Amazon to Licence Fan Fiction

[TGS]

Love it or hate it, fan fiction is soon to make its official appearance on Amazon, according to the in The Guardian

I've never read any fan fiction so don't really know if it's worth the bother, but there are some rather precious statements from some authors who will not have anything to do with it.

[jersysman]

There is another thread on this -

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=213828

[tamborine]

Last night I was browsing kindle books, and noticed that there were loads of Wool and Silo fan fiction stories. The information for one of them had this quote from Hugh Howey: "I LOVE this story idea! You have my complete blessing. I can't wait to read it."

[teh603]

Originally Posted by tamborine

Last night I was browsing kindle books, and noticed that there were loads of Wool and Silo fan fiction stories. The information for one of them had this quote from Hugh Howey: "I LOVE this story idea! You have my complete blessing. I can't wait to read it."

Surprising. Most big publishers force authors to send cease-and-desist letters at best, or sue at worst.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by teh603

Surprising. Most big publishers force authors to send cease-and-desist letters at best, or sue at worst.

Howey is self-published.
And his particular BPH contract is very limited. Print-only, for starters.

Plenty of other authors have made statements ranging from "go to town" to "I'd rather it didn't happen but I'll not fight it".

Depends on the authors and their intent for the IP.
Most, however, make a point of never reading fanfic.
(Self-defense)

[Namekuseijin]

meh

means not only amateur writers can publish and sell amateur material but we can now also buy material from other amateurs further butchering the ideas and characters

I wonder though what if another amateur's take on it becomes more popular than material from the original author lol

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Namekuseijin

meh

means not only amateur writers can publish and sell amateur material but we can now also buy material from other amateurs further butchering the ideas and characters

I wonder though what if another amateur's take on it becomes more popular than material from the original author lol

I've read some fan fiction (online stories) that is pretty good. One fan fic I've been reading (its split into 3 parts and the 3rd hasn't yet been posted) mixes Harry Potter and Pern together quite well.

[Jessica Lares]

It seems they'll do whatever it takes to get this world to be more literate.

People shouldn't be profiting from these types of works. You want to make money from writing? Write your own damn story.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

People shouldn't be profiting from these types of works. You want to make money from writing? Write your own damn story.

You mean like all the Star Wars, Star Trek and other books based on popular settings published by the big six?

[JoeD]

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

It seems they'll do whatever it takes to get this world to be more literate.

People shouldn't be profiting from these types of works. You want to make money from writing? Write your own damn story.

What's wrong with writing in someone else's world/universe? Mainstream authors do it all the time writing star trek, star wars, forgotten realms, dragon lance... books.

As long as the IP owner gives permission to Amazon to use their IP for fan-fiction and they get a kickback on sales and fans now have a legal way to both distribute and sell fan fic, there's not really a problem imo.

Might question some of the terms Amazon have though, such as getting exclusive rights to the work for the duration of copyright. Or the original IP owners automatic license grant to use elements of your work. But compared to the options fans have at the moment, it seems like a good fit for some cases and for the rest, it'll be business as usual.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

It seems they'll do whatever it takes to get this world to be more literate.

People shouldn't be profiting from these types of works. You want to make money from writing? Write your own damn story.

The deal lets creators set rules and get a share of the profits. The contract terms are actually very similar to corporate work for hire stories so it falls under the category of "what consenting adults do..."

It may not be for you or me but if the IP owner and the writer are cool with the deal...

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

It may not be for you or me but if the IP owner and the writer are cool with the deal...

Yep. Consent of the IP owner/author really is the only thing that matters. If the IP owner/author don't want people distributing fanfics (can't really stop the writing part) of their work, then they can just withhold consent.

[QuantumIguana]

I haven't read much fan fiction in quite some time; it's hard to dig through to find the good stuff. Part of the problem is that people's definition of "good stuff" varies - I'm not interested in the love lives of the characters.

The copyright holder gets to consent and makes some money on the stories, the fanfic author gets to make some money, and readers get more of the kind of stories they want. Seems like a win all around. Some people are concerned that this would put the squeeze on professionally-written media tie-in books. I don't think they will, I think these will take a middle ground. The professional books will probably be a step above these works, plus a lot of these authorized fanfics will probably be shorter works than the professional books.

I have read some of the Wool fanfic stories, if the stories were praised by Hugh Howie, that was good enough for me. I like the that rights holder can use the ideas in the authorized fanfic in their stories. If I had written a fanfic, and the original author had used one of my ideas, I'd be thrilled.

[Fbone]

Some of Amazon's terms aren't author friendly but it is spelled out in plain language.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

It seems they'll do whatever it takes to get this world to be more literate.

People shouldn't be profiting from these types of works. You want to make money from writing? Write your own damn story.

You mean like the old ballads of Robin Hood and the stories about King Arthur and his knights? Fan fiction actually has a long history if you think about it. I imagine people told stories about the ancient Greek hero's like Heracles (Hercules) and Perseus based on stories they heard others tell.