Problem / Question

Bartholomew · Mar 18, 2007

Professional Fan Fiction-- Problem / Question

So I'm a bit obsessed with a certain trademark, and--point in fact--I'd like to write fiction based around that trademark.

I'm at an impasse. My stuff doesn't get published anyway, but in writing original things, there is always the possibility of getting published.

However, this is a very large trademark, and and I've seen novels on the shelves of reputable bookstores that center around it.

I want to write this story and put it in the setting of this trademark. Yes, I know, that makes me very uninspired and lazy, but its fun.

Where do the authors that write derivitive fiction, such as those (sadly atrocious) Halo books, or the (happily less so) Dungeons and Dragons books come from? Are they insiders? Or are they essentially publishing tomes of Fan Fiction?

laurenem6 · Mar 18, 2007

It's hard to give you advice if you don't say what the trademark is. Any chance you'll share?

LloydBrown · Mar 18, 2007

Where do the authors that write ...Dungeons and Dragons books come from?

Many of them are Wizards of the Coast employees or former employees. However, WotC (the trademark holder) takes submissions.

Publishing in a shared world doesn't make you lazy. It does require a considerable knowledge of published material to to it right and adherence to a sometimes overwhelming and restrictive set of guidelines to do it at all.

So are you saying that this popoular IP you're interested in does not currently have any published novels? If so, just turn to the copyright page.

PeeDee · Mar 18, 2007

It's assigned in-house.

dreamsofnever · Mar 18, 2007

Bartholomew said:
Where do the authors that write derivitive fiction, such as those (sadly atrocious) Halo books, or the (happily less so) Dungeons and Dragons books come from? Are they insiders? Or are they essentially publishing tomes of Fan Fiction?

I believe TOR handles all Dungeons and Dragons books. And they hire writers specifically to write books within the world. I also have an online friend who writes novels to accompany RPGs. I'll have to ask him how he got into it. Whatever this trademark is, if they are publishing novels within the universe, chances are a company hires writers to do just that. I have no idea how easy it is to break into, or how strict their guidelines are, but if the novels are out there, someone has to write them.

Good luck getting your foot in the door. I think there's nothing wrong with playing around with someone else's world. It makes it easier to learn how to plot out a book when you don't have to worry about establishing character or world rules. It's just getting paid for it that's the problem. So good luck with this search. Feel free to PM me if you want me to hit up my friend for more info. I'm *pretty* sure that's what he does anyways.

PeeDee · Mar 18, 2007

Richard White, who putters around these forums, does license work, he might stop by and tell you something. He wrote some pretty good Star Trek novels, in particular, that I have on my shelf.

Bartholomew · Mar 18, 2007

laurenem6 said:
It's hard to give you advice if you don't say what the trademark is. Any chance you'll share?

Oops.

Star Wars.

Birol · Mar 18, 2007

As with everyone else, there are submission/writer's guidelines for franchised and trademarked universes, including RPG-universes. Sometimes, you just have to dig around on their official site to find them. The FAQ, About Us, the site map, Job Listings, and any page dedicated to the books set in the universe are typically good places to start.

Bartholomew · Mar 18, 2007

Birol said:
As with everyone else, there are submission/writer's guidelines for franchised and trademarked universes, including RPG-universes. Sometimes, you just have to dig around on their official site to find them. The FAQ, About Us, the site map, Job Listings, and any page dedicated to the books set in the universe are typically good places to start.

Somehow the obvious answer didn't seem like it'd be right. Or perhaps its just a bit more hidden.

PeeDee · Mar 18, 2007

Star Wars is currently published by Del Rey, a division of Random House. They don't accept unsolicited manuscripts period, and the Star Wars novels are mapped out and assigned pretty far in advance.

Tallymark · Mar 18, 2007

Agh, you didn't pick an easy fandom...my best friend is hugely into the Star Wars fandom, and she's even written some novel lengths fics, but in regards to getting in with the official book line, the doors are pretty much closed. They keep mighty tight reins on that pony.

Recently there was a publisher accepting Stargate novel submissions, but that was something completely outside the norm, and even though they welcomed creative ideas, every story had to end with all the characters returned to status quo--nothing must be changed. That's not something easy to do. And it's even harder in something like Star Wars, where they've got about fifty books worth of novels that you need to stay canon with, and future planned plotlines you need to stay canon with.

There is actually a pretty big online Star Wars community, and there are a number of fanzines produced by Star Wars fans. You won't make money off of them, but y'know, sometimes it's okay to do something just for fun. ^_^ I've dabbled in various fandoms before myself, and when the itch to write it takes over, I find it almost impossible to write anything else until I've done something to get it out of my system. XD

Jamesaritchie · Mar 18, 2007

Star Wars

PeeDee is right. If you want to write a Star Wars novel, you first have to be a published novelist, and if they like the way you write, the publisher comes to you and asks if you'd be interested.

Bartholomew · Mar 18, 2007

I found out, playing with my synopsis, that if I replace the names Czerka, Jedi, Sith and Ronian with other, possibly made-up words, that I no longer have a problem.

Queer, eh?

laurenem6 · Mar 18, 2007

Ha, that's not strange to me. One of my MG novels stemmed from an idea I had about Ani (Solo) teaching at the Jedi Temple after getting in a fight and defeating Jacen, who had turned evil....

PeeDee · Mar 18, 2007

I've said it before. Straight-up fanfiction, filtered through you, can certainly come out the other side as something original enough to make money off of.

Jamesaritchie · Mar 19, 2007

Bartholomew said:
I found out, playing with my synopsis, that if I replace the names Czerka, Jedi, Sith and Ronian with other, possibly made-up words, that I no longer have a problem.

Queer, eh?

But publishers and other writers probably will.

Bartholomew · Mar 19, 2007

Jamesaritchie said:
But publishers and other writers probably will.

What I mean is, there isn't anything leaning specifically on those concepts that would be ruined if they were changed.

Niteowl · Mar 20, 2007

Michael A Stackpole, who makes the (to me, anyways) super helpful "The Secrets" podcast does some Star Wars stuff. Apparently some of the better known novels in that universe. Where was I going with this? Uh, maybe if you listened to his podcasts, he has some hints about it. Although his podcasts are about writing novels in general, and not Star Wars in particular.

PeeDee · Mar 20, 2007

He wrote, among others, the wonderful Star Wars: X-Wing novels that were in theory based off the classic video game, although after book one, they had nearly nothing to do with the Lawrence Holland masterpiece.

But I seriously doubt he'll hint much because honestly, there's little to hint at.

(still, listen to the podcast anyway, because he's a great guy)

LloydBrown · Mar 20, 2007

It was after a Stackpole seminar at GenCon that I cleared the desk of the articles I was writing and tossed off a 90,000 word fantasy manuscript in 6 weeks--my first novel. His advice is fundamentally useful stuff.

veinglory · Mar 20, 2007

Bartholomew said:
I found out, playing with my synopsis, that if I replace the names Czerka, Jedi, Sith and Ronian with other, possibly made-up words, that I no longer have a problem.

Queer, eh?

Not an uncommon solution. There are a few published books out there that have a non-entirely-coincidental familiarity to them.

Jamesaritchie · Mar 20, 2007

changes

Bartholomew said:
What I mean is, there isn't anything leaning specifically on those concepts that would be ruined if they were changed.

No, there really isn't, but you have to do more than change names to avoid plagiarism charges. Worse, maybe, are the copycat charges.

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