This is an article I wrote for Jacqueline Lichtenberg's blog Alien Romances back in 2015. It was part of her series entitled 'Marketing Fiction In A Changing World' which writers who want their works to be read would do well to study. What has marketing got to do with fan fiction when we can't sell it, I hear you ask? It all depends on how you define the success of your work.
Fan fiction is a strange beast not least because there is no clearly definable metric that can be placed against it to show which is successful, either in terms of popularity or quality.
Success for the professional author is relatively easy to define by sales, by which author tops the best seller lists, but does financial success mean that their works are more worthy of critical acclaim than works which were not as popular? Commercial success does not always equate to the critical acclaim of posterity. I don't recognise any of the books in the top ten best sellers list for 1954 whereas The Lord Of The Rings, the first volume of which was released that year, is universally known and loved. To be a best selling author doesn't guarantee that your works will be remembered as classics. Ever heard of Gilbert Patten?
That is why awards such as the Hugo and Nebula are of value, they represent works which are considered by an international convention of their readers and fellow writers to be the best for that year.
By contrast, fan fiction has no 'best-seller' lists. By their very nature transformative works cannot currently be sold for copyright reasons and commercial publishers, even print on demand companies such as LuLu, will not even print them.
The printing and distribution of hard copy stories based on copyrighted subjects had to wait until the invention of methods of printing that were within the reach of non-professionals. This heralded the birth of the fanzine but, again, there are no 'best selling' fanzine lists because profit was never a factor in their production (although some classic 'zines have taken on a collectible value). Awards, on the other hand, have been a staple part of the fan fiction world from 1977 onwards, primarily in the form of the Fan Q Awards and their recipients can be justifiably proud of them since they represent the appreciation of their audience and peers in much the same way as the Nebulas.
There have been immense changes in the nearly fifty years since those first Trekzines came out, which have mirrored the recent upheavals in the commercial market. From the way books have been printed, distributed and sold to the whole relationship between the author, publisher, printer, bookseller and reader, publishing has changed and so too has fan fiction. Just as Print On Demand is a revolution in printing, the combination of word processing software and home printers can handle most small fanzine runs. Ebook publishing has almost reached 'button-press' automation so that authors can create their own ePub and kindle compatible files.
Personally I am a fan of the pdf online publishing platform which we have based our output on at TrekUnited Publishing. And with acceptance of online commerce the fan fiction community has whole-heartedly embraced the internet. It's not just the technology of production and distribution which has changed though. Just as the relationship between the author, publisher and reader has changed in the road from pen to bookshop, the world of fan fiction has changed as well.
Fifty years ago, print fanzines delivered by mail or exchanged or sold at conventions were the only means of distribution for fan fiction but the internet has created a world-wide audience for anyone who can string a story together. Unfortunately this has created such a flood of material that finding the best quality fiction to read is now a problem. Most fan fiction authors will chose a 'home forum' where they will release their stories. Many of them, such as Ad Astra and The Delphic Expanse amongst many, have challenges, competitions and awards but, good as they are, they still represent niches within the larger world of fan fiction. In this massive but fragmented world of fan fiction, how does a fan fiction author now judge their work to be successful or of value?
The simplistic method would be to count the number of downloads they get but how do you know if your reader enjoyed it or even finished it? My experience has been that feedback is the coin of fan fiction, whether it is the copper of a thank you note or the gold of a detailed 'concrit', constructive critique. Feedback tells these amateur authors what you liked or disliked about their story but it is usually a localized, popularity feedback that is often just the support of online friends.
What fan fiction authors need, if they truly wish to hone their craft, is the critique of either an extremely large, motivated, international audience or the reasoned 'concrit' of judges they respect. What is needed is an internationally contested and judged writing competition.
I shake my head that I have said that because I am not a great fan of competition in the creative arts. I've seen it bring out the worst in people as well as the best and it can spoil an otherwise positive experience. On the other hand showing appreciation for exceptional work is worth doing and, speaking personally, just to have my work considered part of a field which included writers I admire and respect would be creatively fulfilling.
Taken in the true spirit of sportsmanship, competition stimulates you to strive harder to give your best, allows you to learn from your fellow contestants and analysis of the judging can be an objective critique of your work.
It is that last, especially, that sways me to support the idea of an online fan fiction award. The medals or certificates are nice but they are nothing compared to the approbation of your peers.
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