ARCHIVE Publishing Fanfiction

Fifty Shades of Grey raised a furor because it was based on a fanfiction "Masters of the Universe". More recently the author of a One Direction fanfic was offered a sizeable advance for taking the serial numbers off and releasing it as an original novel.

The publication of fanfiction is nothing new, despite what the papers would have you believe. Before that, Roddenberry encouraged it with Star Trek tie-ins in the late sixties, and even an officially published crossover: Ishmael by Barbara Hambly was a cross of Star Trek with Here come the Brides (details).

We now have Kindle Worlds where US writers can post their fanfic in licenced worlds and get paid for it.

So what is your view on the publication of fanfiction?

 

Fanworks have been a tradition as far back as the ancient Greeks. Illiad, odyssey, and Aenid? You only have to look at King Arthur and Robin Hood to see how folk tales expand because there are multiple storytellers contributing stories over time, and updating them to match their own time.

The only thing different now is the need to 'take the labels off' due to copyright law. Imagine if the One Direction fanfic hadn't had to. Just as Robin Hood was based on Adam of Cloudsey and others, in a hundred years how would the stories have changed? Would the number of band members have changed? A girlfriend akin to Maid Marion emerged? Would there be a villain a la the Sherriff and his sidekick, or would a new interpretation arise? Does copyright law limit the emergence of modern myth, or are shared fictional universes like the Lunaverse a response to it?

I have a lot of questions, but very few answers. In general I'm in favour of it, but there needs to be a way to compensate the original rights holders.

 

A quick hijack. Is Kindle worlds really only available to US authors?

 

If it is up to publishable standard, why not? I mean, there isn't much difference between top quality fanfics and tie-in novels and there's no need to leave a good story languishing on the back shelves of fanfiction.net if it can make some money for the rights owner and the writer.

 

Unfortunately so.

The help page isn't clear: Kindle Worlds - FAQs
"Anyone who is 18 or older with a valid U.S. bank account and social security number or tax identification number."

But when I tried to sign up I got this message:
"Kindle Worlds is only available to US residents with a US bank account at this time."
I can get a screengrab if you like.

 

I don't like That is really disappointing.

 

Yeah, but Fanfiction writers aren't up to the standard of real writers, and it's not like they go anywhere.

If they were real writers they'd be published.

 

Actually Barbara Hambley writes several of her own series (Darwath, Windrose, James Asher) and a lot of good original novels, but without the early boost of Ishmael, would she have made it? Diane Duane writes Young Wizards among other series now, but again among her early works are Star Trek tie-ins.

I've heard authors refer to Fanfiction as a training ground, where they can write focusing on plot and sometimes character without having to handle the worldbuilding or history as that has been done for them. It is a safe place to experiment with technique, and it can be published without waiting months for it to pass a slush pile.

I have heard fanfiction.net compared to an unedited slush pile, and it seems fair. There are some gems, an awful lot of rubbish, and average good stories that get passed over because of the sheer volume of work to read.

 

Sounds like your review queue!

With fanfic, if they aren't hurting anyone, knock themselves out. If it's crap I won't buy it.

 

I don't see a problem with publishing fanfic, as long as you have the rights or rewritten fanfiction if the author can turn it into something original.

There is actually a fanfic author we have an eye on at the moment, as he has said he may release one of his works with the serial numbers removed. If he does start looking for a buyer we might actually make an offer, although he would really do better with Angry Robot. We're a bit small to give him the support he'd need.

And Happy Halloween!

 

How do you plagarise a fanfic? Isn't it already plagarised?

 

Fanfiction is a grey area, but if the author allows it or turns a blind eye then simply writing it isn't plagarism.

Plagarising a fanfic means posting the entire thing under your own name on another (or the same) site and pretending you wrote it, sometimes changing names. The more complex version is posting snippets of several stitched together to make a single story.

In general it's polite if, its a fanfiction, to get the author's permission, or at least credit them and link the original if you're going to work off it.

 

Well done, you just accused every fanfic author of plagarism. Forgot about fiction for out-of-copyright and public domain works, didn't you?

 

Come on! Fanfic authors are just <mod edit>accusations of criminal activity by regrettable term for those of unmarried parentage</mod edit>, who want to <modedit>borrow from</mod edit> writers and churn <mod edit>books of toilet-paper quality</mod edit> for money.

<mod edit>Content irrelevant to the debate removed, along with personal attack against another user and image</mod edit>

 

One day I will find out why teenage males think posting pictures of female body parts will shock women. I can guarantee a woman has seen more, in more variation, and in real life, than you ever will.

Regarding fanfiction, Stephen King has a one million word theory. It states that authors have to write a million words before they get anything good. If they want to use some of those words on providing free fanfiction for others to enjoy, I have no problem with that.

The grey area is rights and payment, particularly when people start publishing those stories. Is removing the serial numbers enough, or is the fact it was part of a fandom and got a boost from it something that should be considered?

 

You know you spent more time editing that than he did writing it?

Its all moot anyway, 'cos we'll never know how many published books were fanfic. Its not like any publisher will announce a new best seller was free online & might still be on archive.org if you look hard.

 

Don't forget tie-in novels. They're just officially licenced fanfiction. How often have you seen tie-in novels or whatever created from the original screenplays and sold? That's been around for years.

 

But if it is licenced is it fanfiction, or official? There's no need to hide the origins, or pretend it is a new product to get it published.

 

Here's a new twist: A fanfiction site banning the release of stories based on other writers' fanfic work, even though the entire of the site is based on writing fiction based on other writers' work.