On fanfiction...

[sparkfrost]

So, another author has come out against fanfiction. I have no problem with Diana Gabaldon declaring that she doesn't want fanfiction written about her Outlander or Lord John series. But I do have a problem with how she said it. Comparing fic writers to burglars, husband-stealers, and perverts trying to mack on her underaged daughter just pisses me off. Fandom Wank has a great round-up of all of this mess, and I'd definitely recommend following the link to bookshop's post on the matter.

One of the reactions to Ms. Gabaldon's post was the writer stating that they would never read her books. Which, fair enough. If you've been offended by an author, why would you want to give them money? What confused me though, was one specific person's reaction- they said that Ms. Gabaldon had been added to their do-not-read list, which also includes Anne Rice and Laurell K. Hamilton, both of which are also anti-fanfiction. But, if I recall correctly, both were quite professional about their desire to not have fanfiction written in their worlds. No insults, no calling fanfiction immoral, just a statement that they did not want fic written about their characters. So that means that this commenter just dismissed authors solely on that basis. Why? There are plenty of authors who don't allow fanfic who I still like, read, and have respect for. Granted, I was disappointed that Robin Hobb was one of them, mostly because I had wanted to try to find and maybe even write fic in her Farseer verse... but I'm not going to burn my books now that I know she doesn't allow fic- I just won't write or look for fic. Same with George R. R. Martin. Still eagerly awaiting the next book in the series (and the HBO show!), even though he doesn't allow fanfic.

I don't know. What do you all think? Does an author disallowing fanfiction make you not want to read him/her?

Comments

[katieupsidedown.livejournal.com]

Actually I was in Vampire Chron fandom shortly after Anne Rice came out against fic and you are obv forgetting how BATSHIT CRAZY she is.

By "came out against fanfiction" I mean "attempted to sue one of her fans for posting fic on the internet, driving the fandom underground where it remains to this day".

But you know... maybe I'm interrogating her actions from the wrong perspective. ;) Fanfic just offends her Dickensian Principles.

(Anne McCaffery also went batshit over fans using her work and tried to sue an online Pern RPG)

I haven't read the new wank yet but Diana Gabaldon is already on my Do Not Read list. Have you actually read any of her books? The premise of Outlander is kind of batshit... I mean, not if it were cracky. But taking it seriously as literature? LOLOLOL I barely made it through the first one because of a villain I still call Rapey McRaperson. He wanted to rape EVERYONE - the hero, the heroine, random minor characters. Stumble across his path? You gonna get raeped. At first it squicked me out... then it happened SO MUCH that I started finding it kind of hilarious (Not the fact that he wanted to rape people, obv, but the fact that the author couldn't think of anything ELSE for him to do).

[sparkfrost.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, I didn't know that about either Anne Rice or McCaffery! Well, I knew Anne Rice was crazy, but I didn't know she tried to sue!

I had never heard much about the Outlander series before this wank, but once it exploded I heard all about Rapey McRaperson. Mostly because DG was all "ew, pornographic fanfiction!" and people were like, "Hand! Nail! Rape! Hypocrite!" So yeah, even if she had not written this awful blog post, I still wouldn't read her books.