Amazon Publishing has reached out to fan fiction writers with Kindle Worlds, a platform allowing authors to write fan fiction based on someone else’s work and share royalties with the rights holders.
Warner Bros. Television Group’s Alloy Entertainment division will work with Amazon on the program, letting fans write about Cecily von Ziegesar‘s Gossip Girl, Sara Shepard‘s Pretty Little Liars and L.J. Smith‘s Vampire Diaries. Fan fiction writers can publish their own work about these stories in the Kindle Store. The program launches in June. Here’ more about the payment structure:
Amazon Publishing will pay royalties to both the rights holders of the Worlds and the author. The standard author’s royalty rate (for works of at least 10,000 words) will be 35% of net revenue. As with all titles from Amazon Publishing, Kindle Worlds will base net revenue off of sales price—rather than the lower, industry standard of wholesale price—and royalties will be paid monthly.
Amazon “plans to announce more licenses soon” to expand the Kindle Worlds program. Over at FanFiction.net, you can read more than 500 stories about Gossip Girls, nearly 300 stories about Pretty Little Liars (both books and TV show) and more than 800 Vampire Diaries stories.
Amazon also revealed a new program for publishing short stories in the Kindle Store. Check it out:
In addition, with the launch of Kindle Worlds, Amazon Publishing will pilot an experimental new program for particularly short works—between 5,000 and 10,000 words. For these short stories—typically priced under one dollar—Amazon will pay the royalties for the World’s rights holder and pay authors a digital royalty of 20%.
On today’s edition of the Morning Media Menu, TVNewser senior editor Alex Weprin discussed the new platform, musing about the future of this new publishing venture. Press play below to listen…
