Kindle Vella pays $200,000 launch bonus and authors to get paid for free tokens until the end of the year

Amazon is paying out a Kindle Vella launch bonus of $200,000 for July  and says it will also compensate authors for episodes unlocked using free tokens at the 200-token bundle rate until the end of the year.

There are now over 9,000 stories available through Kindle Vella. Amazon says the bonus program will be ongoing and bonuses will be awarded to authors based on customer activity such as Faves, Follows, and Token redemption (free and paid). Authors will earn royalties based on 50% of what readers spend on tokens. 

Kindle Vella launched on July 14, 2021, so has been operating for just a month. It is claimed to be a new mobile-first, interactive reading experience for serialized stories and is currently available only in the US through the Kindle iOS app and on Amazon.com. Stories are published in short episodes ranging from 600 to 5,000 words and the first three episodes of every story are free for readers. Further episodes can be bought using tokens, which can be bought in bundles.

If you’ve earned a bonus for July, you’ll receive an email and will see the bonus amount posted in your Kindle Vella Dashboard (https://kdpreports.amazon.com/kindle-vella) early next week (week starting Monday, August 16, 2021). Launch bonuses and Kindle Vella royalty earnings will be paid out to authors with total KDP payments in September.

Additional information on Kindle Vella royalties and reporting can be found at https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G5TFR9WSHB46ZKFN