Here's the scenario: You just wrote the next mega hit book destined for sequels along the lines of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. It's a phenomenal success, you go through all the talk shows, all that good stuff. So you find yourself with some spare time and find a message board for it on Yahoo or IMDB if you get a movie deal. Here's the question: Would you join the boards? Would you defend your work from trolls and non trolls who pick it apart? Would you go to threads where fans post their theories and make your own comment, or, even take their idea? Would you read FanFictions on your work? Or would you mkae FanFiction.Net prohibit FanFiction of your work? In other words, would you interact with the online fandom of your work and if so, in what ways?
given the popularity i'd probably limit my online participation to one place and one place, only. few things in existence would be more pointless than defending such work from online detractors. btw, i see very little relationship between harry potter and LOTR stuff, other than them both being in the fantasy genre. on literary strength one is like a cheeseburger and one is like filet mignon.
I've actually considered this before. Personally, I think I would be interested. I would join the fan boards and read what people have to say, but never admit to being the writer. Fanfiction I would swallow in great gulps, enjoying what other people think of my characters and the situations that will probably never come to happen. And I would, of course, allow fanfiction.net to open the gates for my readers. If there was, say, a board created by myself for fans to join, I would interact with them. After all, it's your fans that support you. I would never take a fan's idea, however. You can't please everyone, and if you please one fan, there's a whole slew more who will cry favoritism. I know my characters.
I probably would, as a silent observer, for one reason only - getting honest feedback. There's a lot of noise on those forums, but I might be able to see where my writing is failing to convey what I intended, or the occasional sharp cookie might see inconsistencies or flaws that I should consider in future installments. Also, some speculations might give me inspiration for more writing.
I'm naturally a very curious person, so I couldn't resist but to lurk on fansites and boards, lol. I would probably create an account and just troll myself, aha. I think that would be funny. Yes, I have a strange sense of humor. I would never claim to be the author, though, on any of the sites. Being anonymous about it would be fun, imo. I know I would definitely be very interested in reading what people like/dislike about my novel(s). I actually think it would be kind of helpful to read such opinions directly from your readers, not through some critic in the paper or magazine, etc. edit: as for fanfiction, I would be honored if people liked my work enough to write fanfiction from my universe. Honestly, to me, that's probably one of the best compliments readers can pay to a writer, when they participate in reading/writing fanfiction.
I might not join, but I would watch them as time allowed. I would stay involved with the community on a limited basis only dealing with people that feel are genuine fans or people of interest to me, perhaps really talented aspiring authors and the like. I would not deal with trolls on any basis, related to my work or in general as I despise trolls. But I would defend my work in the broad sense as I would check the honest feedback of my fans and look at the merits of what they said. There are sometimes things that need to be addressed and who knows that might give me an idea for another work. As far as fan fiction goes, I would not seek it out or make any attempt to read it. However I would accept submissions from honest fans, to a limited extent. Any fan fiction that if was good enough or creative enough I would publish under my name and give them credit as the originator or as the co-author depending on how much or little work I had to do to it. Proper paperwork would be required as well. At least I hope I would be able to do that. Chances are I would hiding in a hole hoping they would stop badgering me.
It reminds me of the CEO of Whole Foods (an all natural grocery store franchise in the USA). This guy joined Yahoo financial forums/groups and defended his company under an anonymous screen name. Then last year (I think), they found out who he was and he ended up creating even more negative publicity. So, I guess I wouldn't defend my work if I interacted with fans and detractors. In fact, I think I'd play the Devil's Advocate and provoke my fans. Kinda like Inkslinger said she'd do. Plus, I want to see to what lengths they'd go to defend me. Edit: By, paradoxically, attacking me.
if it's that much of a success, i'd ignore all such stuff... i don't see what good it would do and i'd be much better off using all my time to write the next blockbuster...
Well, I'm a little weird, I'll admit it. So I think I would join a board and post an incredibly harsh review, that way I could see what parts people would defend and what parts people would agree were problems.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery so I would love to see fan fiction of my stuff online. I suck at spelling
Like Cogito said, I'd watch silently, to see what people really thought, and see where I really needed to improve, also if there were any characters they didnt like. I wouldn't defend the book from trolls, because it would be a waste of time. I wouldn't like fan fiction. It's my story and my characters, and I wouldn't want people going in a direction that I did not intend. My book is very personal to me, in lots of ways, and so I dont think anyone else could pull it off (by that i'm not saying it's good and no one could write it as well as i did, just that no one could fit the style because it's my style)
I won't know until I am faced with this problem. Then, I'll get advice from others who are successful, seeking their experiences as a guide for my choices. Now for the real question - how the Hell am I going to get into this predicament?!
I'd allow my books to be on fanfiction; like someone mentioned, I think that's a great honor. I'd probably go on the boards but not admit to being the writer, so I could see what others thought of my books, and laugh silently at predictions that are dead wrong.
