Recently I’ve found a number of writers on the web asking how they can publish a story they finished in the fanfiction genre. Fanfiction includes stories based on already established characters, places, and plots from movies, books, comics, and video games. The problem with trying to publish in fanfiction boils down to copyright. In an already established world, elements of the genre are copyrighted by the original creator. This means Star Wars is owned by George Lucus, and Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling.
I myself faced plagerism of a story a few years back. Oddly enough, it was “Challenges”, one of my Morrowind Fanfics. Someone simply cut and paste in a message thread and claimed he wrote the 150,000 word piece, and wanted to submit the story to the creators of Morrowind (Bethesda) to publish. Bethesda already announced some time before they will not publish fanfiction. A moderator on the message board contacted me and asked me if I had give this guy permission to keep the story as his own.
I was, at first, flattered that someone thought the story good enough to steal, but then it settled in my brain that ‘Hey, someone stole my story!”. Reading the threads he posted on, trying to spin off my writing as his, proved infuriating. People were complimenting him, telling him what a great writer he was. All the accolade were meant for my skill, my effort, and even what I created. He was banned from the message boards, and the story pulled from the thread.
From this experience, I gained more regard for those who originally create a world and characters. I gained gratitude to those willing to allow for fanfiction because not all mediums do, and respect for those who ask writers to stick to their own work. J.K. Rowling allows and even encourages fanfiction, while Anne Rice of the Vampire novels will threaten litigation against you if you try.
“But I’ve seen books on Star Wars, Star Trek, and even Dungeon and Dragons! Aren’t they fanfiction?” Yes they are, but the difference being the publisher asked already established writers to write in the medium for them. This means you, as a writer, will need to build your name first before writing in this genre professionally. Also bear in mind that fanfiction is copyrighted already by someone else.
Some might argue that its cheating to write in another creator’s realm. I’ve found a number of authors who actually write better than the original. I also find its a fun genre to write in and can offer a number of challenges to either enhance or otherwise improve the selected fandom. In fact, the very reason why J.K. Rowling supports fanfiction of her work is because it ‘gets kids to write’. I agree. For practice and honing writing skills, why not pick something you can enjoy?
Overall, however, you will need to write something original to publish as your own.
For fanfiction, see:
Fanfiction.net one of the largest fanfiction sites that categorizes by title and fandom.
Fanfiction Directory – somewhat limited in choices, but carries a number of fanfiction you may not find elsewhere.
Dragon Library – Includes a number of Forgotten Realm fanfiction. I highly recommend Spider Bite and Initiation. The author truly captured the world of the Drow and developed a wonderful story based on R.A. Salvatore’s world.
Forgotten Realm Fanfiction includes stories based on the games and RPG game sources.
Harry Potter Fanfiction has thousands of fanfics of the Harry Potter world.
Lord of the Rings Fanfiction delves into the realm of Lord of the Rings.
Star Wars Fanfiction at The Force
Star Trek Fanfiction includes stories broken down by Star Trek TV series
A Writer's Journey 
So, what if some (professional) people who read and approved of your fanfic think you could get it published? Would it be okay to do so, or would it be better to just not act on it because of the suing frenzy?
LikeLike
Any professional writer should know that fanfiction cannot be published without expressed permission from the original author. Fanfiction is not original work, meaning the original author of the media (movie, book, cartoon, etc) owns the rights to the characters, story, and anything they created. Fanfiction writes using the characters, story, etc created by another author, and therefore considered plagiarism. I wouldn’t suggest trying to publish, but perhaps trying to make the story original and publishing that.
LikeLike
Okay, I understand it now. Thank you very much~ ^^
LikeLike
Nothing but true.
LikeLike
well i would have to say that the exception to the rule is fanfiction based on clasical writers such as jane austen. there are many published works based on her books. i suposse copyright does not extend to her time period.
LikeLike
I’ve got a fanfic set in a universe imagined in a video game. How would I go about asking the company that holds the rights for permission to publish this work. More than mere permission, I’d be willing to give up most of the profit from the published work to the rights holder. I’m seeing this as a business venture where they get the profit and I get my name on a published work. Some small profit for me would be nice : )
I have been published before this, but not in big name magazines.
LikeLike
You could contact the game manufacturer and ask if they have any interest. Fanfics are nearly impossible to publish, however.
If you’re not interested in money, you might want to consider a site http://www.fanfiction.net and publish there. Its free to join, but don’t expect money for your work. Check the first suggestion first if your’e serious. Don’t mention about them making all the profit until you see their first reaction.
