Monday, July 8, 2013

Indiscretion -- here at last

It is here!

A few months ago I went out on a limb and tried something I had never tried before: commissioned fan fiction.  To be honest, before I got the email from Amazon publishing, I had never even heard about fan fiction.  Fan fiction was something that fans did without remuneration out of love for their favorite characters. They wrote in established universes either based on popular books, television series, movies or video games, for which they got no reward except for the joy of seeing their words published for others to see.

But Amazon Publishing has found a way to make fan fiction lucrative, not only for them but for the rights holders and the authors of fan fiction.  It’s the Amazon Kindle Worlds platform.  Amazon obtained the licenses of several popular fiction and authors, both professional and amateur, can write and publish stories based on the characters and themes.  The stories are made available and sold through Kindle worlds.  Amazon.com, the license holders, and the authors each get a third of the profits.  It’s a win-win situation.


So how did I get involved in commissioned fan fiction?  For the launch of Amazon Kindle Worlds, several published authors were invited to submit stories in established universes for which rights were obtained.  I was one of the authors who accepted. At first I was skeptical as I always am about new things.  But once I got into it I became excited about the prospect of writing in a different genre, using characters not of my own creation and appealing to a whole different audience. 


I wrote in the Pretty Little Liars universe.  And now at last it is available for purchase.  My story, “Indiscretion” by Jewel Amethyst is available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00COUQXMS.
The best thing about Kindle Worlds is that you can write and publish in your favorite universe and sell your work.  Other worlds include Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries, Foreworld Saga, Bloodshot, X-O Manowar, Archer & Armstrong, Harbinger, and Shadowman.  In the short time since the launch Amazon Kindle Worlds has added more universes and will continue to expand and grow.




At last, Alison DiLaurentis’s murderer has been apprehended and Rosewood is braced for the trial of the century. But even with Ali’s partially decomposed body discovered and her alleged killer, Toby Cavanaugh safely behind bars, pretty little liars Spencer, Hanna, Emily and Aria aren’t happy. Nor do they feel particularly safe. For one thing, the girls think Toby has been framed. Complicating matters, the mysterious “A,” who has been haunting them since Ali’s disappearance, continues to pester the girls with cruelly taunting texts. The girls believe they have discovered the identity of the real killer and will be able to clear Toby when they happen upon Ali’s diary. But before the sleuths can make it to the authorities, the diary disappears. And that’s just the start of all their trouble – one of the girls is attacked and all are implicated in a fiendish blackmail scheme. Public humiliation and physical danger follow the girls everywhere. At one point, they’re locked in a house and showered with poison gas. The girls still don’t know A’s identity, or who killed Ali, but one thing is for certain: Someone is determined to keep them from finding the truth at all costs.

5 comments:

Carol Mitchell said...

Hi Jewel,

Congratulations! I bought a copy and I am really looking forward to reading it.

I find this concept quite intriguing. What did you think of the compensation structure, though? I am not sure if it read it correctly but I felt like the authors were just getting leftovers.

Jewel Amethyst said...

The way I understand the compensation is that the authors get 35% of net profit if the story is over 10 000 words and 20% if it is between 5000 and 10000 words. Of course it is net profit so in that respect it is the left overs, but that is more than most standard publishers pay.

Liane Spicer said...

Congratulations, Jewel! Authors getting paid is always good news.

Do you know how net profit is calculated on Kindle books? A percentage of cover price is easy to understand, but I'm not sure how to figure out a percentage of net.

Jewel Amethyst said...

Thanks Liane. I have no idea how net profit is calculated, and I won't even hazard a guess.

Charles Gramlich said...

Hope it works well. I've never seen an episode of this particular show.