Amazon is pulling the plug on Kindle Vella, its experiment with episodic storytelling, after lackluster results since the platform launched in 2021. The company confirmed that Kindle Vella will officially shut down in February 2025. For readers following Vella stories, episodes they’ve already unlocked will still be available on the Kindle app for iOS and Android — but the web version will be gone.
Kindle Vella was Amazon’s attempt to tap into a growing global trend for serialized stories, giving authors a way to publish in small chunks while readers could unlock episodes as they went. The first few were free, but after that, readers bought tokens to continue. This approach, Amazon hoped, would open a new revenue stream for authors while keeping readers hooked. But Amazon now admits Vella “hasn’t caught on as we’d hoped.”
Authors can keep publishing episodes until December 4, when new content and token purchases will end. Readers can still use their tokens through February, but any left over after the shutdown will be converted into Amazon gift cards.
Amazon tried a few moves to build momentum for Vella, like distributing a $1 million bonus among the most popular authors this year and expanding free access to the first 10 episodes of each story. But the platform never quite took off. Many readers found the episodic model awkward, with some saying they’d rather pay for an entire book than episodes, while some authors struggled to build a steady audience.
Amazon’s shutdown of Kindle Vella leaves the future of episodic storytelling in Western markets uncertain. As Amazon steps out of the space, smaller platforms may see an opportunity to capture niche audiences. Still, serialized formats have yet to see major success beyond markets like China, where the format is well-established.
