Reader Migration Guide: Kindle Vella to Ream
This guide will show you how to migrate your readers from Vella to Ream while maximizing your revenue and minimizing your stress and time spent in this process.
Step 1: Launch Your Ream and Update Any Links to Direct Readers to Ream
Launching your Ream is something we will cover more in this guide.
But before you begin migrating readers, you will want to ensure you have launched your Ream so that new readers can join your tiers.
The next crucial step is to update anywhere that you link to Vella on your site and the back matter of your books to Ream. This way when new potential readers click on the link, they will see Ream and join there.
Here’s a checklist of places to ensure your links to Ream are updated (or add links to your subscription there if you haven’t already):
- Links in bio sections of social media and serial fiction platforms
- Call to Actions during the backmatter of books or at the end of chapters on serial fiction platforms
- Links on the header/footer of your author website
- Links in the footer of your newsletter or in any welcome sequences for new subscribers
- Links in link aggregators/link-in-bio tools such as LinkTree
“Thank you so much for checking out my subscription! I have moved my membership to Ream where you can join to continue receiving awesome stories from me. Just click here to become a member: [link to URL of public Ream Page]”
Note: It’s essential to add a Call To Action at the top of your Amazon author About section directing people to your Ream.
Step 2: Announce Ream Migration to Existing Readers on Vella
Things are getting real now! It’s time to announce the launch of your Ream to your existing Vella readers. First things first, do not delete your Vella page or remove your stories. It takes time for audiences to migrate. Sometimes as little as 2-3 weeks and sometimes longer than 2-3 months. In that process we want you to maximize your revenue. That means leaving your Vella open so that you can benefit from two potential revenue streams at the same time.
Here’s how the process will look like in practice:
- Reader uses up tokens from Vella
- Reader subscribes to your Ream. Note: Often times readers upgrade to a higher tier during this switch, especially if they originally joined your Ream subscription before you set up those higher tiers.
On Ream, we bill readers upfront for their subscriptions. So if someone signs up for Ream on April 18, they will be charged up front for their membership on April 18 and again on May 18.
The approach you take is up to you, but when it comes to incentives and other ways we can make the most seamless transition for your readers possible to Ream — we are always here to help. Just contact us at support@reamstories.com with any specific questions.
As far as announcing your Ream launch to your readers, this will go in 3 phases.
Phase 1: Announcement to Vella readers
First, create a social media post letting your readers know about Vella and that you’ve found a new home on Ream.
The most crucial step in this process is picking a date that you will launch your Ream by and a hard deadline for your subscribers to switch to Ream.
We recommend a 30-day window for most authors making this switch so that your readers are incentivized to take action as soon as possible. During this 30-day migration period, we recommend to begin slowly phasing out your Vella content (more on this in the next step).
This means you would send your readers a message similar to the following:
“Hey everyone!
As some of you may already know, I’ll be switching to Ream from Vella starting on November 1, 2024.
Ream is a serial fiction and subscription platform built specifically for fiction authors and readers and makes my life a lot easier as a storyteller and your life a lot better as a reader.
It would be great if you could make this switch starting on November 1. You’ll find all of my Vella content on Ream (and some fun bonuses!). The only difference is an even better experience for you!
If you don’t make this switch by (date), then you won't be able to access my content on Vella.
Why is that?
Amazon is shutting Kindle Vella down, so you will no longer be able to access my stories there. The sooner you join me on Ream, the sooner you'll get back to enjoying uninterrupted access to my stories.
So please, sign up to Ream here: before (date).
It means so much that you would continue to support me! As we make this transition, I am here to help in any way. I recommend making the switch as soon as possible, and if you recently purchased tokens on Vella, I’d be happy to compensate you by providing you with a code to get your first month free on Ream!
In addition, if you’d like to know more about using Ream or have any questions about the platform, don't hesitate to reach out to their support team of fellow authors and readers just like us at support@reamstories.com.
I hope to see you all on Ream soon!"
Phase 2: Announcement to All Readers
This is when you will share that you have launched on Ream to your entire mailing list, social media accounts, and other places you can reach your readers.
This message will serve both as a reminder to existing readers and followers on Vella to make the switch and as a way to promote your Ream profile to potential new followers and subscribers in your fanbase."
Phase 3: Follow-up with Existing Readers
This last Ream migration wave is another social media post and/or email newsletter to your existing readers on Vella (those who have not made the switch yet).
We suggest following up with your readers close to the end of the migration period you set. So if you have a migration period of 30days, you can send this communication sometime in the final week of that period.
This message can be similar to your first message but with the added caveat of mentioning that the deadline to move to Ream is coming up soon and you recommend switching now so that your readers don’t miss any valuable chapters or benefits.
Which about that… just how do you phase out your Vella presence?That’s the next step :).
Step 3: Sunset Your Vella
This is the final step in your migration process.
The goal here is to provide a reminder to any stragglers who did not move during the initial migration phase from Vella to Ream. If the initial launch was completed successfully, the majority of your existing audience should now be on Ream—and hopefully you’ll have gained even more Ream followers from your fan base.
Some authors prefer to continue posting on Vella for an extended period of time while their readers are moving over. To make it easy for readers, make sure your call to action stays front and center and they know where they can find your Vella content after Vella shuts down.
As you near the final end date for Vella, you’ll want a way to sunset your Vella presence gracefully.
In this step, you will start to update on Ream well before the end date on Vella (February 2025).
The best method we recommend is to add a final chapter to your stories on Vella telling them where to find you and provide a link to your Ream page.
When you do this, you can also remind your readers that you will be on Ream now and that your readers on will receive chapter updates and also get your news and other updates directly in their inbox once they follow your Ream author page.
Typically 60 days is a good time frame for most authors, but based on your individual circumstance, you may want to do shorter or longer than that.
On the closing date (either Vella’s closing date or the date you’ve chosen to shut down your Vella), you can make one final post on social media directing existing readers to Ream.
At this point, hopefully, nearly everyone on Vella is now on Ream. You may have some readers who are still using tokens on Vella and have not moved to Ream. That is okay!
For those readers, you can direct a final social media post letting them know about the switch.
Unless you have 0 readers on Vella, we recommend that you keep your account open and your stories visible so that you can keep making revenue from that space, up until Amazon removes them. They can no longer claim exclusivity as they’re closing the program.
With this process complete, you have now migrated your readers to Ream. Yay!
If done correctly, 90-100% of your Vella readers will now be on Ream and you’ll have already gained existing subscribers who may have subscribed on Ream to actually increase your overall revenue.
To top it off, you still will generate revenue from any stragglers on Vella until February 2025, but won’t have to update on that platform and can instead spend your time on Ream and ultimately more time writing amazing stories.
If you have any questions about this guide, please email us at support@reamstories.com.