[ SECRET POST #5216 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #5216 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 48 secrets from Secret Submission Post #747.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

05. https://i.imgur.com/1zo9Dbz.jpg

[(Anonymous)]

*deep sigh*

Once again another "lol a shameless writer is trying to write their own novel omg how let's laugh about how bad it's gonna be" secret.

Really starts to make me think there's a hatred in fandom for fanauthors trying to do their own thing. And it's really gross

[(Anonymous)]

Sounds to me like OP isn't mocking all fanfiction authors who want to write original fiction, but rather just one specific person who isn't very nice.

AYRT

[(Anonymous)]

Yes. But tbh in the time I've been here a lot of secrets about fic authors writing their own novels feel like they follow a trend. A rather negative trend.

Looking at this secret I feel like I've seen in in variations before.

It bothers me.

Re: AYRT

[(Anonymous)]

nayrt but on the flip side, if someone's excited about a BNF publishing an original novel, they probably wouldn't make a secret about it. FS doesn't get as many positive secrets in general.

If it makes you feel better, I personally know several fanfic writers who went on to write original fiction. We've been friends for years and I support their efforts, which isn't hard because I enjoy their writing. But that's not very secret-worthy or something I mention in casual conversation.

Re: AYRT

[(Anonymous)]

Exactly. Some of my favorite fic authors have written and published original fiction. I don't make secrets about them, because I have been publicly, in namespace, talking about how excited I am for those books/how much I enjoyed the books.

Anonymous secrets are for the things you don't want associated with your name (or pseud, or other consistent identity), and being happy that good books exist is not usually one of those things.

[(Anonymous)]

OP even said that they enjoy this person's fic, it just sounds like it's their original writing that's bad. And that's fair - there are plenty of people who can write awesome fic but who can't write their own original characters/plot to save their life.

[(Anonymous)]

I know what you mean. A few people are so... nose-up-in-the-air about their fantastic prose and grammar that you'd think they're the new Hemingway but they're probably just some self-published semi-known author or JK Rowling at best. Worse, they're that damn serious... about fanfic. And fanfic writers. Of all things. Lol. Of course I'm not saying this based on *this* secret, just others that I've seen in here. Yes. Some people are nasty and seem to forget how subjective artistic taste is and maybe more when it comes to writing.

[(Anonymous)]

On the one hand, if this BNF isn't even letting anyone edit their manuscript beyond a surface level, then I can understand OP feeling kind of judgmental. Because while it is 100% fine to go beta-free with fanfic and I don't judge anyone for choosing to do that, working with an editor is a pretty integral part of being a professional author.

OTOH, I do agree with your comment in general. There seems to be a certain hostility a lot of fans have to people who are attempting to get published. You can really tell that a lot of people want the aspiring authors in fandom to fail. There's this attitude of, "You should be mature enough to realize your aspirations are unrealistic, and I'm annoyed that you don't realize that," or something. It's an attitude that always leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I wanted to be an author as a teen, but realized in my twenties that I was not remotely cut out for it. However, I still think it's cool that other people pursue that dream, and it's none of my business whether they're cut out for it or not.

[(Anonymous)]

Well, just because it's a trainwreck to you doesn't mean other people won't enjoy it.

[(Anonymous)]

As someone who is currently reading a trainwreck of a fic that will probably become a book (serial numbers and all that), i have to agree. Trash and treasure, right?

Except I'll admit to enjoying this trash lol. But heavy editing is needed.

[(Anonymous)]

Lol that cat

[kallanda_lee]

Not going to lie - I'd be amused, too. But if it's so bad, it likely won't get published.

[(Anonymous)]

Self publishing is a thing.

[(Anonymous)]

+1, and the people who enjoy the BNF's other work will probably buy and enjoy it anyway.

[kallanda_lee]

Oh, it totally is. But depending on how they estimate their ability, they might try actual publishers first.

[(Anonymous)]

(Cozy Werewolf Anon) using your fanbase to support you self-pubbing something is extremely risky. Usually, it works best if the thing is an AU of the fandom they're a BNF in already. See 50 Shades (who abused AO3 marketing.) Cassie Claire (who abused and stepped on everyone.) After (I dunno the story behind this one actually.) And so on.