Best of luck
LikeLike
I get your point Neal. I’ve written several fanfic about a game universe – FF7 – and I would love to have those stories in paperback format for myself. Hell, if someone would wanted too, there would be nice to have it on amazon free for e-book download and/or POD paperback. Absolutely making no profit of it whatsoever. It was just a small indulgence of having the story available outside the ff.net domain. There are times that I don’t have my PC around, or I don’t have internet to check on the site and read the story I want. And if I had it on my shelf or in my Kindle/Ipad, whatever (E-book reader), I wouldn’t have to bother.
I guess that, considering what was told here, I would have to contact -in this case, Square Enix; and then, after having the “yes, you may” from them, I could engage in some POD-publishing site and “conceive” the book with the story.
Is that it? If that’s the way it works I’m willing to give it a try… 🙂
I am a published author (both in my native and english language) and let me tell you, I’ve read fanfiction with better quality than published, huge hit books. I just think that some of those stories have potential. And, at least, those stories deserve to be on the shelves or inside the e-readers of those who enjoy reading them.
Any advice, let me know! Great blog you have here! Congrats!
Oh, just a quick question: it was mentioned that before the internet invasion, there were fanfiction mags. Any name? Do those mags still exist?
Thanks*
Ana
LikeLike
From what i understand, some fanfiction were published via sci-fi magazines or magazines specific to a genre. Some examples would be Star Wars or Star Trek. Spockanalia was one such Star Trek fan fic magazine. These were generally sold via sci-fi conventions, or through mail order.
I think primarily you should not receive monies from a fanfiction work, you can create it in ebook format so people can download. OpenOffice offers a very easy way to easily make PDF documents you can create, upload somewhere on the net, and have people download (and even import into Kindles)
I also found this which you might find interesting- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_issues_with_fan_fiction#Advocacy_regarding_the_legality_of_fan_fiction
LikeLike
I am so glad you brought this up. I was just going to say that Star Trek is one of the first genres that was publishing science fiction books before the internet turned the term “adaptation” into “fan fiction” (tomato, tomoto).
JJ Abrams, Bryan Singer, Joss Whedon, etc., are all writing fan fiction when they make their movie adaptations from the original versions.
Fortunately, slowly but surely, more and more fan fiction authors are getting hired and having their works published! 🙂
I would love for more genres to have their books available in stores as well via kindle the way Star Trek did and still does.
If you go to Amazon.com and type “Star Trek” under the books section, it’s amazing how many authors have published novels! Pretty groovy!
LikeLike
Some fanfiction I’ve found over the years even surpassed the original author in style and fluency. But I should also note that many authors that published ‘fanfiction’ still find the permission first. Its copyrighted, just the same
LikeLike
Oh I know. There’s phenomenal writing out there. I definitely think providing fan fiction authors to more how-to publishing resources would be great. There’s a lotta of talent out there; deserves to get copyrighted. 👍
LikeLike
Thanks for the advice. That’s just what I intend to do. Any recommendations on how to contact a large software developer about spinning off a book based on a game they released in the 90’s? I’m afraid the receptionist would turn me away at the front door.
LikeLike
Go to Google.com and put in the game’s name. It should take you directly to their official site on the first page of ‘hits’. Find their contact page, and ask for information in regards to publishing or even possibly marketing. Someone should be able to direct you to where you need to go.
Good luck!
LikeLike
I have a Twilight fan fiction book I have written and would like to ask Stephenie Meyer’s permission to publish it. I am unsure how to go about it. It’s a 15 chapter book (over 104,000 words). She’s a fairly new author so I am hoping she would go for it. Any suggestions?
LikeLike
I believe to contact Stephanie Myer, you could check via her web site :http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/. However, its my understanding she doesn’t open fanmail because she’s incredibly busy.
And although she’s a new author, she’s hit it big. Good luck with trying to get it published.
LikeLike
No, she doesn’t read fanmail. It actually states it on her site. She does not have an email address listed, though her brother Seth Meyers does and I have not heard back from him. My only option would be to send a copy of it to her Publisher and make a request. Is this a good or bad idea? Do you know of anyone who’s tried it?
LikeLike
Its my understanding that fanfiction doesn’t get published, no matter how good it might be. The characters belong to Myers. I suppose it can’t hurt to try. Just keep in mind that the publisher will likely refer you to publish for free via Fanfiction.net
LikeLike
Thanks. Frootbat. TRue. Guess it doesnt hurt to ask.
LikeLike
I try to keep my work my own, but material is hard to keep rewording and even harder to publish without the ligalities comming about…i say have your own very different outlook and back story or just never publish a book…find a different line of work!
LikeLike
I agree! If you can’t come up with your own ideas, then maybe becoming a published writer isn’t your thing. Nice blog you have there. I hope you update regularly!
