A completely legal way to earn royalties off fanfic what now

[sincere]

AMAZON’S LAUNCHING A PROGRAM TO SELL FANFIC. YEAH, YOU READ THAT RIGHT. via The Mary Sue

/hyperventilates

I can't even tell you how long I've been wrestling with "I want to write for a living and be published" and "I want to write fanfic because I love it so much", so this news is legitimately freaking me out.

I'm super wary -- there's long been a backlash in fandom against people charging for fanfic even though it's perfectly acceptable to charge for fanart; and everyone gets upset when an author goes the cheap route, pulls a fanfic, changes some names, and calls it original fiction. It's entirely possible that it won't take off, that no one will pay for what they can get for free, or that it will only be possible for the most popular authors with hundreds of fans and recs. And of course that's without even going into the realm of "Will these fan-authors be treated fairly by Amazon".

But... freaking out all the same.

Comments

[demiurgic]

Oh my stars. :O

Wary is a good first reaction I think, along with slight freaking out. But if this leads the way to getting rid of (or at least paring down) the ridiculous double-standard between fanfic and fanart, I am all for it.

[havocthecat]

I'm so tired of that double standard. I would actually love to charge for my fanfic, if only I could.

[demiurgic]

Yeah, I'm not sure I would use the service with anything I've done previously (plus since it's mostly anime/manga based it might run up against Japanese copyright law), but I just hate the idea that fanart is somehow more "legitimate" or "valuable" or "time-intensive" than fanfic. Since that's the only reason I can think of that someone would object to charging for fanfic the way fanartists can.

[havocthecat]

I really don't know why the divide. I mean, I'd love to say "pre-Web 2.0 fandom, it didn't happen like that" but it did and it has been going on for many years. Otherwise, why would fanart that goes in con auctions go for huge money?

Zines, back when they were a thing, didn't go for huge money either. I remember the one time I made my own zine, I got flak from a couple people for charging more than the cost of the zine would be. (I charged $10. I put the whole thing together, did the writing and editing, begged for betareaders, and did the cover art myself based on some manips a friend had put together for me. It took me HOURS to do the printing and binding. In my opinion, $10 was a fair price.)

It's the only time I ever made money from fanfic, and it was pretty glorious, let me tell you. 28 copies, $280 total to me, and it was the only con in my early 20s that I could actually eat at the whole time.

[sincere]

Totally agreed. It's an artificial one that I think people take for granted. Everyone gets really indignant if you want them to pay for fanfic. People who tried to do "fanfic commission" have been viciously mocked.

But at the end of the day, people just take it for granted that an artist can put up a "commission me for fanart, here's my price table". An artist can just have a "donate to me" button up and people will use it.

Fanfic takes me loads of time and effort and writing is a skill I've honed over years. I do it because I love it, but why is it laughable if I would like to dream about making money off that, but my fanartist counterpart can supplement her income whenever she wants?

[havocthecat]

I also want to write for a living and be published! But I don't know if this is necessarily the best way to do it? John Scalzi does a very good breakdown of why it might not be.

But you may disagree! In which case, awesome, and I wish you the best of luck! I just figured more info = better decisionmaking basis.

[sincere]

Thanks for linking the article! That's an interesting read. It seems like his only real point of critique is the -- admittedly large and glaring -- fact that they can do whatever they want with your fanfic once they've paid you your pittance for it. That is definitely not an equitable deal.

But compared to earning nothing and being recognized for nothing, it might... be worth it. I mean, if nothing else, it's a spot on your resume -- and, depending on how much you get robbed for, can be a pretty big one. Look, I was actually published. Look, I was reprinted in five languages. Look, they used my storyline in Season 7 of the popular Vampire Diaries TV show. Does it suck that they didn't pay you for it? Sure. But maybe it's worth it if you can get proof that your writing and plotting is quality. Those credentials can get you a real career where people will actually pay you.

With that said, I am definitely not going to line up on opening day with a Vampire Diaries fanfic to get in on the ground floor. I'm going to see how this falls out, what changes along the line, what these "guidelines" are, if it even works -- because let's be real, fandom hates paying for fanfic. Maybe it genuinely is more of an idea-stealing model than a payment-model. But it's definitely an interesting development.

[havocthecat]

You're welcome! And you have some very good points. I signed up for alerts and I'm going to see how it shakes out - but since I regularly steal from my fanfic to write original works, for me, this doesn't look so hot. But for others, it might do very nicely!

(I've been pondering trying to monetize my own fanfic for a while now. Just have to figure out how best to do it. And also how to avoid hitting 'post comment' too soon.)

[sunnysummoner]

It would be a pretty cool way for writers to be potentially recognized by the Powers That Be. It might open up some doors for some people. I don't think it's something I'd participate in, but it's a cool concept for sure.

[cypher]

I sort of burned myself out on talking about this yesterday, but here are a couple more links where both the posts and the comments bring up some important points to consider:

http://unjapanologist.dreamwidth.org/70490.html

http://lettersfromtitan.com/2013/05/22/amazon-worlds-not-bigger-on-the-inside/

In short, though, I think the question of "will these fan authors [and the rest of fandom that isn't playing by Amazon's rules] be treated fairly?" is really, really crucial.

[starsinyourwake]

The fact that a corporation is seeing the opportunity for a fanfic marketplace is really cool, wow. (I'm sure there is or will be at least some chaos over it in fandom, though.)