veronica_rich: (fanfic URL)
veronica_rich ([personal profile] veronica_rich) wrote2010-05-11 02:08 pm

fanfic diatribe

By now most of you have likely heard about writer Diana Gabaldon's screed against fanfic writers as thieves and rapists cutting into her sales by writing fanfic about her characters. (Which I found pretty funny, since the only book of hers I ever bought I bought because of a crossover-with-POTC fanfic I read about one of her characters. I'd never heard of her or her characters prior to that. Well, she won't have to worry about me spending my thieving cash on any of the other books in the series, I assure her - not that I would have anyway, I wasn't terribly impressed with what I read).

[livejournal.com profile] pir8fancier, who is also a published author, says it all right here. My favorite part is at the end, which I will quote thusly: An artist needs to understand that fanfiction is an expression of admiration, of solidarity with other people who share their love of your concept. This is not a backdoor attempt to steal your readers. THESE ARE YOUR READERS.

That this is not OBVIOUS to an author (TV writer, filmmaker, any creator) in this day and age boggles me. IT'S FREE PUBLICITY, YOU NARROW-SIGHTED GITS. YOU GET SALES OFF OF THIS THAT YOU WOULDN'T OTHERWISE. Fanfic writers have been around for centuries; some have even been paid for their efforts (Laurie R. King, Carole Nelson Douglas, J.J. Abrams, William Shakespeare).

[identity profile] pixelinfandom.livejournal.com 2010-05-11 06:46 pm (UTC)(link)
DG has since deleted her diatribe which, oh well. What's almost worse, is how she's posted a 'NO FANFIC PLZ' note on her webpage and right underneath it is a whole entire post about how she based her main character on a Dr. Who character, and got to be on TV about it, and sent the actor books. I don't even....WTF is wrong with her?

http://66.147.244.179/~dianagab/

Almost all media I've spent money on in the past 4 years or so has been purchased directly or indirectly because of fandom. DG will never see a cent of mine, that's for sure.

[identity profile] veronica-rich.livejournal.com 2010-05-13 05:46 am (UTC)(link)
Deleting that will turn out to be the worst thing she's done in all of this, I predict. It's been turned loose on the Internet, it's been cached and reproduced all over, and I have to say, if there's one thing Internet fen will lose all respect over, it's not having the balls to own up to what you've posted. The fact she did it and thought the wank would go away just shows how very little she knows about online fandom. *headshake*