Amazon recently announced that writers of fan fiction--that is, fiction using characers and situations in books written by others--can get published and paid via the new "Kindle Worlds" program.
At first glance this sounds pretty good. Fan fiction violates copyright laws when done without permission, which is the case most of the time. Here it will be done with the approval of the authors. Second, writers of fan fiction do it for fun, so getting paid (for those works selected) will be a bonus.
However, the program ignores the fact that a lot of fan fiction is fun because it takes the characters places the original authors wouldn't. A favorite is imagining that characters like Batman and Robin or Spock and Kirk are having a gay relationship. Others give a secret, dark history to a wholesome character. Yet others have one character killing another or stepping into a totally different work of fiction.
I wonder to what the degree the original authors will be prepared to approve these kinds of storylines? I also wonder whether some of the attraction of fan fiction is the fact that it is a bit naughty to appropriate someone else's characters? As for the wholesome variations, will they be written well enough to tempt buyers?
Only time will tell, but I wouldn't be surprised if this program fizzles. In the meantime, I'l get to work on some mash-up fan fiction myself:
WHO MOVED MY HOLY CHEESE? - Robert Langdon uses modern management strategies to find the a missing piece of limburger said to have belonged to one of the Disciples.
GONE, PLOT, GONE - James Patterson sends a ghost writer a napkin on which is written the plot for his latest book but it gets lost in transit. Or did it ever exist?
LIFE OF 15-MINUTE PIE - Jamie Oliver is trapped in a kitchen with a tiger who will attack him unless Jamie can feed him a delicious pie made with fresh ingredients in the next quarter hour.
Amazon, you know where to send the money.
