Hey, since we've already got multiple 50 SOG threads going in the Roundtable, I'm going to merge this into the big thread. If posts get out of order, I apologize.
merging in 3...2...1....
merging in 3...2...1....
That's hilarious. And I think I'm finally starting to understand this thing.Oh, wow. That tumblr girl is mean.
And with that, and the caveat that I swear I don't wander around the internet looking for this stuff, here's SNL's 50 Shades commercial (scroll down to the video).
No, they aren't. They're part of a collaborative, professional, commercial project.You do know that television writers are technically fanfiction writers, too.
No, they aren't. They're part of a collaborative, professional, commercial project.
I don't claim that, and have never heard anyone else claim that. Sounds like a straw man.#2 is why people compare tie-ins and television writers to fan fiction authors; if you claim that any writing that uses someone else's creations is by definition inferior, then that applies even if the writing is paid professional work.
Yes, there is. It's not a technical, pedantic difference; it is, as you say, an intrinsic difference.Amadan said:There is no intrinsic difference between Harry Potter fan fiction and licensed novelizations of a TV series.
The first is amateur -- probably in more than one sense: it's a labor of love, as the word implies; and also, probably (though not necessarily) lacking in the skill and polish one expects in professional published work.
The second is in fact a professional work, either commissioned on the basis of a writer's record and credentials, or accepted on the basis of its quality. An episode of a tv show, a novel in a continuing multi-author series, or what have you.
And once something gets on the best-seller list, it takes on a life of its own. I imagine this book is being bought by people who were unaware such naughty stuff was even out there.
(I think quite a lot of TV screenwriters get hired off the back of spec scripts, which do seem rather like fanfic in certain ways, except for the fact that they're not intended for a fan audience.)
Based on the reviews I've seen and the comments from people on TV, I'm beginning to think the same thing actually.I imagine this book is being bought by people who were unaware such naughty stuff was even out there.
From my personal observations, this is very true. One of my friends half-joked, "I've never read such filth in my life!" I promptly pointed her to other, better-written books and she's now a happy camper.
The casual reader really doesn't know what books are out there. The good news: they do now.
T I imagine this book is being bought by people who were unaware such naughty stuff was even out there.
this is my experience as well. The people I know who are reading/have read the 50 Shades books are completely unaware of better written material available.
I disagree. I think it might have more to do with a) the lack of actually looking, b) seeing the info/books they do get and not being interested, or c) as someone just mentioned "Fifty Shades" being more "allowable".If that were true it would speak volumes about how poorly many of the presses who produce these kinds of books promote their titles.
I know someone who recently read the series. She's not familiar with the higher quality work in the genre, but she felt like she could read 50SoG because it had gone mainstream, had been portrayed on the news in a positive light, and was, therefore, more "allowable." It's like there's less perceived shame in reading and enjoying this book than in reading other books in the genre.
It seems the buzz is already jumping to the next thing... a self-published SF ebook called WOOL is rapidly gaining popularity and just received several options for film. The media is calling it "the SF version of 50 Shades of Grey," which is extremely misleading, since what they mean is "it's a self-published book that's gaining popularity quickly," not "it's SF erotica." It's supposedly very well-written.
Hmm. Is self-pubbing going to be the new query letter?
It seems the buzz is already jumping to the next thing... a self-published SF ebook called WOOL is rapidly gaining popularity and just received several options for film. The media is calling it "the SF version of 50 Shades of Grey," which is extremely misleading, since what they mean is "it's a self-published book that's gaining popularity quickly," not "it's SF erotica." It's supposedly very well-written.
I'm becoming more disillusioned over this whole 50 Shades thing. Maybe if I hadn't read the snippet, but I did, and I just can't understand why anyone would salivate over these books. I'm a romantic, so the whole bondage thing with explicit sex does nothing for me, and I wanna barf thinking of my neighbor, or my former library colleagues, or God forbid, my mother, reading 50 Shades.
What really bothers me though is that the publisher didn't even bother to get this thing edited properly. I know times are tough and things are changing, but IMO they used the author. One day far on down the line, heck maybe right now for all we know, she will regret not having gone through the proper publishing experience. Made it rich, went on The View, got oodles and oodles of moola, but someone skipped an important step. It just all seems so cut throat and wrong. Maybe it's fair because she did piggy back Twilight, but what would it have hurt to spend a few months editing the thing?
I don't know . . . I'm probably giving power to it all by writing in this way.