Comments | life_wo_fanlib: Fanfic, profic... fic is fic, right?

elfwreck in life_wo_fanlib

Fanfic, profic... fic is fic, right?

Jul 15, 2007 21:33

So I bopped over to Fanlib.com, vaguely thinking of looking at the forums, wondering if I'd get hit with HP spoilers.

The top "Featured Fanfic" is Dragons of the Highlord Skies (direct link to Fanlib), by "wizards-of-the-coast;" the teaser says: "Sneak a peek at Chapter 1 of Dragons of the Highlord Skies, the latest book in the Dragonlace series ( Read more... )

fanlib: stealth marketing

Comments 30

stewardess July 16 2007, 04:38:34 UTC

WHAT THE FUCK.

I'm pissed.

elfwreck July 16 2007, 04:44:28 UTC

I'd be pissed if I cared about getting my stories archived at fanlib.com, or if I thought they actually intended to be a resource for fan writers.

As it is, I'm just confused about what logic makes this "fanfic."

stewardess July 16 2007, 23:47:52 UTC

I have no tag for this. "fanlib: sneaky shit" ?

scarah2 July 16 2007, 04:44:43 UTC

I would call that canon (at least on the level of Buffy companion novels, Star Trek companion novels, Star Wars companion novels etc. i. e. not the main canon but approved by TPTB)

elfwreck July 16 2007, 04:56:19 UTC

This is not "approved by TPTB;" it's published by them. It's main canon; the original is a series of novels; this is an adjunct/continuation of that series. Everything that happens here becomes part of the official history of the series ( ... )

scarah2 July 16 2007, 05:01:21 UTC

Srry, I meant in the sense that I'd consider the game and manuals the original canon.

I don't think it's fanfic at all, and I'm pretty sure that the authors of it (sponsors of it, whatever) are probably not the ones who posted it on FanLib.

elfwreck July 16 2007, 05:08:02 UTC

The novels predate the (Dragonlance) manuals and modules; the game rules were based off the novels. (Which were based off D&D rules plus variations and whatnot, and were strongly entangled in the game development, but still.)

No human author is listed, just the company. I'm sure they posted it, as part of a promo thing. The account was created July 11th.

Hmm. What it really wants, in reply, is a dark-and-slightly-smutty (but within the 13+ range so it's viewable to most readers there) character study of some of the goodness-n-virtue characters in the story, and a small collection of NC-17 smut sequels, so that the company can be nicely shocked at what kind of spinoffs people will make from their story and yank it from the site.

However, I'm not writing it.

Thread 7

lttledvl July 16 2007, 04:55:07 UTC

You are right, it's not. So I decided to take a peek and left a helpful review for them...

This is not a work of fanfiction. This is a promotion for one of your company's books. Why is it on this site?

And I imagine that I'll probably get roasted by somebody for that, but you know what? At this point, I just don't care...so tired of their shit...

elfwreck July 16 2007, 05:40:11 UTC

I'm debating if it's worth the drama of bringing it up on the forums. So far, it's the only "sponsored" fic on the site (but given how tags work, it's possible that anyone could label their fic "sponsored" if they wanted), and a three-minute click-around didn't turn up any description of "sponsored" fics.

tejas July 16 2007, 11:20:39 UTC

So, whoever writes the dark smutty fic should label it "sponsored". :-)

elfwreck July 16 2007, 13:36:27 UTC

To be accurate, such fics should involve a mentor/mentee relationship where the mentor has to sponsor the bottom student for something. So, you know, QuiGon/Obi-wan fics, Obi-wan/Anakin fics, AU HP fics where Harry has to be sponsored into a house, and so on.

Or they should tie into another website that's sponsoring the story, even if there's no money changing hands.

'Cos I'm sure TPTB at Fanlib will get upset, and possibly remove fics, if "sponsored" fics show up for no reason at all that they can identify. However, tagging by keyword or concept is allowed; you can tag with "PWP" or "First Time" or "Hogwarts" or "BDSM"--no reason you can't tag with other story elements, like "sponsored."

Thread 8

(The comment has been removed)

elfwreck July 16 2007, 14:46:52 UTC

They don't moderate before things go on the site, so if you created a throwaway account, you'd be able to post it, and they might see it before it's removed.

There's also the option of writing directly to WotC, and giving them some links to Fanlib controversy discussions, and pointing out that they're not going to win any new readers by posting there.

farla July 16 2007, 16:50:56 UTC

...well, it certainly reads like fanfic, I'll give them that.