as possible, they’ll give false hope with a March bonus that will pay out roughly $245 to its average users. And decline within the following months until everyone is left out in the cold.
I said it before on Twitter, the day the free tokens were taken out of the bonuses, and if we had no official worldwide release, Kindle Vella was officially DOA. And I stand by my words.
Yes, Kindle Vella has a beautiful community of authors who want to help other authors, people who want to make a living out of their writing, and who can blame them; we all want that. This is why many of us joined the program, knowing it was very flawed, with a company that wasn’t ready even to put in the effort their authors put into it to push the platform.
Kindle Vella will go the way of Amazon Worlds, a what could have been but never will.
Ultimately, writers still have two choices, keep writing for the platform or move on.
READERS IN PAIN
In the writing industry, we tend to forget the core nucleus that keeps us in this business: the reader. Without readers, there isn’t a consumer for authors to have; they’re an essential foundation in building a fan base and supporting future projects. When this consumer is in trouble, that should be an alarming indicator for any author.
Recently in a few book clubs on Facebook, the readers have been sharing their hardships. A new unpleasant growing trend. There was a heartbreaking story of a mother of two who stated that she could not even secure Christmas gifts for her children while working a full-time job and that inflation was forcing her to choose between food or basic necessities.
Another person expressed frustration with working non-stop and still coming up short regarding gas, bills, and food.
We’ve arrived at the moment when book clubs have to be a support group for those suffering—what a time to be alive.
I’ve written about this and have sounded the alarms about an incoming crisis that would derail everyone. Inflation and the global recession soon to take place are already taking their toll on consumers, and these tragic stories are few of many to come.
Consumers can’t afford to feed themselves and continue to purchase books; they can’t afford Kindle unlimited, and they can’t afford Kindle Vella. They can’t afford ebooks highly-priced. They are finding their lives in challenging times with no help whatsoever.
Many authors commonly react to this news: ‘That’s not my problem.’ Or ‘If they can’t afford my book, get lost’ cruelty is something the writing Community shouldn’t partake in; empathy is the path we should follow, and this is a conversation we should openly have instead of pretending it doesn’t exist.
We need to take action to keep reading available at a reasonable price and find new methods to help consumers when times get tough. Authors should know this best; we are no strangers regarding hardships.
I know they’ll be the authors who’ll say, “You want me to gift my things for free. I have bills to pay!” And that should be the ironic moment you have when you utter those words because we’re in the same boat in the end. No one’s asking you to give it for free, but we have to find a reasonable solution to keep the consumer within our reach and safety and make a difference when the industry and our Government say ‘no.’
*
JESSE Novels 