Eight Reasons That Are Not Why I'm Opposed to Fifty Shades
I wrote this about a week ago. And I mostly wrote it for me (hence it's snarkier than usual), to rebut the constant refrains I keep seeing about why people are opposed to pulled-to-publish fanfiction. It seems people want to put words in the mouths of those who are opposed to P2P, so that they can claim we're flip-floppers, or hypocrites, or that we'd really just do the same.
Really? I want this mess to go away. And I know that it will--I've watched carefully as the Amazon and Goodreads rankings for FSoG have steadily marched backward, and I've seen sales of books 2 and 3 drop off sharply as they have. But the reality is, I'm entrenched in books, and publishing, and editing, and I can't enjoy the things I enjoy and have this not be a part of it. So I keep getting bombarded with these arguments, and so I'm going to rebut them all at once.
There is only one reason I find it unacceptable to do a name-change on your fanfic and call it yours. Only one. And it has nothing to do with any of this....
The Eight Reasons That Are Not Actually Why I'm Opposed to FIFTY SHADES
(and the sole reason I am)
1) It's badly written, so she doesn't deserve all those millions!
a. Crappy writing gets published all the time. And the authors make bazillions off it. I wouldn't consider Nora Roberts or Dan Brown a shining example of gorgeous, amazing prose, but they've both made millions. Same thing is true of Meyer. That's how the business works. If it will sell, it gets published. If it makes money, it makes money. Que sera, sera.
2) It's just sex sex sex! It's not real literature.
a. Please visit the erotica section of your bookstore. If anything, I encourage women to read sex and smut--fear and shame around sex arises from the secrecy with which we women tend to treat it. Women who own their enjoyment of erotic material tend to be more sexually empowered--who wouldn't want that?
3) It was posted online! Once you do that, you can't go back!
a. Posting something online burns rights. But publishers pay for whatever they think will make them money. If they think they'll make money off something that has already been online, they'll pay for it, and there's no conflict there.
4) It was free and now she's making me pay money for it!
a. Authors are under no obligation to continue providing something for free simply because they did in the past. Hell, I own the Lifehacker book. Everything in that book is still available at Lifehacker.com. But I like having it organized and being able to thumb through it on the couch, and I'm willing to pay $17 for the privilege.
5) It was fanfiction, and all fanfiction is bad/ all fanfiction writers are talentless hacks!
a. Hi. I write fanfiction?
6) The author is a calculating, bottom-line oriented douchebag!
a. So was Steve Jobs, but I still have an iPhone.
7) The author just isn't a very nice woman! Look at those chat logs!
a. Since when does being nice have anything to do with writing? Salinger was a jerk, Franzen is a jerk, even Stephenie Meyer has said some pretty hurtful things about her fans. Aside from this being a ridiculously sexist statement (does anyone ever whine that a male author just isn't very personable?), it has nothing to do with writing.
8) I pretend to be angry, but really I'm jealous that I don't have millions of dollars. If you gave me millions, of course I do the same thing.
a. Guess what? There are some things I'd rather not be known for doing, even if it means lots of money. If she enjoys being the internationally-known purveyor of "mommy porn," more power to her. That's not my bag, and no amount of money could make it something I'd want to be known for. I will drive my 9-year-old car and continue on my diet of ramen and $3 frozen pizza, thanks.
The sole reason I am opposed to Fifty Shades, and to all P2P fanfic? Because it copies characters which belong to another author, without that author's permission, and without acknowledgment to that author. I don't care if it's good or bad, or if the author is mean or nice, or if it makes tons of money or none. It's fraudulent, legal or no, and I think any writer who really searches her soul about her P2P has that little niggling voice telling her that saying the characters aren't Meyer's is a just a smokescreen.
Me? I want to be known for how well I write Meyers' characters, sure. That's why I like writing fic. But when I claim something is purely mine? I don't want the niggling voice. I want to know, deep down, for the most important judge of all- my own soul-that that writing is actually mine--and that if I owe thanks or a debt to someone else, I have made that debt abundantly clear.
That's all.
Really? I want this mess to go away. And I know that it will--I've watched carefully as the Amazon and Goodreads rankings for FSoG have steadily marched backward, and I've seen sales of books 2 and 3 drop off sharply as they have. But the reality is, I'm entrenched in books, and publishing, and editing, and I can't enjoy the things I enjoy and have this not be a part of it. So I keep getting bombarded with these arguments, and so I'm going to rebut them all at once.
There is only one reason I find it unacceptable to do a name-change on your fanfic and call it yours. Only one. And it has nothing to do with any of this....
The Eight Reasons That Are Not Actually Why I'm Opposed to FIFTY SHADES
(and the sole reason I am)
1) It's badly written, so she doesn't deserve all those millions!
a. Crappy writing gets published all the time. And the authors make bazillions off it. I wouldn't consider Nora Roberts or Dan Brown a shining example of gorgeous, amazing prose, but they've both made millions. Same thing is true of Meyer. That's how the business works. If it will sell, it gets published. If it makes money, it makes money. Que sera, sera.
2) It's just sex sex sex! It's not real literature.
a. Please visit the erotica section of your bookstore. If anything, I encourage women to read sex and smut--fear and shame around sex arises from the secrecy with which we women tend to treat it. Women who own their enjoyment of erotic material tend to be more sexually empowered--who wouldn't want that?
3) It was posted online! Once you do that, you can't go back!
a. Posting something online burns rights. But publishers pay for whatever they think will make them money. If they think they'll make money off something that has already been online, they'll pay for it, and there's no conflict there.
4) It was free and now she's making me pay money for it!
a. Authors are under no obligation to continue providing something for free simply because they did in the past. Hell, I own the Lifehacker book. Everything in that book is still available at Lifehacker.com. But I like having it organized and being able to thumb through it on the couch, and I'm willing to pay $17 for the privilege.
5) It was fanfiction, and all fanfiction is bad/ all fanfiction writers are talentless hacks!
a. Hi. I write fanfiction?
6) The author is a calculating, bottom-line oriented douchebag!
a. So was Steve Jobs, but I still have an iPhone.
7) The author just isn't a very nice woman! Look at those chat logs!
a. Since when does being nice have anything to do with writing? Salinger was a jerk, Franzen is a jerk, even Stephenie Meyer has said some pretty hurtful things about her fans. Aside from this being a ridiculously sexist statement (does anyone ever whine that a male author just isn't very personable?), it has nothing to do with writing.
8) I pretend to be angry, but really I'm jealous that I don't have millions of dollars. If you gave me millions, of course I do the same thing.
a. Guess what? There are some things I'd rather not be known for doing, even if it means lots of money. If she enjoys being the internationally-known purveyor of "mommy porn," more power to her. That's not my bag, and no amount of money could make it something I'd want to be known for. I will drive my 9-year-old car and continue on my diet of ramen and $3 frozen pizza, thanks.
The sole reason I am opposed to Fifty Shades, and to all P2P fanfic? Because it copies characters which belong to another author, without that author's permission, and without acknowledgment to that author. I don't care if it's good or bad, or if the author is mean or nice, or if it makes tons of money or none. It's fraudulent, legal or no, and I think any writer who really searches her soul about her P2P has that little niggling voice telling her that saying the characters aren't Meyer's is a just a smokescreen.
Me? I want to be known for how well I write Meyers' characters, sure. That's why I like writing fic. But when I claim something is purely mine? I don't want the niggling voice. I want to know, deep down, for the most important judge of all- my own soul-that that writing is actually mine--and that if I owe thanks or a debt to someone else, I have made that debt abundantly clear.
That's all.