Zombie/Vampire Apocolypse Idea: Check Me For Plagarism!

Mharvey · Aug 10, 2009

I had this idea for a vampire novel that sorta takes place in a Road-Warrior post apocalypse setting. Kind of like Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets The Quick and the Dead or the Dark Tower series... with a vampire gunslinger as the lead.

Corny, but hell - it's what makes me geek out, and this one would be for fun first... I'll entitle it: "Instead of Fan Fiction"

Has anything similar to this been done before? If so, please direct me toward it so I can check it out and see if I can take it in another direction?

geardrops · Aug 10, 2009

Not that I can think of, but I've never cared about the "vampire" genre.

And for plagiarism, you're going to have to lift text straight out of another book (modifying it slightly or not at all) to do that. Go learn what it is, so you can cover your bases there

efreysson · Aug 10, 2009

Hey, pretty much every idea has been done, in some fashion. I'm sure somewhere there's a comic book miniseries or relatively unknown video game that has a Road Warrior Vampire-setting, but I can't think of anything major enough for people to accuse you of ripping off.
Just go for it. It sounds like fun.

Kitty Pryde · Aug 10, 2009

Post-apocalyptic vampires? Vampire Hunter D, Vampire Earth, and Fray.

Vampires vs. Zombies is a weird matchup because vampires' main aspect of coolness is biting people's necks...but they can't use that on zombies, so I guess they're stuck with guns. Anyways, I say go for it!

DeleyanLee · Aug 10, 2009

Plagarism refers specifically to the words on the page, the phrases and sentences used to tell the story. It has nothing to do with the idea behind the words, phrases or sentences.

If you're geeked about this story, then go for it. Just make sure you don't copy word/phrases/sentences out of someone else's material and you'll be fine.

BigWords · Aug 10, 2009

Kitty Pryde said:
Vampires vs. Zombies is a weird matchup because vampires' main aspect of coolness is biting people's necks...but they can't use that on zombies, so I guess they're stuck with guns.

The watered-down types are neck-biters, sure. I like the types that rip heads off with their bare hands, so that fits with defeating the Romero-type zombies perfectly.

dclary · Aug 10, 2009

The Undeath-Dealers?

MattW · Aug 10, 2009

Does anyone sparkle?

dclary · Aug 10, 2009

If they do, they die too. First, even.

efreysson · Aug 10, 2009

dclary said:
If they do, they die too. First, even.

Violently. And screaming like little wussies.

Romantic Heretic · Aug 10, 2009

I was watching a vampires vs. zombies anime series recently. With really big guns.

Jess Haines · Aug 11, 2009

There is a webcomic on this. LAST BLOOD, found somewhere in the mix of KeenSpot comics.

www.lastblood.net

mercs · Aug 12, 2009

Mark Copplestone has a RPG that is about post apocalyptic vampires/zombies in a Mad Max style world called Future Wars. Worth checking that out to see if it's too similar..

Matera the Mad · Aug 12, 2009

Sheesh, everything's been done. Ideas are nothing. It's what you do with your characters and setting that makes the story. Plagiarism is copying words, not nebulous ideas.

Chinaren · Aug 14, 2009

Any time I see vampire in a book, it puts me right off. Talk about overdone!

I think it's because they're 'cool', unlike other undead.

That said, traditional zombie apocalypse stories are starting to get up there as well. I like zombies more though, as they're less cool. My ToD book features zombies as the 'heroes', simply for gross out value. There's also that super low budget film that came out recently, and ones like "Shawn of the Dead".

So Zombies and Vampires? Mmmm. :Shrug:

Mharvey · Aug 24, 2009

Thanks for your comments all. I've decided to go forward with the project - see how it works. Yeah, I know Vampires and Zombies are getting cliche... but, this project is for fun first, "publishabilty" second. I think that's a healthy attitude for something as absurd as this.

I posted the Prologue for reviews in the Sci-Fi Share Your Work board. Feel free to check it out. It's about 2,600 words.