LikeLike
Most of the times i visit a blog I notice that most blogs are amateurish. Regarding your blog,I have to say that you have done a good job here.
LikeLike
I know that you are talking about traditional publishing, but as long as you make no money from it you can self-publish your fanfiction and sell it that way. You CANNOT MAKE money though. That would require the author’s permission. Before everyone was on the internet, they had fanfiction magazines. It cost to make the magazine and the broken even on sales. That is legal, you just can’t make money. Sorry for repeating myself, but I’ve noticed some people don’t get that point. If you paint a painting of the Harry Potter characters and make money off of it, then you are guilty of plagiarism. But if you paint the painting for your sister, as a gift it isn’t.
The girl that asked about her own fanfiction, probably did want to make money from it. But I wish more fanfiction authors would sell their books at cost. I wouldn’t buy them all, but I have some favorites that I would love on my bookshelf.
LikeLike
In a legal sense, however, copying, regardless of money earned or not, is considered copyright infringement. The author (or artist, screenwriters, etc) decided, they can sue you for copyright infringement, as Anne Rice of the Vampire Chronicles has been known to do. She doesn’t care if you’re making money or not- her characters are not open to anyone else to write about them. If its anywhere on the public forums, she’s been known to send out lawyers.
“Rice has an adamant stance against fan fiction based on her work, releasing a statement on April 7, 2000, that prohibited all such efforts.[89] This caused the removal of thousands of fanfics from the FanFiction.Net website.”
Most authors don’t seem to mind. Even with my writing, should someone decide to write a fanfiction based on one of my original works, I could decide to press charges, regardless if they earn money from it or not.
What you describe is correct- in Canada, Spain, and the Netherlands, but in the USA, any copying without permission is considered copyright infringement. Or this is how I understand the law. This doesn’t mean, however, its easy to enforce.
And I agree with fanfiction. Some of stories I’ve found on the Web are just amazing.
LikeLike
I thought fanfiction.net did that out of ‘respect for the author’ as they put it on the bottom of their guidelines page. Her actions actually made me not respect her, and I will never read any of her books because of it. Or anyone else’s that is against fanfiction no matter how good of a writer they are.
Legally no one has pushed it far enough to really tell. Most say that it falls under fair use, since you credit the author, make no money from it and it is a creative work. Some say that it doesn’t. I believe it does and has more right to be written and not make any money from, than Saturday Night Live, Family Guy and South Park has to MAKE money, because the are under parody. Since they have been proven to be legal, I don’t see how fan-fiction could not. They make money and a lot of it from taking things from popular media and making fun of them. How can taking things from popular media, expanding on the ideas and NOT making money be illegal when making money is fine, if you make fun of it? Either way you are doing your own creative work, based on something that is popular in the media.
The thing is fan fiction is written by fans. They like the authors, so when the author’s complain they comply and never take it to court. If it was taken to court, the fan fiction author’s would probably win based on what the law states. The few cases that actually went to court prove this, but the only one that lost, lost because the made money from it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_issues_with_fan_fiction#Arguments_for_the_legality_of_fan_fiction
http://www.whoosh.org/issue25/lee1a.html#41
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_fiction
LikeLike
I am almost certain that this is pointless and impossible, but do you think that there’s any way of publishing a fan fiction that you created from an overseas story? To ask for that author’s permission, would I have to have someone translate the message for them and myself (like a third-party communicator)? I don’t know if that made any sense, sorry.
LikeLike
I would think its highly unlikely. You can find translating service, even web site services to do this for you. However, consider an author who wrote an original story with original character, and someone comes along hoping to publish (and get paid) off of their hard work? I suppose you can always ask, Also check out- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_fiction#Legality this provides some details on the legality of fanfiction. Some authors allow publication of fanzines providing the author follows guidelines.
LikeLike
What about authors who’ve passed away? Whom do we contact if we want to publish some sort of fan-fiction?
LikeLike
It depends on who now owns the copyright. Some authors pass down the copyright to their children. Some books are known as ‘public domain’. The works of Shakespeare, for instance, is under public domain.
LikeLike
I feel that the fanfiction I write should be allowed to be published, not because “I’m special and I’m a better writer than everyone else” but because I beleive that, unlike most fanfic writers, I the fanfiction that I write isn’t already made up for me, I mainly write fanfiction for bands, My Chemical Romance is the band that I mainly write about, the setting in most of my stories is California 2019 which was their “Danger Days” album. The overall album doesn’t give you much to work with and you basically have to create the whole thing from scratch, and because I make the characters (Frank, Gerard, Mikey, and Ray) so unlike what they are in real life, you could just look at the story as a simple Drabble. I’m an aspiring writter and photo journalist and I got into fanfiction because I wanted to expand on my writing techniques. I didn’t expect to get farther in my fanfiction career than in my actual writting. On the site I post my stories on I have so far this month gotten 987 hits from people mainly living in the UK but also the US, Egypt, Canada, Indonessia and much more. I just wish that it was ok to publish fanfic. I think myself and many other writers would benifite from this. Thank you for reading this.