My work should stand on its own, so I'd stay out of all that sort of thing. Besides which, defending one's own work on things such as message boards is somewhat pointless, in my opinion. I'd just be opening myself up to flaming and all sorts of negativity which I really don't care to deal with. If anything I'd just lurk anonymously, read intelligent opinions of my work, then go and write something new and better than the other work. Forward motion, essentially. I'll pass on reading the fanfiction though. I've seen way too many of those with thoughts that should have been perished as soon as they existed, yet made it all the way into the form of badly-written ick. The good ones are too far and few between, alas. ~DragonHeart~
I'd definitely be interested in what others think, but I would not want to get incredibly involved, except on perhaps an official site devoted to my work. That would probably be the only place where I would post my opinions and information, since it could be trusted as being from "the horse's mouth," whereas anybody could impersonate me on a message board and spread false information. As for joining other sites, I think it'd be pretty unprofessional if I were to go out and "defend" myself from fans on their own sites. Professional writers should stay above the fray and not have to resort to such behavior, no matter how justified it may seem. I know I tend to lose a lot of respect for professionals, including webmasters, when they get embroiled in disputes and arguments. If I did reply, it would be on my own site, in a news update perhaps. I'd definitely love to interact with fans given that it's on my own terms--if they were to e-mail/write to me, say, or post something on my official site, if I had the time and were inclined to answer. (Flamebait would be ignored.) But yes, I'd love to interact with the fans in such a manner. I'd love that NOW! *keeps hoping* I might get inspired by someone's ideas but I'd never want to take them! The thing is, though, ideas aren't copyrighted, so one has to be careful what they do lest someone insist they "stole their idea." I bet every successful author gets that complaint at some time, no matter what they've (not) done. Fanfiction is iffy. Since I'm not seeking publication, I would adore it at the moment. (I might not read all of it, but I wouldn't mind its existence.) But it's different when you're published and you can honestly lose your copyrights if you allow or encourage it, in some cases. I'd have to really be sure of the law before deciding on what to do. If I were in no danger of losing my copyright or anything, however, no, I wouldn't prohibit fanfiction. If it's not taking money or my copyright away from me then I see no problem with it, no matter what weird things somebody would have my characters do. The way I see it, somebody would be thinking weird things about my characters anyway, no matter what I do. I might post a notice clarifying what sort of behaviors I wouldn't condone or agree with in fanfiction, but if somebody else wants to write them, that's them and not me. *shrug*
You can't lose copyright by allowing Fanfiction. If I wrote my own, alternate script for "The Dark Knight" and put it on FF.Net, that's not going to do anything to Nolan, Bale, or anyone else who makes money off of "The Dark Knight". Most FF writers will put a disclaimer claiming they don't own the work, even though it's an accepted fact if you're posting it on a Fanficiton site, you're not the creator of the work it's based off of. If they were to try and get it published, if you gave consent you could make money off of it along with the author, however you still gain just as much money from your original work as you would before.
I might join under an anonymous name and would PM aspiring writers or anyone else I liked as to my true identity. I won't interact with a troll. Trolls are all about destruction and chaos. I don't understand how anyone can get their jollies from putting people down or hurting feelings. I won't play this game because the more you react, the more the sense of forum community is disrupted. As soon as I identify a troll, that person may talk to my hand. I also report the suspected troll to a site administrator.
I'd be a lurker, too. Though I'd like to see it discussed on one of the boards I'm already a member of (like this one), and have someone go, "Hey, you know she's here, right?" Though, funny, but I've always had a dream of writing fanfiction of my own writing. That way I could go on FF.net and say in my disclaimer, "Yes, actually, I do own these characters. I created them. So there!". Childish, I know. But still...
There's no real point in joining anonymously if you plan on revealing your identity to some selected elite. It will get out. In my opinion, that is just ego-tripping. even if it isn't, it will be perceived that way when word gets out. If you go undercover, never break cover. Ever.
Ok Rowling fess up, we know your here, come out and there will be... cookies... Sorry. Could not resist stupidity impulse.
If I had the time and resources, I'd have my own site with a forum dedicated to my readers. I will allow them to hash it out amongst themselves. Some will love one book and hate the other while others will hate one book and love the other. The readers can then defend your books for you while you sit back and see which crit points are actually valid. You can then also learn what your readers loved about your stories and why. All other sites you can then basically ignore. Although, if you have money, hire someone to search all those sites that discuss your books and refer those people to your site instead. That way you can expose the readers to your new stuff...
How on earth could I pass up the opportunity to mess around with peoples minds like that? The possibilities are endless!
I'd join in as a typical member would. All the time, I see administrators on sites hanging out of discussions or just not participating at all, and while that's not necessarily a bad thing (especially if the person is very busy), I just think it's better when the creator of the site/person the site is about mingles with the "common folk." As for fan fiction, I'd be all for it. I started off as a writer of fan fiction; it'd be pretty hypocritical of me to not allow it. Besides, I really don't see what the problem is. The fan authors aren't profiting off of it, they aren't stealing the original author's glory... If anything, they're free advertising.
I would join in and pretend I'm just another reader. The internet is a great place to get feedback, and I won't get flooded if no one knows I'm the author. Of course, iIve never actually done this, but I laugh just thinking about it, so I might one day. But even if you don't do that, its still a great place to get feedback.
id have way~ to much fun creating a psuedonym for myself and creating perfect fanfics and perfect critiques. just imagine "Harry wipped his wand out of its holister "expeliarmus!" Comment: no no no no harry's wand is kept on his right side between his belt (as seen on page ###) and in this situation he would use the _____ spell to do _____ and _____. and his memories of ____ would be ____. then sit back and watch the jaws drop.
