Short Stuff
There are also debut works like Bard Constantine’s young adult fantasy “The Pale Lord,” Ryan King’s science fiction story “Earth’s Exiles,” and Callie Chase’s dystopian “Bug.” Nothing grabbed my attention until I found “A Dog’s Life” by the author John Sibley. The narrative nonfiction structure of this book made it an easy read as a serial. As much as I enjoyed Sibley’s work, I wish there were some better-known nonfiction authors available on the Vella store. The service seems like a natural fit for magazine writers and I’d be happy to buy expanded versions of stories I read in publications like The New Yorker or Harper’s Bazaar. The clean, bright interface of the Vella store is a standout. It’s easy to search for books you like. You can use tags to browse for specific topics and genres to find stories. I also appreciated having the option to use the “following” feature. Once I subscribed to a Kindle Vella story, I was notified every time a new episode was released. There’s also an easy way to signal whether you like a book or not. You can leave a Thumbs Up for every episode you enjoy.
Books as Video Games?
There’s the whole issue of liking stories, which is fun as a reader, but makes me queasy as a writer. Literature is a personal experience and artistic experience that can be devalued with a simple thumbs-up.