Sincerely,
Rose C.
LikeLike
I wonder if you contacted the band if they’d allow for it?
LikeLike
Thank you for the reply, and I was wondering the same thing. I see some flaws though, the band that I write about might have some issues over the subject matter, although I am not the only writter that has made fanfics on this subject, I feel that the band would react badly, and they truely are my favorite band, so it would hurt to know they disaprove of my writing. Another factor to why I have not contacted them is mainly because I do not know how to 😦 and another is because I am only 15 and I would not know how to even begin to ask them if it were ok for me to write fanfiction on them…
LikeLike
You could make a few changes to your fiction to make it original and then try to publish that- you’d know who it was really about. 😉
LikeLike
Thank you again for the reply, and that’s a really interesting idea. I honestly wouldn’t have come to that conclusion. Thank you for your advice! 🙂
sincerley,
Rose C.
LikeLike
im righting a book about twilight how do I send it to stephine meyer so she could tell me if I could publish it or not.
LikeLike
Fanfiction doesn’t get published, although you can publish your work via Fanfiction.net or other places. Being the characters are owned by Myers, you cannot publish them. But if you persist, you could send it to her publishing company or ask them how to contact her.
LikeLike
I don’t understand why Anne Rice hates fanfiction. It’s not like it could be published, so what’s her issue? Frankly, I would be flattered if someone enjoyed my story enough to write a fanfiction about it.
LikeLike
I agree. Maybe she feels threatened? No writer should, in my humble opinion. I once had a reader of my fanfics ask if she could write something with one of my characters, and I loved the idea. I only expect credit, just as many writers do.
LikeLike
I’m currently writing a fanfiction for Pokémon, and I was wondering – is it legal or even possible to publish one single copy for myself only? It’s almost finished and, to be honest, I’d just like to see my own work on my bookshelf or my e-reader, but none of my original stories generally make it past chapter one because I can’t focus.
Returning to my question, do you know if it would be possible to publish only one private copy?
LikeLike
I think you might be able to use a site like Lulu.com to print a book. Its been a while since I read any terms of service, however.
LikeLike
I’m writing a fanfic about a music band. There are no published stories about them or anything like that. That’s different than writin a fanfic about, I don’t know… Twilight. Right? So I can publish it without asking anyone right? And I can publish it on one of those sights that you mentioned earlier?
LikeLike
I’m not sure, being I’m not a lawyer, but I’m certain if you were to ‘loosely base’ your story on a band that would work.
LikeLike
Well yes, they are only the characters, everything else is made up by me. I didn’t steal anyone’s writing. 🙂
LikeLike
Okay. I’m currently writing a story that has the band members of My Chemical Romance in it. Other then that, it’s my own story, my orignal characters, and my own plot. Is this considered fanfiction? And if it isn’t(which I’m kinda hoping it isn’t) is it possible to get it published?
LikeLike
I think it depends on how the Chemical Romance feels about it. Why not just change the name of the band, in the story, and make it original?
LikeLike
What if you write a characters backstory from a book and have permission from the orignal author can you publish it?
LikeLike
I have written a fan fiction on the band One Direction and I’ve already typed 212 pages. Is there a possibility I can get it published it I notify the Manager of the band? Thanks.
LikeLike
The worse they can say is no.
LikeLike
What about tv shows? I’ve written a fic for Madagascar called ‘How Madagascar came to be’ which features OC’s. It’s not finished, but is proving popular despite the fact it’s only 4 chapters in [at this time] would they allow it to be published?
LikeLike
Fanfiction uses characters, settings, and even plots based on another’s work, which is copyrighted. Unless the original owner of that copy gives permission to publish, you might find yourself sued or given a cease and desist. Most mediums for fanfiction are fine if you want to share your work via fanfiction or something, but trying to publish and earn money is frowned upon.
You could change things around, create new characters, new settings, based on what you have and see where that goes.
LikeLike
Rice seems to have let up.
LikeLike
I am going to give some insight on this; the writers who cross over often into the published territory are those who written in The Twilight Zone Fandom and The Edgar Allan Poe Fandoms.
