Comments on: Fan Fiction, anyone?

by: Juliet

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 09:51:08 +0000

I no longer read any fanfic or roleplays based on my books, because it’s a legal minefield for an author. If I happen to write something that in some way resembles someone’s fanfic plotline I could be sued for stealing their ideas. Seems a little upside down, but most writers of speculative fiction adopt this approach to fanfic in order to protect themselves. Once, long ago before I found out about this, readers used to send me fanfic to post on my website, and people liked reading it. I still put my readers’ creative work up there but I have a ban on fanfic.

by: Kathleen Bolton

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 13:04:31 +0000

Thanks for the clarifications, Lacy! But as you pointed out, there are dangers lurking for writers who use the anonymity of fanfic then suddenly reveal their secret identities. Maybe I’ll try to track down the fallout from the Claire flap….it’s a good lesson for us to learn.

by: Therese Walsh

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 01:49:46 +0000

This is an interesting subject I know next-to-nothing about. I’m looking forward to hearing more, Kath!

by: theamcginnis

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 22:26:41 +0000

I know AVON Romance editors had a fanlit contest a few months back and i think it was pretty successful although the published authors they had helping with it probably had more work than they expected. but basically these picked a romance sub-genre, and each week everyone read and voted on the chapter submissions until someone won, and so on until the story was finished. they offered some great prizes including having your ms. read by the editors at avon. i suppose one could consider it a distraction from focusing on their WIPs, though. but as bunnygirl said above, some of it is really good.

by: Lacy

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 22:12:26 +0000

Hi Kathleen!

It’s anonymous. Some writers have legendary followings. And yet know one knows who they are. So if you think to build your name up on fanfic to help support your published career, think twice.

That’s not entirely true. The vast majority of fan fic is written under usernames rather than real names, but some writers do use their fan fic to make the leap to original, published fiction.

One that comes to mind is the (in)famous Cassandra Claire. She wrote a very well-received series of Harry Potter fan fiction stories and, in large part due to those stories, now has a published young adult novel. (Incidentally, there was a great hullabaloo not long before her book came out where it was revealed that large portions of her fan fic had been directly plagiarized from various sources (though not Harry Potter). I never heard what became of that or if it was only a rumor.)

And just as another note, you are correct that fan fic isn’t copyrighted — because it is already treading dangerously close to copyright infringement on its own. Only by posting the stories for free and not seeking any profits from them are we even moderately safe from prosecution. Even still, many fic writers and websites post a standard disclaimer (”I don’t own any of this! Not for profit!”) to protect themselves from possible litigation. In addition, some authors, most notably Ann Rice, HATE fan fiction, and many (but not all) fans abide by those authors’ wishes.

by: Jennifer

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 15:50:26 +0000

I’m looking forward to what you found out.

Hopefully my one and only fanfic helped my writing somewhat…but I’d rather imagine something original now.

by: bunnygirl

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 15:12:29 +0000

I have a friend who writes Duran Duran fan fiction. I thought the whole idea was really lame until I read some. It’s actually pretty darn good, and I’ve noticed huge improvements in her “real” fiction writing since she got into fan fic.

One is delusional to expect fame and fortune to come from fan fic, but writing and sharing with others will naturally lead to improvement, so in a way, it’s like any other writing exercise. Who cares what spark someone uses to inspire their creative muse?

Besides, writing is supposed to be fun. If fan fiction is fun for someone, they should enjoy it without shame.