Last updated 2/26/2022
How Can You Get Your Story Seen on Kindle Vella?
Kindle Vella is a serial fiction platform that launched on Amazon in July of 2021. It is still in beta and a work in progress. Since Vella launched, I have had 8 (that’s too many and I don’t recommend that many!) stories on Kindle Vella. At times I’ve been frustrated and confused about how my stories were ranking on the platform. It was difficult to understand why they were showing up where they were on tags and when I searched for them with keywords. It felt so hard to have my stories seen.
Since we’ve now been on Vella for a while, and feel like we understand it so much more, fellow author Naomi Ault and I have started an Instagram account that offers marketing advice and tips to other Kindle Vella authors. I am a writer and have a day job in marketing, but am by no means an expert. However, I feel like I’ve learned a lot since Vella has launched. Below you’ll find some of my observations and recommendations about using tags, descriptions, and story titles on Kindle Vella.
Using Tags on Your Kindle Vella Story
You are able to tag your Kindle Vella story with a maximum of seven tags. The order in which stories are shown on a tag page is based on an algorithm that ranks the stories. I believe the algorithm ranks stories based on follows, episodes read, episodes unlocked, posting frequency, and “freshness” or how new a story is. Tags are the best way for readers to discover your story, and making sure you’ve tagged it correctly for your genre is super important.
Optimizing Your Story Description for Search on Kindle Vella
Your story description is not only super important for getting potential readers to take the plunge and read your first episode, but it also helps your story appear in search results. Never sacrifice an eye-catching story description for SEO, but there are some things to consider so that you can have a great description and also appear in search results.
Story Titles on Kindle Vella
Story titles on Kindle Vella are important. After the cover, they are the other element that offers the reader a first impression of your story. Having a great title is important. Having a great title that accurately lets readers know your genre, and what the story may be about without seeing a description is ideal.
Getting Your Story Seen on Kindle Vella Can be Difficult
But it’s not impossible! By utilizing tags effectively, and keeping in mind how your story’s title and description will appear in search results, you can help your story be seen by as many readers as possible. Good luck!