Fiction Publishers
Is Fan Fiction a Good Writing Practice?
Author: Kathryn Lively
I’ve been following an interesting thread of conversation on a writing message board: a debate as to whether or not the practice of writing fan fiction is healthy for an aspiring writer.
By definition: “fan fiction” are stories involving characters from a television series or movie, written by fans and usually printed in underground magazines or on the Internet for other fans to enjoy. This concept is especially popular among fans of science fiction programs, and writers of all skill levels participate. For the serious fan fiction writer, there are even science-fiction conventions which present annual awards for the best-written prose. Stories may range from histories explaining gaps in a particular TV show’s canon (e.g. what has the cast of House been up to between seasons one and two?) to rather silly missives—I once found on the Internet a Star Trek story where all of the characters had been replaced by the cast of Desperate Housewives!
Is fan fiction a healthy exercise? For one, it technically is not a legal exercise, as all television and movie characters are protected by copyright. Since fan fiction is essentially a non-profit enterprise, however, most production companies tend to turn a blind eye to the activity. Rene Balcer, an executive producer of the show Law and Order, once told a fan e-zine that he did not mind the fan fiction based upon his show, and this appears to be the general consensus so long as a writer does not try to sell his/her work.
Having written fan fiction in the past, I can say that the practice as a writing exercise has its pros and cons:
PRO – During my heaviest bouts with writer’s block, writing a story about a familiar character helped loosen the spigot. Once I pondered what would happen if Dr. Sam Beckett of Quantum Leap traveled back in time to M*A*S*H’s 4077th unit, and the result was a 20,000-word story.
CON – Fan fiction can be addictive, and if you devote too much time to the exercise you may find creating original work difficult. If you post stories to the Internet and attract a fan base, you may find yourself writing more to please this small faction of people, and that will take you away from your true calling.
PRO – While writing fan fiction I found my knack for writing smooth dialogue improving.
CON – I also found I tended to use my best “bits” for such a story, leaving the well dry when it came time to write something more serious.
PRO – By posting my fan fiction to the Internet, I was able to attract readers who in turn were led to my website and information about my book. One fan even wrote to say he had bought my book after reading my fan fiction.
CON – I’ll try not to stereotype fan fiction readers, but if you have ever visited an online repository of fan fiction you may notice a majority of stories not only portray scenes people would like to see on their favorite shows, but scenes even HBO won’t show after eleven at night. Some may argue writing fan fiction is not good for the writer’s ego, but reading some of what is posted is certainly not good if you’re at work and the boss sees you! I do write romance that is spicy, but there are lines even I won’t cross.
Should you write fan fiction as a writing exercise? A few years I may have defended its importance, but now I would suggest alternative writing exercises, ones designed to improve your writing skills and help you to become less dependent on ready-made situations. Should the pull to write a story about Agents Mulder and Scully be too strong, however, why not take the opportunity to introduce your own characters? Let Mulder, Scully, Dr. House, and all your favorite characters inspire what you want to write, but make sure the end product is all your own.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/is-fan-fiction-a-good-writing-practice-71953.html
About the Author
Kathryn Lively is an award-winning writer and editor. She is the author of Pithed: an Andy Farmer Mystery (Mundania Press) and the Ash Lake Mysteries. She is also the publisher of Phaze, the ultra-sensual romance imprint of Mundania Press, and speaks all over the East Coast at conferences about writing and publishing.
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Unfortunately the odds are heavily stacked against you. You have chosen the most difficult thing in the publishing business – getting a children’s book published.
Let me describe for you the current nature of the children’s book market. I just finished ghostwriting two children’s books for a very major sports figure – already sold to a very major NY publisher. The first is with artist now and due out in Spring. I am currently working on another one with others to follow. This information was given to me by a Senior Editor at the publisher I write for (one of the top 2 on that list) …
40% of children’s books published today are by celebs like Madonna, Jamie Lee Curtis etc. Celebs can get anything they want published. Their names sell.
40% are written by existing, established children’s authors like Eric Carle.
15-20% are reprints of children’s classics like Curious George.
That leaves at best 5% for new authors.
And that percentage is being cut into by adult authors like Carl Hiaasen and Mary Higgins Clark entering the childrens’ market recently.
To that, add the fact that most of the large publishing companies are backlogged with children’s books they have under contract but havent gotten out yet.
As a result, most A list publishers aren’t even reading childrens’ books right now, which means agents arent either. Agents only read what they can sell.
There is very little room to break into the children’s market. Only books that are extremely exceptional and have huge appeal stand a chance. Forget any holiday related books – the selling season is too short to make money.
And most publishers have huge backlogs of children’s books they have purchased and are not published yet. It takes about a year for a children’s book to make it out. It usually takes an artist about a month a page to illustrate. So most publishers have their production schedules for children’s books filled out for the next few years.
Take a walk through any major childrens’ book department and you will confirm what I am telling you. Getting a childrens’ book done is almost impossible – and getting an advance for it is virtually out of the question anymore. Unless you fall into one of those categories above. I am fortunate to have the backing of a very major sports star to get me in the door with kids books. I write adult novels, but believe me I have tried with kids books before and failed for exactly the reasons I list here.
