fan fiction
Amazon and Warner Bros. go into fan-fiction business
A week that began with Yahoo’s $1.1 billion deal for Tumblr got even stranger this morning with Amazon Publishing’s announcement of Kindle Worlds, billed as the first commercial publishing platform for fan fiction. In short, fanfic writers can now earn royalties for certain corporate-sanctioned stories.
For the launch, Amazon Publishing has secured licenses from Alloy Entertainment, the book-packaging division of Warner Bros. Television, for Cecily von Ziegesar’s Gossip Girl, Sara Shepard’s Pretty Little Liars and L.J. Smith’s The Vampire Diaries — all bestselling young-adult series that have spawned hit television shows. More licenses are expected to be announced soon.
May his fire burn everlasting: The resurgence of the cocaine-fueled Snowflame
Snowflame
Although he died a not-so-glorious death in his first appearance way back in 1988′s New Guardians #2, the cocaine-sniffing DC villain Snowflame is making a minor comeback. The Colombian drug lord has been featured recently on Cracked.com and io9, and now he has his own fan-fiction webcomic by artist Julie Sydor.
Snowflame tells the further adventures of the part drug-sniffing supervillain, part cult leader who first and last appeared in a forgettable series that spun out of DC’s Millennium crossover. That appearance must have made an impact on Sydor, as she not only turned him into a My Little Pony–what greater sign is there that you’re achieved cult status than someone turning you into a My Little Pony?–but also kicked off a webcomic that pits him against Green Arrow, Batman and Raven.
