The Data

The data logged in this article was manually gathered [November 21st 2021] from the Kindle Vella Top 250 Faved list from information publicly available at the time this article was written. Please be advised the data and insights provided are the opinions of Book Genie. We make no warranty or guarantee regarding the correctness or authenticity of the data, as these are informal calculations gathered via our independent research and is in no way affiliated with or should be construed to represent Amazon, Kindle Vella, or any other Amazon entity.

None of the authors, contributors, administrators, owners, or anyone else connected with Book Genie, in any way whatsoever, can be responsible or liable for your use, reliance, or distribution of the information contained in or linked from these web pages. We respectfully remind readers that we assume no responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions in the content of this data. The information contained here is provided for general informational purposes only on an "as is" basis with no guarantees of completeness, accuracy, usefulness or timeliness. Percentages listed are rounded.

Genre Label Distribution in the Top 250

The first chart displays the most frequently occurring genres in the top 250 faved list on Kindle Vella. We determined these numbers by relying on the genre designations (both primary and secondary) for each series. For example, if a series is listed as dystopian and paranormal, that series was counted once in dystopian and once in paranormal. The author's story "tags" were not factored into this analysis. In descending order the genres on Vella are ranked as follows:

Romance (22.7%)
Fantasy (14.1%)
Paranormal (10.7%)
Action & Adventure (9.5%)
Teen & Young Adult (8.2%)
Science Fiction (8.0%)
Thriller (5.1%)
Humor (4.4%)
Mystery (4.4%)
Erotica (4.2%)
Dystopian (3.6%)
LGBT Fiction (2.7%)
Historical Fiction (1.9%)
Nonfiction (0.4%)

Genre Combinations in the Top 250

The second chart displays another way to look at the genre designations. In the first chart (previous), each story was given two scores, one for each genre designation. This second chart combines the two genres into one "designated genre combination." What that means is that instead of a dystopian paranormal series being counted once in dystopian and once in paranormal, we counted the series as "dystopian paranormal." In so doing, we compare not only the two genre designations per series, but the overall genre pairings used in the top 250 faved list on Kindle Vella. For clarification, the genres Paranormal/Romance and Romance/Paranormal are labeled under one group: Paranormal Romance.

Accordingly, the top three most frequently occurring combinations are as follows:

Paranormal/Romance (10.4%)
Fantasy/Action & Adventure (6.8%)
Fantasy/Romance (5.2%)

Insights

Love is in the air

As of October 2021 data, the romance genre makes up almost a quarter of the top 250 faved series on Kindle Vella. Authors writing in any of the genres (e.g. Paranormal Romance, Fantasy Romance, Romance [No Other Label]) are seeing on average more prominence in the top 250. Even Erotic Romance which has been troubled with countering a mature filter put in place on Kindle Vella's indexing has managed to outperform several non-romance genres.

In particular, paranormal romance, which was the most frequently listed genre in the top 250, is dominating the platform with nine series more than its closest rival Fantasy/Action & Adventure.

Multi-Genre listings are more prominent on the top 250 list

From this data we can see that it was more common for a multi-genre series to be listed on the top 250 list than series with only one listed genre. Fantasy is a brilliant example of this. Series designated as one genre, Fantasy only, made up only 0.8% of the 250 list. Series designated as Romance and Fantasy make up 5.2% of the top 250 list, and Fantasy with Action & Adventure 6.8%. Fantasy-Humor make up 1.2% of the top 250 list.

Nonfiction is lagging

It's early days for Kindle Vella so genre popularity is certain to fluctuate over time. However, one genre that is certainly lagging behind the others is nonfiction. In October 2021, only 2 of the top 250 series on Kindle Vella were labeled nonfiction.

It's still early days

As Amazon has said in interviews and other publicly available information, this is "Day One" for Kindle Vella. As readership expands and the platform gains not only exposure with readers but participation by writers publishing on the platform, trends may emerge that can help writers understand which types of series and which genres may perform best on Vella.

We would not recommend at this time that authors use this information to make decisions about your publishing plans. For example, you may be the writer whose nonfiction work leaps to the top of the leaderboard and teaches writers that follow you a lot about how to find your niche on Vella. We share these stats for information only, but encourage each author to use at your discretion.

We'll be studying trends, changes, and the development of the platform and hope you're as excited as we are about contributing to Vella's growth and success.

If you'd like to learn more about writing and marketing a series on Kindle Vella consider joining our community on Book Genie. We offer classes on craft for writers at all stages of their careers, marketing and platform building services, and we have a robust network of free resources and community discussion where you can engage with professionals as well as peers for moderated discussion and evidence-based content.

If you're a writer on Vella, reach out with questions or comments any time. If you decide to share this graph or data, please be sure to use the image with the Book Genie logo and acknowledge the team whose efforts put this information together. We appreciate your consideration!

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