Excited about Kindle Vella

Hey everyone, I discovered Kindle Vella a few days ago and thought it might be something worth trying. I mean, how hard could it be?

Well, as it turns out, I’m starting to feel like it’s just what I’ve been looking for. It’s a platform that let’s a writer publish material in an episodic format. Caveat: ya gotta be a bonified user on KDP’s Publishing platform.

This is what you see on the landing page if you search for Kindle Vella. It’s just my opinion, but it looks like a reader’s paradise.

That would be perfect for an anthology of short stories or even a novel that could be broken out into episodes. There are some rules that Amazon insists the author follow and it’s spelled out in the terms of use. They specify that the content must never have been previously published in any format in any other location.

Just so I’m clear, they want new content. The target market is for the younger crowd. You know, those folks that never put the phone down. As a matter of fact, the prose is automatically formatted to fit phone screens.

I usually try to keep my chapter lengths to around 3k or so but I’ve discovered I can usually break those down even further to wind up with episodes that have the old internal cliffhanger. If you aren’t sure what that is I suggest you do a bit of searching and learning about it. It’s a great tool in a Novelist’a toolbox.

You still need to polish (until your fingers are raw and you are sick of looking at the damn thing) but in the end it gets your work in front of eyeballs. No gatekeepers. Just readers.

And baby, that’s where the rubber hits the road.

Have fun. Get the butt in chair. Stop scrolling this blog and git er done.

Much love to all of you out there struggling.

Peace,

Lee

Making Trouble

I have to say one thing about scene creation I’ve seen over and over as I search for lessons on craft.  If you want to write a novel you have to make trouble for your main character.

You know, put him up a tree and throw rocks at him.  Two dogs and one bone.  You get the general picture.

It’s what novelists DO.

Period.

I found a Jewel by a master that explains the concept in a way that lets you get your head around it.  I just can’t say enough to recommend this to anyone wishing to understand an essential aspect of story-craft.

One more time.  I say again.  Essential Aspect.

But you know what?  With a little practice it can become a part of what you do naturally.

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Conflict and Suspense by James Scott Bell

Seriously, check it out.  Keep on writing.

 

 

BIC.