Others have written on this topic (Malinda Lo's post is great, and includes some helpful links), so I won't rehash the same things everyone else has.
As a former fanfiction writer and an avid fanfiction reader, I
find Amazon’s announcement to be… interesting. Many people have been
describing it this way, and for good reason. At this point, it’s too soon for
us pass judgment on Kindle Worlds. We have no idea how this program is really
going to unfold, what its real-world implications are, and how it might affect
the ebook industry and the fanfiction community.
Confession #1: When I was a kid, I wanted to be a novelization
writer—because, as far as I knew, novelization writers were basically paid to
write fanfiction. Canon fanfiction. They were living the dream! (For the
record, I still think that’s pretty much what novelization writers do, and I’m
still convinced that they’re living the dream. If anyone has more information
about novelization writers, I’d love it if you hooked me up.)I'm excited by the
possibilities that Kindle Worlds could open up for writers like me, even if I'm
wary of Amazon's terms and agreements.
The way I see it, as long as the writers who choose to publish
their fanfiction through Kindle Worlds understand the terms and agreements and
are fine with them, then I'm fine, too. (A friend of mine suggested that fic
writers who want to hold onto the rights to their original creations, such as
original characters, should be very selective as to what fics they publish
through Kindle Worlds.)
Frankly, I'm mostly interested to see what the cover generator
ends up looking like--and if it's decent, I want to play with it. (Okay, even
if it's not decent, I'll probably still want to play with it.)
My question is this: Who
would pay to read fanfiction when there is an unlimited supply of free
fanfiction available on other sites?
