Lawyer and Writer

Today Amazon announced the newest expansion on the self-publishing-on-the-Kindle landscape - Kindle Worlds. In a nutshell, Kindle Worlds will allow fanfiction authors to publish their fanfiction on the Kindle, and sell it. Any sales will pay royalties both to the copyright holder of the original property, and to the fanfic author.

Now, for full disclosure, I have been writing fanfiction as long as I've been writing, which is a damn long time. I am also on staff for the Organization for Transformative Works, which not only runs one of the most popular fanworks archives on the web, but is a non-profit which in part deals with the legitimacy of fanworks from a legal standpoint. I'm also an author with properties of my own.

Personally, I'm for fanfiction in a general sense. If anyone ever writes fanfiction or creates fan works about my own properties, I will count that a positive thing. In my opinion, fanfiction does great things for copyright. But this post isn't about that - it's about Kindle Worlds. From the perspective of people involved in the creation of fanworks, it has always been the cardinal rule - Thou Shalt Not Sell Thine Fanfiction, Lest Thou Incur the Wrath of the Author. Kindle Worlds seems poised to change all that.

Based on my reading of the limited information on the Amazon site, there are some big caveats.

Firstly, you can only publish fanfiction in the fandoms that are allowed - presumably Amazon will need to negotiate with each copyright holder for the right to include them in the program. I think that's really key. If someone is going to profit by their fanfiction, it should be with the blessing of the one who created the world. I think that this could create a wonderful symbiotic relationship, even more than fanfiction already does, without forcing any copyright holders into a situation where they feel threatened by the - shall we say - legitimized fanfiction.

Secondly, they won't allow any porn, offensive material, bad fanfiction, crossovers, or "illegal or infringing content". Setting aside the last one, it makes me wonder if there will actually be any fanfiction that qualifies for the program. Most importantly, they really don't say what's illegal or infringing. Isn't all fanfiction sort of illegal and infringing at this point? No one really knows, which has always been the problem.

I truly hope there will be some really clear guidelines about that, or I seriously doubt this will take off. Fanfiction authors are already inclined to batten down the hatches at any hint that their hobby is being noticed by the mainstream world at large. To violate the cardinal rule and risk being sued is something I think few people will be willing to do, unless they can trust that the risk is minimal enough to be worth it.

As a final point, a Forbes article on the announcement has a quote in there saying that the contract will give Amazon full rights to the fanfic, and the writer will not retain any publication rights over the work. According to John Scalzi (President of SFWA and all around intelligent dude), this clause makes this into a "Work for Hire" sort of contract where you are literally giving your fanfic away in return for royalties on the sale, for the full term of copyright - which would be your life plus 75 years I do believe (thanks, Disney).

This is a huge deal, and one I hope they remove from the final contract. I didn't see any hint of that on the Amazon site so far, but Amazon is only giving generalized information at the moment.

I don't write in any of the fandoms that will be offered upon original launch, and I'm also concerned about Amazon having the right to republish and profit from any fanfic I did publish in the program if I chose to do so, so at this point I'm very much in "wait and see" mode. Other people have tried to profit off of fanfiction in the past, and it has always met with an extreme negative backlash. But none of those people have been Amazon, so we'll see where this goes.

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So I know I said I wouldn't be mentioning this again, but I learned a few things on this first foray into the world of pen names. I thought people could benefit from it.

Yesterday I uploaded my story to all three of my distributors - Amazon, Kobo, and Smashwords.

Both Amazon and Kobo weren't a problem at all. They have a place for putting in the author's name, and my two books are now sitting on my respective dashboards, separated out by author name, but otherwise fully integrated.

Smashwords doesn't have a field for this. When I uploaded the file, it popped up under my real name and I couldn't find any way to change it. This is... a problem.

I've emailed them to ask for help and I'm still waiting to hear back. I'll let you guys know how that goes.

I figure if they simply don't support multiple author names, I'll have to create a separate account. The problem there, is that it will add yet another place where sales are accumulating, and further delay my payday. Furthermore, it increases the number of places I need to log in to check my sales and such. It's annoying, but not insurmountable.

I'm out of town for the long weekend. On Monday I'll tell you how I accidentally attributed my gay erotic vampire story to an author who writes about the Amish.

Over the last couple of months, you've likely seen me refer several times to an anthology I'm putting together, compiling all of my Grim Hunter stories. If you look back on the tags for that series, you'll see quite a bit of discussion about it.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about this. These are erotic stories, and while there's nothing illegal about them, I've recently had the ex-husband of one of my clients stalk my LinkedIn and make false reports about me to the Law Society. It's all handled, but it's made me rethink my strategy a bit.

I have a YA series in the works, and I'm also a lawyer. Silly as it may seem, some people may have issues putting this together with writing gay erotica about vampires.

