Best-selling series Fifty Shades
of Grey was originally written as fan fiction
Amazon has
announced that fan fiction authors will be able to sell some of their work on
the firm's Kindle e-book platform.
Fan fiction is literature inspired by popular books,
films and TV shows, written by enthusiasts.
Publication outside of blogs and online fanzines is
often difficult because of copyright issues.
A deal with a TV division of Warner Brothers enables
fan fiction based on three TV series to be self-published.
The three series are Gossip Girls, The Vampire Diaries
and Pretty Little Liars, under the arrangement between Amazon and Alloy
Entertainment, owned by Warner Brothers Television Group.
Authors will be able to upload their writing for sale
via a new platform called Kindle Worlds, which will initially only be available
in America.
There is no launch date yet for the platform.
Authors will receive 35% of the overall price of
their work in royalty payments if they have written 10,000 words or more, and
20% for works of 5,000-10,000 words under a new pilot scheme for shorter
stories.
In return Amazon Publishing will own the global
publication rights to the works, says
the announcement.
Fan fiction containing sexually explicit scenes will
not be accepted, the firm said.
Writing on the Forbes
website, technology journalist Jeff Bercovici described Kindle Worlds as
"a sort of open API [Application Programming Interface] for IP
[intellectual property]".
Harry Potter, Star Trek and Buffy the Vampire Slayer
are among the most common inspirations for fan fiction, he added.
"While some authors disapprove of the practice,
many of the top-selling genre writers, including JK Rowling, Stephenie Meyer
and Joss Whedon, encourage use of their characters by fans," wrote Mr
Bercovici.
The Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, which has sold more
than 70 million copies worldwide, was originally written by author EL James as
fan fiction based on the novels and film franchise Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer.
Source: BBC
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