sad reality of the fanfic-to-published work economy is that the weirdest people are willing to do it. that's why there's now hundreds of shitty no plot cishet hate-to-love enemies-to-lovers books that are ex reylo fanfic. and it's not even good. that's because the people who wrote book-quality steve/bucky and kirk/spock fic are too normal to think to themselves "i should get this porn published". they're too busy working in local government offices
everyone I am happy to announce that the stevebucky fanfic author I had in mind while writing this post has officially reblogged it.
#imo the writers who write insanely good fanfic can’t file the serial numbers off because they grasped the canon so thoroughly #the shitty stuff is publishable because once you change the names you can’t recognize these people
Prev's tags are correct.
This post is to this day one, if not the, best takes on the publishing fanfic that I have ever seen anywhere.
Another thing: I believe that most of us have too much respect for fanfiction as both an art form and a culture to just file off the serial numbers. If I write a fic about some characters, then I want it to be ABOUT THOSE CHARACTERS. Yes, even if it's erotic. I wrote it because I love those characters and their dynamic and I want to do them justice. I want to be part of their story, even if it is in a small way. There is a level of love and respect there.
Likewise, fanfiction is part of a bigger culture. We have a history. We have traditions. We have storytelling conventions that are separate from the mainstream. It being a gift economy where everyone is equal is a HUGE part of it. Selling your fic to a big publishing house goes against everything that culture stands for. And good authors respect that.