Ghostwriting has gotten me in through the back door, and now I will be able to sell some of the children’s books that have my name on them. For now, someone else’s name is on the cover. Someone whose name sells books – big time. Don’t ask me how you can get a ghostwriting deal for a major sports star … I really backed into this. It was a gift from Heaven really and it is a blast working with this person too!!! My mantle is now covered with sports memorabilia worth a fortune!! Presents.
That is the nature of the beast. You might get a copy of Writers Market and search for some small publishers who are reading childrens’ books, but searching through the agents section, you will see that almost NO agents are reading childrens’ books. Try for some small publishers that read without going through an agent. Expect a lot of rejection. Develop a really thick skin and learn to advocate for yourself.
There is one shot you have. As you are searching through that book department, look for something that isn’t there. Some kind of a topic nobody has written about. It would be something that teaches a lesson to kids in a fictional way, but that hasn’t been done before. Believe me – there are topics. I fond one recently. I did a teleconference with the publisher I work with and he was thrilled. He wants te book yesterday. No such book exists. If you can find a topic nobody has covered before and write an exceptional book. you have a shot. Jamie Lee Curtis has been very successful with that.
Always remember that before you send anything to anyone, check them out. Preditors and Editors, Absolute Write Water Cooler’s Bewares and Background Checks, Writers Weekly.com and Writers Wall are all great sources and totally free – although if they help you, it is nice to contribute a donation. Someone has to pay for running the sites. If you do not see information on the publisher or agent in question, write to Dave K at Preditors and Editors, Victoria Strauss or James Macdonald at Absolute Write or Angela Hoy at Writers Weekly. They are happy to pass along any info they have to help you.
As for self publishing it with someplace like Lulu – it will get you nowhere. Self published books dont make it to bookstores. It is a financial black hole to self publish. I recently read about a woman who refinanced her house and spent over 70 thousand dollars publishing and promoting her children’s book. She has recouped less than 10% of her money and is in danger of losing her home.
Childrens’ books are impulse buys. What is out on the tables for kids to see is what sells. Kids don’t shop at websites for things like books. They have to hold them in their hand and nag Mom to buy it. The only way to achieve that is through a good traditional publisher. Self publishing will do nothing for you but take money.
I have starred a lot of great Q and A regarding writing on my profile. You can access it and print out the pages. Start a notebook you can refer to. There s a lot of good information here and I add more as I see good ones. I am doing it to help others. Feel free to use it. Add me as a fan and get the regular updates. Keep writing. Remember you have to need to grow a hide as thick as a herd of elephants. There will be rejection letters.
Just keep writing. Be exceptional!!
Good luck.
—-
They’re, Their, There – Three Different Words.
Careful or you may wind up in my next novel.
Pax – C
Editing a book in ones own language is not an easy thing to do. Publishers, like any other business will do all they can to keep expenses low.
You`ve already been given great advice – just wanted to say well done ! For 14 that`s some achievement ! I too love writing, have written about 7 books, but made no move to publishers yet. Good luck.x
Slightly different take on what makes a word, FWIW. To publishers, a word is six characters (including spaces), not five. Margins should be set at 1.25 inches left and right, for a 60-character line in any Courier 12 font, with top and bottom margins and headers set to get 25 lines to the page. Voila, 250 words per page.
Many genres consider the absolute minimum word count to be 60,000, although like with anything else, there are exceptions.
They don’t hate fiction. They are just a company that publishes on specific types of literature. For instance, an educational text book company or a publishing house that specializes in nonfiction work cannot publish a fiction novel. The reason they are adament is simply because they are trying to avoid wasting time wading through tons of unsolicited manuscripts that aren’t even in the genre they can publish. They can only spend a set amount of money for costs such as publishing and employee wages/salaries, so they cannot afford to waste time and money trying to weed out manuscripts that don’t fit what they can publish.
Does anyone know any fiction publishers?
i’m fourteen and i’ve written a book that i really want to get published it’s over 80, 000 words and i’ve tried scholastic and picadilly press so far, does anyone know any fiction publishers. it’s a teenage book really, a mixture of comedy, romance, adventure and tragedy…
How many words long do publishers of fiction novels usually require a work to be?
I am writing a book, and aI m trying to figure out some estimate of how long it should be if I want to get it published. I have heard that publishers go by the number of words when checking on the length of a book. Any idea how many words is the average? Thank you.
Fiction publishers’ SOP for editing errors in foreign quotes?
How do most publishers edit novels with foreign language quotes, when the latter contain many errors?
1) By respecting the text as the author wrote it, no matter what.
2) By correcting obvious spelling and grammatical mistakes.
Most importantly, what is their rationale for doing things the way they do?
Elissa’s answer was right on topic (thank you!), but:
I was referring to an actual book, “1919” by Dos Passos, which is full of French phrases and words, many of which are misspelled, with some grammatical errors as well (my native language is French). Since Dos Passos is obviously not around to rework his text and since this book has been published many times by different publishers (with the same errors?), what would the latest publisher’s (Library of America, in this case) responsibility be in this particular case?
Any one know of any good children’s fiction publishers?
Hey I am looking for children’s teenage fiction publishers…any one?
Why do publishers seem to hate fiction?
I was looking around on the internet and it seems that publishers and agents hate fiction because so many of them have written STRICTLY NO FICTION. Why id this? Doesn’t fiction usually sell the best in the book market?
Really? non fiction books make the most money? I dont know why but that seems so strange to me.