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=152869

Ardent Kat · Aug 27, 2009

I like the premise, but I'd change the title. You want a title that says something about your story and "Instead of Fanfiction" only tells us what we already know (since presumably, no one is trying to sell their fanfiction)

Consider swapping vampires for some other supernatural creature--golems or homunculi maybe? Many agents are sick to death of vampires, which makes it all the harder to get published since your writing must be absolutely top-shelf to stand out.

Mharvey · Aug 27, 2009

Katherine O'Kelly said:
I like the premise, but I'd change the title. You want a title that says something about your story and "Instead of Fanfiction" only tells us what we already know (since presumably, no one is trying to sell their fanfiction)

Consider swapping vampires for some other supernatural creature--golems or homunculi maybe? Many agents are sick to death of vampires, which makes it all the harder to get published since your writing must be absolutely top-shelf to stand out.

LOL!

Oh, I was just kidding about that. The title is actually Raven's Wing. I'm just not approaching it with much of a serious attitude (hence the joke). It's for fun first.

If, by some miracle, it's actually a decent piece of writing in the end, I'll consider moving forward with an agent search.

Mac H. · Aug 27, 2009

There is a great webcomic on this subject.

It also has a really cool explanation of zombies & vampires.

If vampires are immortal then what happens to a vampire who is locked up in a box for a few thousand years? The flesh cannot die, but over time the intelligence dies and the raging desire for blood is degraded into preserving what is left of the intelligence ... a desire for brains.

So the first zombie was actually a vampire mutation - a mutation created by man as part of a long term experiment on vampires.

Now, however, the mutation is highly infectious - it spreads to create zombies from the infection of a bite instead of the 'vampire' infection which is quite hard to transmit.

A beautiful piece of folklore.

Mac

Jess Haines · Aug 28, 2009

Katherine O'Kelly said:
Consider swapping vampires for some other supernatural creature--golems or homunculi maybe? Many agents are sick to death of vampires, which makes it all the harder to get published since your writing must be absolutely top-shelf to stand out.

I'd like to respectfully disagree on the part emphasized in bold.

I won't quibble that it's difficult to get an agent -- or to stand out in today's market. However, whether you do or don't have vampires in your story doesn't make a difference. It's how you tell the tale, the strength of your writing, the efforts you put into marketing, etc.

There are a number of successful authors that have vampires in their recently (last 1-5 years) published stories. Look at the following bestselling authors: Charlaine Harris, Mary Janice Davidson, Kim Harrison, Jim Butcher, Patricia Briggs, Robin McKinley, Laurell K. Hamilton... need I go on? I don't see the vampires in their stories hindering their sales.

An advanced search on Amazon.com narrowing down the terms to include the keyword vampire, published since January 2009, kicks back over 6,000 results. That's 6,000 books covering vampires in less than a year.

Is it a crowded market? Sure. Does that make it harder to get an agent's attention? I'm sure it does. Does that mean it's impossible? No. I think the above examples show that it can be done.

If you have some hard data to back up the statement, please share it. Am I just an anomaly in getting my story picked up?

Thanks,

Zombie/Vampire Apocolypse Idea: Check Me For Plagarism!

Mharvey

Liker Of Happy Things

geardrops

Good thing I like my day job

efreysson

Closer than ever

Kitty Pryde

i luv you giant bear statue

DeleyanLee

Writing Anarchist

BigWords

Geekzilla

dclary

Unabashed Mercenary

MattW

Company Man

dclary

Unabashed Mercenary

efreysson

Closer than ever

Romantic Heretic

uncoerced

Jess Haines

Boldly going nowhere in particular.

mercs

Matera the Mad

Bartender, gimme a Linux Mint

Chinaren

Mharvey

Liker Of Happy Things

Ardent Kat

Kill your television

Mharvey

Liker Of Happy Things

Mac H.

Board Visitor

Jess Haines

Boldly going nowhere in particular.