the most terrifying thing about the popular fanfic to trad published pipeline is that fanfiction was almost the last creative space that was completely free from commercialisation and the death jaws of capitalism
fanfiction used to be created purely for the love of the game because the only “reward” was the satisfaction of writing a story you want to write and the fostering of community with fellow nerds in the comments
I truly believe fanfiction is one of the most beautiful and rawest form of art on the planet (yes even the weirdest depths of smut) and to see that space pillaged for profit by publishers is really, really sad
it’s difficult because I have such mixed feelings about authors ‘shaving the serial numbers off’ their fics for trad publishing at the best of times and in some ways I do wish some of these amazing authors, some of whom have written life changing pieces of fiction, could get their bag because they fuckin deserve it, but in other, bigger ways, I really really hate fics getting published
I hate that despite queer stories dominating ao3, they are so underrepresented in the fic to traditionally published sphere
I hate the increasing consumerism mindset of fandom spaces where it stops being viewed as a community gift economy and starts being seen as solely content to consume
I hate capitalism encroaching on one of the last places it has yet taken hold
I hate the fact that to publish the fic, we lose it from its place on the internet where it can be enjoyed for free and the fact it feels like we’re losing the ancient texts
I hate that so many parts of publishing deals are done behind closed doors so we can’t be sure that original IP owner (who may or may not be terrible) isn’t getting some kind of cut in exchange for no lawsuits
I hate that people are starting to see fanfic as a doorway into trad publishing and publishers are seeing fanfiction as fodder to exploit for profit
I hate that stories that have so much nuance and complexity are being stripped down and cut up and repackaged for general audiences
don’t get me wrong, I know that this has always been a thing and I know that a lot of books started their life somewhere in the depths of ao3. I don’t think I have an inherent problem with it, in theory. it’s in practice where the lines start getting blurred and it’s the fact that this is a rapidly growing trend that is getting louder and louder that I take issue with
I’m sure I’ll have some more coherent thoughts on this at some point but for now, rambling is all ur gonna get I’m afraid pals
blakekathryn
germansingergirl
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
origamiaround
pixelskylines
theartofmadeline
