Kindle Worlds vs. My World
Amazon is dipping into the fannish pool in hopes of soaking up money:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1001197421
For me, stuff like this is just weird. I don't watch "The Talking Dead", for example, because I find it creepy to see people getting paid to sit on the "wrong" side of the camera and be fannish. I'm sure it's about perspective, and that as this concept grows my perspective will change. Currently, however, I seem to be approaching it almost entirely selfishly:
1) no "pornography". In the face of Fifty Shades of Grey, I can't help but wonder what they think they mean by "no pornography" (and how that would affect any- and every piece of fanfic I've ever written).
2) 35% of "net revenue". They're e-publishing, and they have infrastructure in place. Their operating expenses should be next to nothing, so--what are they counting against their grosses? Will an author receive gross revenue reports and justification of expenditures that shows why the net amount is what it is?
Finally, 3) "without further compensation". If I'm reading that correctly, an author writes a novel using an original idea, and some original characters, in the Vampire Diaries universe. While Amazon states that the author retains copyright to her original material, Amazon also states that "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." I'm not exactly sure how the author can hold copyright while also being told that the universe creator can use anything s/he wants to use.
Even as I write all this, I'm wondering, "Why aren't we doing this ourselves?" Seriously, why don't we create "Escapade Worlds", then go out and collect licensing agreements with copyright holders, pay them a percentage, pay fan authors a percentage, and basically monetize our fanfic for *ourselves*?
If not "Escapade Worlds", about "Archive of our Own Worlds", so that the ever-increasing overhead of serving up that library can be paid for with proceeds from sales/use?
I know it's uncouth to talk about money and fandom in the same post. Still, it seems like a conversation that we as a community are past ready to have, lest Amazon and others make too many decisions for us. I'd love to see women in fandom ahead of the curve on this.
cross-posted from dreamwidth. http://charlottechill.dreamwidth.org/21841.html#comments
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1001197421
For me, stuff like this is just weird. I don't watch "The Talking Dead", for example, because I find it creepy to see people getting paid to sit on the "wrong" side of the camera and be fannish. I'm sure it's about perspective, and that as this concept grows my perspective will change. Currently, however, I seem to be approaching it almost entirely selfishly:
1) no "pornography". In the face of Fifty Shades of Grey, I can't help but wonder what they think they mean by "no pornography" (and how that would affect any- and every piece of fanfic I've ever written).
2) 35% of "net revenue". They're e-publishing, and they have infrastructure in place. Their operating expenses should be next to nothing, so--what are they counting against their grosses? Will an author receive gross revenue reports and justification of expenditures that shows why the net amount is what it is?
Finally, 3) "without further compensation". If I'm reading that correctly, an author writes a novel using an original idea, and some original characters, in the Vampire Diaries universe. While Amazon states that the author retains copyright to her original material, Amazon also states that "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." I'm not exactly sure how the author can hold copyright while also being told that the universe creator can use anything s/he wants to use.
Even as I write all this, I'm wondering, "Why aren't we doing this ourselves?" Seriously, why don't we create "Escapade Worlds", then go out and collect licensing agreements with copyright holders, pay them a percentage, pay fan authors a percentage, and basically monetize our fanfic for *ourselves*?
If not "Escapade Worlds", about "Archive of our Own Worlds", so that the ever-increasing overhead of serving up that library can be paid for with proceeds from sales/use?
I know it's uncouth to talk about money and fandom in the same post. Still, it seems like a conversation that we as a community are past ready to have, lest Amazon and others make too many decisions for us. I'd love to see women in fandom ahead of the curve on this.
cross-posted from dreamwidth. http://charlottechill.dreamwidth.org/21841.html#comments