If you’ve been wishing that you could turn your fan fiction into a profit center, Amazon has the feature for you. The Internet retail giant has launched ‘Kindle Worlds,’ a new feature that will allow users to legally make money off of writing stories about licensed characters.
Amazon announced that it has reached a deal with Warner Bros. Television Group’s Alloy Entertainment, which will give fans of Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries and Pretty Little Liars a chance to make money off of their stories featuring characters from the shows.
Amazon Publishing will be responsible for paying royalties to both WBTV, which owns the universes or ‘Worlds,’ and the author. An author can earn 35 percent of the net revenue, per the industry standard for a work that’s at least 10,000 words. According to Paste Magazine, a shorter story that’s between 5,000 and 10,000 words will earn the author a 20 percent royalty rate. Of course, the net revenue will be based on the number of copies sold and royalties will be sent out monthly.
“At Kindle, we’re not only inventing on the hardware and software side of the business, we’re inventing new ways to create books,” Philip Patrick, Director, Business Development and Publisher of Kindle Worlds commented. “Our goal with Kindle Worlds is to create a home for authors to build on the Worlds we license, and give readers more stories from the Worlds they enjoy. We look forward to announcing additional World licensing deals in the coming weeks.”
Kindle Worlds will launch in June, with commissioned work by 50 authors will be available. At that point, writers can start submitting their own work.
image: The CW