I will recruit writers from the horror fandoms for my magazine as I am publishing eight writers who emerged from here within an anthology I am overseeing along with writers from Linkedin.com and FictionPress.com. The nonslash writers will have doubled their chances with me to be published in the small press and then get into larger magazines. The small press is where you will see them as Lamplight Magazine the editor writes Dr. Who fan fiction .
LikeLike
Thanks for sharing this. Since first posting on this topic, it was pre-publish days where fanfiction was definitely frowned upon by generally everyone. Now Amazon short will publish specific fandoms (https://kindleworlds.amazon.com/worlds), and now more places will consider fanfiction. I still strongly suggest authors to be careful in what fandom they write in; some genres are still very tight on copyright. Always check first. Thanks for the posting your information.
LikeLike
I’m trying break out of the habit of writing fanfiction, because I’m not proud of it(mainly because it’s just not my work. I love coming up with ideas for my own stories, but then I get burnt out, or the characters are bad, or something happens…) – Do you have any specific tips, or an article, or something you could direct me to that might help? I really work hard at my writing! If not, that’s totally fine, I was just wondering.
LikeLike
The difference between fanfiction and your own writing would be originality of setting, characters, and/or the conflict. Many conflicts are universal. Ask yourself the ultimate ‘what if….’ questions, and put your characters in that situation.
For example, my own fanfiction takes place in Morrowind (Elderscrolls) where the character endures the idea of being a reborn hero to save the world. This is not at all original or specific to Morrowing, the idea of a prophetic character to save teh world. Tweak a few names, places, and maybe magical system, and TADA! You have your own original story. I would recommend looking up http://www.tvtropes.com which illustrates how used so many storytelling cliches are known to happen. It is because they work.
LikeLike
I’ve been thinking about using Lulu.com to publish a single, not-for-profit hard copy of my fan fiction, just for me to have. I think it might end up depending on how close they look at it and whether they realize its fan fiction though…certainly won’t have any copyrighted images on the cover or anything like that.
LikeLike
There is risk. I looked up this subject and found this: Will all orders of my book look like the proof copy?
The Lulu.com global network of printers produces books based on the best fit for the job in a given region of the world. Some of the factors that determine where your book will print are: book size, binding type, order quantity, page count, delivery destination, etc. We take great pains to ensure consistency in look and feel for our printed products, but there can be slight variations in printing and binding between orders. This variation is not a workmanship or manufacturing defect and does not qualify for a refund or return.
Can I publish fan ficton on Lulu?
Lulu.com does not allow fan fiction.
Fan fiction, also known as “FanFic,” is any work based on another creator’s story, idea, or character. Lulu.com is a strong supporter of copyrights and does not allow fan fiction because FanFic authors generally do not have permission from the original author. The Stanford Center for Internet & Society maintains a FanFic FAQ that explains many of the copyright and trademark issues surrounding Fan Fiction.
You might want to save your fanfiction as a single PDF and print it out yourself, or perhaps check with a local printing company. But if you want to take that risk, good luck.
LikeLike
Hm, maybe I better find some other way. I’ve heard of people doing it before though, getting hard copies for personal use.
LikeLike
I think it also depends on what type of fanfiction. Some forms are more allowable than others. In fact, I read that Amazon Kindle Singles allows fanfictions but only from some fandoms. http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&docId=1001197421&linkCode=ur2&tag=thedigrea-20
You could always try. Generally, if its not allowed the publishing company would tell you or you get a cease and desist letter.
LikeLike
Thanks! I had a look at the different “worlds”, but since most of my fan fiction is crossover it’s safe to say it won’t be tolerated there. Particularly my Who Framed Roger Rabbit fan fic, lol. Guess it’d just be nice to have hard copies to read to my kids one day.
LikeLike
I wonder if your local Staples store would do it? I mean, it would a single copy, right? You could always ask. Good luck. PS- also consider creating your own bound book. There are tutorials on how to do that whether its a hard bound or other forms. Spiral form would be the easiest, like with a thing called a Cinch binding tool. Good luck.
LikeLike
Not sure if mine is considered fanfiction, its fiction about a few select celebrities, like norman reedus and jon Bernthal, but its my own story about love and mystery. I wondered if mine could be published without changing it
LikeLike
I think it could be done, but it’s still rather tricky. I found this article on the topic that might provide some insight for you; http://www.betternovelproject.com/blog/real-people/
LikeLike
What I have found out is a person needs licensing rights in the Star Wars universe and they will be looking to get it published through one of their publishers. I know this through extensive research to get a story off the ground for Star Wars and actually trying to get the copyrights, for which I was denied.
Do your own personal research and you will find, depending on the maker/owner, you may have a different process.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the added insight. Good points.
LikeLiked by 1 person