Get your fan fic weird on with Amazon's Kindle Worlds

Amazon Publishing finds ingenious way to profit off of fan fiction

You think you have some weird proclivities because you write fan fiction about a love triangle between you, a Ryan Gosling vampire, and a James Franco werewolf? Giiirrrrrl, you don’t know weird. Try an epic BDSM fan fic novel involving a Channing Tatum shape shifter, Robb Stark from Game of Thrones, Alexander Skarsgard as his hot ass self, Don Draper, and a BLT.

And now I can’t remember where I was going with that because I spent the last 20 minutes fantasizing about Robb Stark and Alexander Skarsgard. And a BLT. Why isn't there ever any f*cking bacon in this house?!

Fan fiction has a powerful following—and it’s actually turning into real books. The viral hit mommy porn trilogy Fifty Shades of Grey got its start as Twilight BDSM fan fiction. Now it looks like Amazon is ingeniously looking to harness that power and turn a profit with its new fan fiction publishing platform Kindle Worlds.

The self-service publishing platform, which launches in June, will allow fan fic writers to submit their own original works for publication and actually earn royalties. This is kind of amazing when you think about the fact that writers and movie/TV show creators copyright their material specifically to keep other people from hijacking and profiting off of their characters and plot lines.

Amazon has solved that problem too: Amazon Publishing has secured the licenses to Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars, and The Vampire Diaries from Warner Bros. And the company says that there are more licenses to come.

Amazon Publishing will pay royalties to both the rights holders and the author. Authors will receive 35% of net revenue.

So does that mean we’re going to see a shit ton of BDSM Hunger Games fan fiction on the horizon? (You know I loves me some Peeta in leather.) Short answer: no. Amazon Publishing will set limits on what fans can publish so that it’s “reasonable for the franchise.”

“Our books have generated a massive amount of fan fiction, and we see this as an evolution in publishing and a valuable way of broadening our brands and engaging fans,” said Leslie Morgenstein, President Alloy Entertainment, in a statement. “When working with Amazon Publishing on this scale, we know we’re in good hands and everyone will benefit.”

The Kindle Worlds store will launch in June with over 50 commissioned works from several award-winning authors.