Amazon Kindle Worlds - What Does This Mean For Xena FanFic and Should You Sell Your Fanfic?
by MaryD
Amazon Publishing has announced they are launching Kindle Worlds which a platform for fan fiction writers to monetize their work. Check out the press release
Fanfic, as we all know, is a way for the fan to take the characters into situations and places where they don't normally go in the actual series. Now this can be very good or it can be very very bad; I've lost count how many fanfic stories I've read in the various fandoms I've been a member of. I've met so many talented bards over the years who have taken a small portion of an idea from an episode and turned it into something EPIC.
Some writers have cut their teeth on fanfic and moved on to write their own characters and published their novels. It was a stepping stone for them to learn their craft. This is a good thing - well crafted characters that you can practice on (so to speak) and learn the art of storytelling without creating new characters.
This was/is being done for the pure love of the particular show. We have seen many Xenaverse bards go from fanfic to publishing their own novels with their own characters having honed their skills in the Xenaverse.
Amazon Kindle Worlds seeks to "reward" those fanfic writers and allow them to make money. What does this mean? It means that if you write for a genre that Kindle Worlds has a licence for, then you can write your fanfic, Amazon pays the author 35% for 10,000 words and so on. Before you jump up and down and quick turn away to craft your story, there are conditions and from what I've read in their conditions and content guidelines, it sends up a HUGE red flag for me. I don't write fanfic but if I did, I would stay way from Kindle Worlds.
Here's why it's not as great as it sounds:
First: Amazon Kindle Worlds has to have an agreement between the copyright holders (let's use Renaissance Pictures as our model) before you can submit any of your fanfic. At this stage Amazon Kindle Worlds does NOT have an agreement with Ren Pics for Xena fanfic but you never know with the possibility of a Xena Movie or Series (see Lucy Lawless' tweet), the possibility exists for this to happen to Xenaverse Bards
Now having said that, a majority of Xena fanfic is ALT - there are some GEN fanfics but I would say the majority is ALT that I have seen (based on 17 years in this fandom).
For new fans what is ALT and what is GEN Xena Fanfic? Here's a rundown of what these terms mean:
ALT: It means Subtext ie Xena and Gabrielle are lovers
GEN: It means Xena and Gabrielle are friends
Why is this important for this topic? IF Kindle Worlds gets a licence for fanfic writers to submit Xena FanFic, it would appear they wouldn't allow a good portion of the ALT fanfic.
Content Guidelines for Kindle Worlds - I've bolded the items that are more peritent to our discussion. Let's be frank about this - a good portion of Xena fanfic has Xena and Gab in love and doing some really interesting things sexually. What is offensive? Who decides? Kindle World does.
Why is this important? In the last 17 years that AUSXIP has been online, I've added quite a bit of fanfic (majority being ALT) and some have been very explicit but I wouldn't consider them porn BUT some internet providers do. How do I know this? I've had people tell me that AUSXIP is blocked by their internet providor because the site is considered as a porn site! I have a strict policy of not having ANY images that contain nudity but the internet providers base this on the fanfic available on the site. When someone first told me about this, I couldn't believe it but now I frequently get people commenting that they can't access the site via their usual means.
So that means just because YOU or I don't think it's porn, doesn't mean others do think it's porn. So your well crafted story about Xena and Gabrielle may not fit with their guidelines.
Here are their content guidelines
Pornography: We don't accept pornography or offensive depictions of graphic sexual acts.
Offensive Content: We don't accept offensive content, including but not limited to racial slurs, excessively graphic or violent material, or excessive use of foul language.
Illegal and Infringing Content: We take violations of laws and proprietary rights very seriously. It is the authors' responsibility to ensure that their content doesn't violate laws or copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other rights.
Poor Customer Experience: We don't accept books that provide a poor customer experience. Examples include poorly formatted books and books with misleading titles, cover art, or product descriptions. We reserve the right to determine whether content provides a poor customer experience.
Excessive Use of Brands: We don't accept the excessive use of brand names or the inclusion of brand names for paid advertising or promotion.
Crossover: No crossovers from other Worlds are permitted, meaning your work may not include elements of any copyright-protected book, movie, or other property outside of the elements of this World.
COPYRIGHT
Second: Who owns YOUR copyright? You created the story and maybe created new characters...then what? Check out their guidelines - I'm alarmed by the portion that says We will also give the World Licensor a license to use your new elements andincorporate them into other works without further compensation to you. - You just created new characters in that particular fanfic story but you don't own the rights to those characters! REN PIC would own those rights WITHOUT paying you a single cent. Ren Pic would already get a portion of the royalties for the use of their characters PLUS they will now OWN any NEW characters you just created.
What's more, other fanfic authors can take YOUR characters and build them into their own stories. YOU don't get paid extra for something someone else will get paid for. We will allow Kindle Worlds authors to build on each other's ideas and elements
Amazon Publishing will acquire all rights to your new stories, including global publication rights, for the term of copyright.
When you submit your story in a World, you are granting Amazon Publishing an exclusive license to the story and all the original elements you include in that story. This means that your story and all the new elements must stay within the applicable World. We will allow Kindle Worlds authors to build on each other's ideas and elements. We will also give the World Licensor a license to use your new elements and incorporate them into other works without further compensation to you.
Yeah. Right. If you want to write your fanfic and send to Kindle Worlds go right ahead (not right now as they don't license Xena Fanfic) but you won't have creative control that you do now.
That's what Kindle Worlds is about.
You can also submit it to your favourite fanfic site and get the rush of creating something for the sheer joy of creating and sharing.
Discuss this on AUSXIP's Facebook Page and AUSXIP Talking Xena Forum