OTW Guest Post: Cecilia Tan

[otw_staff]

"Pro writers: this isn’t a zero sum game. Every minute a reader’s eyeballs are on fanfic does not mean a minute is subtracted from the attention the original work receives. We don’t get paid per eyeball or per minute anyway: there is no Nielsen rating for books. If anything we get "paid" these days for the size of our audience (author “platform”) and the passion of reader engagement, both of which are GROWN via the vehicle of fanfic. Fans are good for a career. Fans are good for a writer to have. Fans are not merely a passive sea of consumers: fans are evangelists, recruiters, and cheerleaders. Given that, why wouldn’t a professional writer want to do everything possible to support fans and fandom?

The OTW supports fandom and encourages fan activities in a number of ways. For me the most important one is by being that voice of reason, an authoritative voice that fights the myths and demystifies the issues. That means helping fans feel secure that what they are doing is neither morally wrong nor likely to get them sued. That means reminding corporations (and lawmakers) when necessary that fanfiction is legal and why fair use and fanworks are beneficial to the ecosystem of ideas. And that means educating authors, too, about why life is better when you accept fanfic is okay rather than railing against it.”

Award winning author Cecilia Tan writes about pro writers’ relationship with fanfic and why OTW’s work matters.