What is Buffalo Chasers: A Wild West Show?
It’s 1867, and many young men have already followed their dreams and the current wisdom to “go west” to seek adventure and fortune. At twenty-seven, Chester aspires to test his mettle in the mining camps of the Colorado gold rush. But first, he must convince his father to release him from obligations to the family business. Chester hopes Wild Bill Hickok’s wild west show, “Buffalo Chasers of the Plains,” is the perfect setting to ask father. That is, until things “get western” at the show.
Buffalo Chasers: A Wild West Show is the first of several western short stories in my Colorado Gold Rush setting, Tailing Times Series. The series launched on Kindle Vella with five episodes today. I’m publishing two episodes per week, every Tuesday and Friday, so at only ten episodes, Buffalo Chasers will complete before the end of May.
The next story, Missouri Compromise, which is fifteen episodes, is targeted to launch on May 31 with five episodes and run for six weeks. If readers find and enjoy these two stories, I have several more planned.
Get started with Wild West Show here.
What is Kindle Vella?
Kindle Vella is a reader experience on Amazon to read stories one episode at a time. Since much of the craft of western storytelling originated as serials in the pulps and later as weekly television series, I thought Vella would be a great place for my westerns stories and readers.
You don’t need a Kindle to enjoy Vella. The stories can be read in any browser or in the Kindle App on Kindle Fire, Android, and Apple devices. Unfortunately, Vella is only available in the US at this time, but expansion to other devices and countries is planned.
You can read more about Kindle Vella here.
How much does it cost?
The first three episodes of all Vella stories are always free. This gives readers like you a chance to see if you are interested before committing any money to a story. This is a fantastic service to both readers and authors. Each episode after the third is “unlocked” with tokens. Additionally, when you sign up for Vella, you get 200 free tokens, so you can try out the service more fully before having to buy tokens.
When you have used up your free tokens and want to continue with a story, you buy more tokens at a penny each or less, depending on how many you buy. Token bundles start at 200 tokens for $1.99. Note: you need to have one-click purchasing setup on Amazon to buy tokens. The number of tokens to read each episode is based on its length. (Technically, it is one token for each 100 words).
My westerns on Vella will average about 10-15 tokens per episode. With the first three episodes free, you can read Buffalo Chasers: A Wild West Show for about $0.80. The exact cost depends on how you purchased your tokens and whether you used any free tokens.
How you can help me serve you.
Vella provides readers like you several ways to show your opinion about each episode and story. Positive feedback from you helps me know I’m doin’ it right. At the bottom of each episode is a thumbs-up icon (think of it as a “like” on other websites). If you like an episode, please give it a Thumbs-Up. When you purchase tokens, you are given one “fave” per week. Your available faves are indicated near your available tokens. If you are enjoying a series, please give it your Fave that week. If you want to know when a new episode is published for a series you like, click the Follow button to be notified of new episodes within the Kindle app. Finally, if you want to tell others about how much you enjoyed a story, please give it a star rating and review.
These simple things encourage me to publish more and help other readers find my stories.
Special Thanks
I want to give special thanks to Ross and Lori, who provided valuable feedback to refine Wild West Show and my other stories. And also to Ross for his great cover design.
How do you hear about more stories?
If you are not already a subscriber, you might consider signing up to my newsletter. I announce new releases and deals in the newsletter as well as provide other updates and helpful information. And, best of all, you can get additional free stories by signing up. If this is your first time or two to the website, you probably saw a sign-up request fly by. If you didn’t catch it the first time, you can go to the Newsletter Page to sign up. Don’t worry, I will never spam you or share your email address with anyone.
Cover image by Szczepan Klejbuk/shutterstock.com. Used under license from Shutterstock.com.