[Insert unoriginal title here]

rockinhamburger:

lettersfromtitan:

blurintofocus:

Kindle Worlds for Authors

Discuss.

I’ll repeat what I said on Twitter:

1. Fanfiction has always been about the option to use use all the tools, including sexuality, to tell story.  Therefore, Amazon is not groking the marketplace of readers or creators.

2. The contractual terms are shit for writers.  Traditional professional writers would be strongly advised against signing a contract of this nature.  Is your fannish work worth less?  Should it be?

3. To what degree does this suggest that the fanfiction can only be legitimized through the eradication of fan culture’s gift economy?

4. Fanfiction has significantly changed our media culture.  This project isn’t just capitalizing on it, but an attempt to shape it.  Is this a feedback loop in action or an attempt to stop the catalyst that is our work?

5. I am the first person to say creativity should be compensated and fan work should not be considered some pale imitation of “real” story telling as it’s essentially an ancient tradition.  But this plan from Amazon is a hot mess.

I agree with all of this, especially no. 1 as I am a firm believer that sexuality plays an enormously important role in fiction. It can be such a powerful tool in showing new elements of characters. And logistically? I cannot see how it would be any fun to write fanfiction while aware that there is the possibility it may be deemed too “sexual” for their specific regulations. In what kindle world is curbing my writing to certain rules, especially around sexuality, helpful to my creative process? Will those rules, in fact, hinder that creative process?

I am also wary that lgbt subject matter could fall into that “sexuality” category.