But honestly, not enough info given in the secret. There's nothing wrong with trying it. Just err... they better be a pretty huge BNF.

[(Anonymous)]

NA - Yeah, I've been reading fanfic voraciously for fifteen years and there's like...two or three fic writers whose original fiction I might look into if they were like, "Hey, I got published, check it out!"

Convincing people to make the leap from reading your fanfic to reading your original fiction is very, very difficult. No matter how beloved a fanfic author is and no matter how good their fanfic is, my guess is that 99% of their readers will not follow them to original fiction.

I just read Uprooted by Naomi Novik the other day (the first bit of her original fiction I've read), and I read it because my friend who is into fantasy fiction recommended it to me. I've been reading astolat's fanfic for like eight years, and that was way less of a persuading factor than my friend saying, "Hey, this is a good book, I think you might like it."

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah... honestly? I think the fanfic writers who mostly separate their fandom lives from their traditional publishing aspirations are usually more successful. Sure, they may throw in an OC or an OOC canon character to test out whether or not readers engage with them before they file the serial numbers off, but fanfic fanbases just don't carry over to original work most of the time.

[(Anonymous)]

(Cozy Werewolf Anon) Okay, given the almost literal 1 in a million chance of them being published traditionally. If this person can't take concrit b/c they think they don't need it, then they aren't going to make it in trad publishing. Period. (Setting aside how white, cis-het, neurotypical, sanitized, and MALE trad publishing is to begin with and how you have to hit the right trend at the right TIME.)

And the things I've seen many writers/authors say about editing, especially development editing, on twitter is just... depressing. And horrifying. And I need a pillow so I can bang my head against a wall frustrating. (The rules apply to you. You need to dev edit your book. I don't care who you think you are. I dev edit my books. Just do it.)

On the OTHER hand, let's say they are on... Wattpad. If they have a large following on Wattpad. Wattpad works with Simon and Schuster (one of the smaller of the big imprints.) And if you can stand S&S's publishing policies (which aren't really any better than any other imprint) then they MIGHT have a chance, if they have a big following. B/C at that point it is MARKETING. But they'll still have an acquisitions editor go over it and they'll probably have to change a LOT. But any agent that picks up a book off of wattpad is going to tell you, they aren't doing it to make a huge debut splash. They aren't going to put a huge marketing push behind it at all. (Mostly b/c of first rights publishing issues. Hand wave.)

Otherwise, well, there is self-pubbing, both serially (like on Wattpad or Royal Road or even Patreon) and wholesale on the 'Zon. But be prepared to be drowned out by everyone else trying the same thing. So, unless they have a 10 Grand marketing plan or, enough books to publish them every three months prepared in advance. Then... welcome to slush? Unless they're doing patreon then they better have a huge following actually interested in their original concept. (Many fan people actually aren't interested in original concepts unless that original concept was an AU of the fandom thing already. See 50 Shades, After, Cassie Claire, etc.)

so, those are the options. Enjoy your schadenfreude I guess, OP.

May I direct anyone interested to my website and my free Post Fiction Production guides to help anyone else avoid all these publishing pitfalls. Just scroll towards the bottom past my fiction stuff, but hey, if you like werewolves, I've got you covered. https://ginny0.wordpress.com/books/

[(Anonymous)]

Thanks for your intelligent insight, Cozy Werewolf Anon. I still need to read your stuff. I'm also a writer who did fandom stuff and is editing my first novel. (Editor lined up for June and everything)

I was never a BNF, but I sure know that fandom readers, as much as they say they like you, don't really care about original stuff. Not in my experience anyway.

[(Anonymous)]

Considering the trainwreck of "Fifty Shades of Grey" and how much that still raked in money, I won't be so sure that you're going to be gloating in the end...

[(Anonymous)]

50 Shades isn't exactly the norm, nonny. I'm guessing you don't know much about the world of self-publishing, or you'd know that most self-published authors (trainwrecks or not) aren't even close to earning that kind of money or fame.