So I've decided to release the Grim stories under a pseudonym. Thus, this will be the last time I talk about it in this particular blog, unless I create a new blog or website for the pseudonym. If you want to keep up with these stories and be notified when they come out (and the first of them is going to be released as a single very, very soon) please join my mailing list. The link for that is at the bottom of this post and many of the posts I make. All announcements for both Jessica Steiner and the works under the pseudonym - Suzanne Fisher - will be made there.

I'd love to hear thoughts on pseudonyms! Have you ever considered using one? Or do you use one? Why?

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Okay, I wasn't going to double up and instead was just going to finish on May 1st, but then I just decided to go for it and get this finished.

One of the things that I've always struggled with is names. Names of characters in particular. Now, I've already talked about language formation, and there is definitely some information in there that is helpful for making alien names. But what about the rest of the names?

Firstly, I try to think about what sort of name I want. I think about the feeling of the name - should it be short or long, smooth or harsh? Should the name evoke any particular ideas, or feelings? Is there any particular ethnicity or nationality that the character should come from? Do you want to reference anything with the name, such as a particular meaning or historical figure? The choices I make are helpful in settling on a name in the end.

For example, when I named the main character of Dreaming - Prescott Samuel Cox - I was naming a lawyer, from a family of lawyers. I wanted the name to sort of sound like that. I also wanted Sam to be embarrassed of his first name, because it was so traditional and old-fashioned, and so he goes by his middle name. In the Dream world, everyone calls him by his true name, Prescott. It's one way that I differentiate the book between when Sam is in the real world, or in the dream world.

Once I've figured out a few criteria, then I mine various sources for actual names to use. I get names from a couple sources. Sometimes I'll steal a first or last name from a person I know (A few characters' last or first names are the same as one of my clients - but never both!!)

Mostly all I do is google for baby names. There are a tonne of websites with first names that you can choose from. There are also a tonne of websites with lists of surnames by nationality. There are websites that allow you to search by letter, by nationality, by meaning. When you start scanning lists, you will probably find something you like.

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I hope you've enjoyed this month and all of my tips. I'll be putting all of these posts together, editing them and fleshing them out, and putting out a book. If you've liked the information in these posts, I hope you like the final version.

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I'm going to get straight into the tips today. Firstly, I'm catching up on Game of Thrones. Second, I've got a lot to say and not much time to type.

Today we're going to talk about how to make new aliens. This works for both science fiction and fantasy - just because I call them aliens doesn't mean there isn't magic involved. These tips will work either way.

1. Know something about evolution. If their planet is all desert, then the race should reflect that. They should be adapted to their climate. Their culture should reflect coming from a hot, dry climate where water is scarce. The planet they evolved on will permeate every aspect of their lives, even if they've left that planet long ago.

2. Know something about biology. You don't have to have a degree, but you should do some research. There are reasons why humans are the way they are. Nearly every aspect of our biology enhances our survival in some way - or at least doesn't increase our chances of getting eaten by a lion. If you want your alien to have tentacles coming out of your eyeballs, know why. One thing I often do is listen to science shows and pick up on miscellaneous weird biology that's real on Earth. Did you know that there is a type of termite that rushes their enemies and then blows themselves up? I heard that on a podcast, and promptly added a new caste to the aliens in Dale and the Bug Aliens from Outer Space.

3. Know something about sociology, politics, economics and religion. Don't just make up something with tentacles and plunk them on a ship and consider yourself finished. Every person comes from a context, and it's not necessarily a familiar context. These aliens don't come from Earth, so they shouldn't think and act like people from Earth who happen to have a different kind of nose. Think about what you know about their race already, and build on it. Give your aliens a unique context, influenced by their weird biology, and their exciting planet, and they will be richer and more interesting.

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Everyone knows that a story needs to have conflict. In fact, every single scene in your story should have conflict. Conflict is the main point of a story, and if there's no conflict in a story, then there's no story.

But knowing that, if you're like me, then you have a hard time sometimes figuring what constitutes conflict.

Conflict isn't just about having a fight on every page. If your book is filled with scene after scene of people arguing with each other, it'll get boring. Conflict is about your character overcoming an obstacle in their path.

Conflict is when a rainstorm stands between a lover and their date, and they don't have an umbrella.

Conflict is when a character desperately needs money to achieve their goal, but doesn't know where to get any.

Conflict is when a character is tempted to do something they know is wrong, but it'll help them to accomplish something great.

Conflict can be internal or external. It can be with other characters, or with natural forces, or with their own conscience.

A good shoot-em-up battle is fun, too.

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Listen to my interview on Adventures in Sci Fi Publishing! I talk mostly about Mortis Unbound, and Star Trek.

I know I'm a day behind and... despite the fact that I've been preparing for a 5-day Supreme Court trial starting on April 29th, I will get through this, I swear.

