Sometimes a writer creates a world so compelling the world may feel the need to remake it into a film. Sometimes they make stories so vivid that people illustrate the world they live in with music and paintings; and sometimes people feel the need to expand the world beyond the story in their own direction. Fan fiction is an creative form where users can create stories based on original content, and release it into their own story form. Almost all forms of fan fiction is freely available but Worlds seeks to change this.
Kindle Worlds has been announced today to join Kindle Singles and Series to allow original content creators to monetize their ideas by letting fan fiction writers earn money from their works. Works like Fifty Shades of Grey and a plethora of “The Hunger Games” fan fiction stories are becoming a new market for users to join a community that enjoys the stories,  and expand their world with like minded people.
It’s a split opinion on whether this idea of monetizing fan fiction will be beneficial but going back to our roots, some authors spent their early years writing fan fiction and stories based on other books. It’s a platform for writers to break their creative writers block and get into the technique of writing. Whether or not you’re for or against the idea of monetizing fan creations it can’t be that bad if it’s getting people’s creativity flowing.
Authors of the fan fiction will earn around 35% of royalties if the story is over 10,000 words, otherwise 5000-10,000 will earn around 20%. The ‘Worlds’ that the user can monetize are outlined by licenses bought by Kindle to allow this, with Warner Bros already on board with Amazon acquiring licenses for Gossip Girl and The Vampire Diaries which are huge fan fiction areas. This new method for original content authors to allows other writers to use their work is a little estranged to the way money is made originally, but I guess we’ve got to break the barrier between the reader and the writer at some point.
Kindle Worlds will be accessible via iOS, Android and Kindle devices across the board and keen writers can get on the mailing list for when the platform is released here.
