Sold! Angsty Harry Potter Hurt/Comfort Fic for $3.99!

As aspiring writers squeal at the prospects, this blogger worries if Amazon will be getting more than they bargained for. (Image from Flickr)

We've done it, folks. Fanfiction is on its way to becoming a legitimate way to make a few bucks.

Publisher's Weekly announced today that they are working on a new publishing program called Kindle Worlds, where the writers of online fanworks can publish their stories under the same licencing as the creators themselves. It works under a case per case basis however. Right now Amazon has only entered discussion with a few people, like the ones behind Vampire Diaries and the folks at Warner Bros. Launch seems to be sometime in June.

I'll be completely honest and say that I never saw this coming. Ever. I'm part of the generation that grew up on the internet and I've seen how this niche market has grown. I had figured that those waters were just too murky to be made commercial, but trailblazing Amazon has found a way.


Here's the deal for any writers who's interest has been peaked:

• Under the Kindle World license, Amazon is in charge of the pricing, which ranges from 99 cents to $3.99 depending on story length. Fan authors will receive 35% of the royalties monthly, if there are any at all.
• Works ranging from 5000 to 10000 words will also be available for 99 cents each. Stories that are 10,000 and up can be sold for a higher price.
• The World Licensor owns the canon elements, except for any original characters or plot elements you add. 
• Crossovers(stories which interweave characters and story elements from two separate franchises) will not be allowed because of licencing issues.
• This is a big one: The World Licensor can use any fan created elements in new works without further compensation to the fic writer.

Overall this feels like a fair deal to both creator and fan, but personally I find a hiccup that last bullet point. One could dismiss it by relating it to a sort of public domain for a beloved franchise, but I like the idea of being included as part of the creative body more than just muttering obsessively, "It was me all along!" while other people take the glory. The good news is I'm not a fanfiction writer, so I'll leave it to the people who have something to lose.

There's one last thing that's worrying me about Kindle Worlds. Does Amazon truly know what they're gotten themselves into? Fanfiction is rife with questionable content and self-serving content. I suppose if there's a more public market for erotica thanks to the notoriety of 50 Shades of Grey, that certain lemon fics will have their demand. The trouble is people will have to own up to writing these kinds of stories. 

I've always thought of fanfiction as the black sheep of the literary family. Regardless of it's wide spread popularity, I don't think I could ever own up to the commercial potential it has. And the breadth of stories available to this project is limited to whoever becomes a World Licensor. Whether or not the available library grows all depends on how popular this program becomes.

But why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?