Anyway.

Theme!

If you're like me, you groan when you hear or read this word. I used to enjoy English classes only to the extent to which I was able to a) read a book that I actually enjoyed, or b) write a story. Analyzing books for theme was always one of those things that struck me as relatively pointless, or at least an exercise that was best left to people who liked that sort of thing.

However, identifying the theme of your own novel is really useful for a number of reasons. And I do mean identifying. You don't necessarily shoe-horn your theme in and then try to make your story fit it, but it should evolve organically and become clear at some point in the process. Sometimes, when you type 'The End', but maybe sooner.

So, a couple of reasons why identifying your theme is good:

1. It can help to unify a novel or series. If you know the theme of your series is something like "love can conquer all" then it's easier to ensure that the ultimate resolution of the story is in line with that philosophy. Doing that, will make the story tie together in a more satisfying manner.

2. It gives you something to talk about. When writing synopses, or back cover copy, or even just talking about your novel, it's really important to be able to explain what it's about in a short, intriguing way. Knowing the theme gives you a starting point for figuring out how to do that. Now, you probably won't actually describe the theme in such an explanation, but it can help to focus your mind so it's not just "well, it's about this guy, and one day he..." and ten minutes later your audience is glazing over.

I talked about this a little yesterday, but let's talk about it a bit more. Not only is it important for your story to be interesting and not predictable. It's also important that the stakes be as high as you can make them.

Don't just make the character's life in danger if you can threaten his entire family. Don't just threaten his family if you can threaten his whole world. Don't just threaten the world if you can threaten the universe.

The higher the stakes, the more you can ratchet up the tension, and the bigger the payoff when the hero saves the day.

That being said, stakes should be appropriate to your genre and the scope of your story. If your story is set entirely in a single small town, even if it is a science fiction story rather than a romance or drama, it'd be strange if the whole universe were threatened. If the story is about a serial killer threatening the town, the whole world is probably not going to be at stake in the end game. But the main character's family and/or loved ones should almost certainly come into play.

Whether the scope of your story encompasses a galaxy-spanning Empire or a single high school chess club, don't make the stakes small and easy to overcome. You want to push your characters to the limit of what they can endure, and then it'll be far more satisfying when they overcome it.

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Today's tip is about creating places for your fantasy or science fiction setting.

You can go into more or less detail depending on how much you're going to use your setting in the story. But regardless of whether your entire series is going to be set in one small town, or if a particular place is only going to be used for one scene, you should consider the following five areas:

1. Climate and geography - What is the weather like? What are the major geographical features? How do these geographical features and the weather interact and affect one another?

2. Natural resources, economics, major industries - What sort of natural resources does this place have? What sorts of industries are important in this area? What sort of resources does this area need and has to obtain from elsewhere or go without?

3. History - What important events have taken place in the history of this place? How have those histories shaped the local culture?

4. Culture, ritual, religion - What sorts of cultural or religious rituals are common here? Holidays, rites, cultural events? Are there multiple cultures/ethnicities/religions in this area or is it more monolithic? Think about rituals around food, greetings, gestures, other important interactions like first meetings and visits to friends.

5. Politics - Who are the major political figures? What external and internal political forces are at play? What kind of political system does this place follow? Is the political landscape stable, or unstable?

There are many other areas one might think of, as well. Don't just make up a city that's the same as a place you've been before and give it a new name. Don't just assume things like cultural rituals or political system, like the ones you're used to. Your new places will have more spice and realism if you think outside the box and come up with things that are new and different.

There are as many ways of planning a novel as there are authors (possibly as many ways as there are novels) but I wanted to share my general process for outlining with you today.

This outlining process is something I do after I've already done quite a bit of planning. I have a strong idea of the main characters and the general plotline before I start doing this. When I work out the plotline, I do it in paragraphs, with the main events (the turning points in the 3-act structure if you follow that method) acting as anchor points in the plotline document. What I have is a multi-page document setting out a summary of the most important points in the story in chronological order.

So with that in mind, the next thing I do is organize the plotline into scenes. I just write a few sentences for each scene, and I usually do this in an excel spreadsheet or something so it's easy to reorganize them into a different order.

I try to make sure I hit all the anchor points approximately equi-distant from one another.

I will often also specify POV in a different column in the table, especially if it's a story with multiple points of view.

When I begin writing, I have a road-map of a paragraph or so, letting me know the main points I need to hit in each scene. Often the paragraph will actually wind up expanding out into more than one actual scene, especially when you factor in cliffhangers that will split a scene into two pieces with a chapter break or other scene in another location in between. However, the outline keeps me from going too far afield or forgetting to establish something that's necessary in a later scene.

How do you do your outlines? Or do you just fly by the seat of your pants?