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Kindle Worlds is one of Amazon’s newest projects. It’s one that has caused a lot of debate among authors; some authors love the idea while others think it’s a horrible idea and a waste of time.
Amazon has opened up certain licensed worlds: books, movies, and games for authors to write in. It’s great for readers who love those worlds and would like to spend some more time in them. Authors who also love those worlds get to have fun writing in worlds that they enjoy but have not created.
I was excited about Kindle Worlds when I first heard about it, because two of my favorite shows are in Kindle Worlds. I couldn’t wait to start writing in the Vampire Diaries world!
In fact, I signed up for the updates from Amazon so that I would be alerted immediately when Kindle Worlds opened up. Thankfully, I heard about it opening up on a message board that I frequent because otherwise I would still be waiting for that email from Amazon! Seriously. It’s opened, I signed up, and I haven’t received any emails at the time of this writing.
If you aren’t interested in the Vampire Diaries, there are nearly a dozen other choices for you to choose from:
If you’d like to read more about the pros and cons of authoring a book in Kindle Worlds, read What the Heck is This Kindle Worlds Thing? Alicia Dean answers the concerns that many authors have.
Authors, you can learn all about what you need to know to write in Kindle Worlds.
Check out the other books in Kindle Worlds.
Fan Fiction is fine, but will it see a radical change in anything? I mean, will we see fewer blatant rip-offs of TV series, etc, in mainstream fiction? Will there now be a flood of fiction into the mainstream, fiction which allows the writers to minimise their effort y providing them with all the raw materials in advance? And is that part of the objection t the whole thing? Does there need to be a definite ‘divide’ between fan fiction and everything else? I’ve read some and it’s been excellent. Sadly, there’s the reverse too. But that’s true of al books. Will this have a legal impact? Will authors trying to prevent the creation of fan fiction for their own works find it harder to succeed? Is this backdoor precedent? And then, there’s the fact that Amazon are unlikely to prove good custodians, especially as they have already demonstrated a tendency to limit the concept to those areas of TV /Film/Books that are wildly popular in the USA. Some have never even been more than a ripple elsewhere!
I can’t help feeling that the whole thing has been launched without any true effort to answer the many questions. It’s been a mad rush to exploit fan fiction for Amazon’s profit, nothing else.
Hi Steve,
There are definitely a lot of questions with this new program. Did you have a chance to look through the link that I provided? The author addressed a lot of issues and Amazon already has the copyright issues taken care of in the contract. As an author, it holds the potential for being a way to draw in new readers from an already established reader base. I had fun writing a short story in a world that I enjoy. Even if nothing comes of it (royalties, new readers) then I don’t see any loss. I tried something new; it may or may not work. It was fun and didn’t all that much time.
If I have a small amount of success with it, I’ll continue the story that I’ve started with another short story in the world. If not, that’s fine. I have more of my own stories in mind than I have time to write! I’m curious to see how this goes, and I’m excited to jump in at the beginning.
Stacy
Hi Stacy. I have to confess! When I commented, I was doing so in some haste and didn’t follow the link 🙁 I will take a look now. I can see the potential for marketing, but I guess I’m suspicious of Amazon’s motives, which is colouring my view of the subject. I also can’t avoid some worry about the message that’s being sent. I’ll admit I’m never likely to write any kind of fan fiction myself, so perhaps I shouldn’t involve myself in the subject 🙂
You’re definitely not the only one with concerns, and the program isn’t for everyone. For me, I’m excited to give it a try, though it’s not going to alter my focus in regards to my own work.
I hope that it all works out for you 🙂 For myself, even if tempted – I’ve only ever heard of one of the ‘Worlds’ LOL. More, being in the UK, it isn’t actually available, as I don’t have a US bank account 😉 I guess that means that the rest of us will actually benefit, this time, from a lengthy trial delay, while Amazon work out bugs and such.
Good luck 🙂
Hmm. I don’t know how I feel about this one. Thanks for the share! 🙂
It’s definitely worth a try for those interested! Though it’s not for everyone.
Hello Stacy,
Thanks for the information, I think this is also a good service by Amazon and people will soon start liking it.
Interesting. I wonder where the line is between fan fiction and infringing on someone else’s intellectual property. I’m sure Amazon’s lawyers have already figured this out.
Amazon certainly has all of that covered already. I’ve never looked into fan fiction before Kindle Worlds came up, so I don’t know the difference. I’m just interested in trying a fun new project!
Hi Stacy,
The Kindle World looks interesting specially for science fiction authors. But is this also good for nonfiction authors? I just joined Amazon Associates as an affiliate marketer…hoping one day I can include my future kindle books in their shelves. What do you think?
Angela
Hi Angela,
I’m not sure that Kindle Worlds would benefit nonfiction authors much, unless there was some natural crossover. In my case, Vampire Diaries is similar to my series about vampires. If Kindle Worlds grows to include other types of shows/worlds, then it may be possible. If they had Hoarders, for example, someone with a self help book might find a crossover audience.
Thanks for stopping by!
Stacy