How to disguise unauthorized sequel :-)

[viperfish]

Hi all,

I have a question. I am planning to write my first novel, and it is going to be a sequel to a young adult sci fi story I read as a boy. I have not been able to get in touch with the original publisher, and I am sure even if I could they would not give a brand new writer their blessing for a sequel. I am going to write this no matter what - if I have to, I will just keep it a private document, but I would like to publish it somehow, either through a publisher or self publishing. My question is, for publishing purposes, is there a certain amount of disguising that will protect me from legal action? Of course, I will not explicitly say that this is a sequel to the earlier work, and I was going to have a different protagonist anyway. But I would prefer to keep the universe of the original story as intact as possible - I mean, that's why I am writing a sequel.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Hi all,

I have a question. I am planning to write my first novel, and it is going to be a sequel to a young adult sci fi story I read as a boy. I have not been able to get in touch with the original publisher, and I am sure even if I could they would not give a brand new writer their blessing for a sequel. I am going to write this no matter what - if I have to, I will just keep it a private document, but I would like to publish it somehow, either through a publisher or self publishing. My question is, for publishing purposes, is there a certain amount of disguising that will protect me from legal action? Of course, I will not explicitly say that this is a sequel to the earlier work, and I was going to have a different protagonist anyway. But I would prefer to keep the universe of the original story as intact as possible - I mean, that's why I am writing a sequel.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

I’m not a lawyer but I’d have thought this would be plagiarism of another’s work, in this case the copying of their unique world. I don’t think you’d have a hope in hell of getting it published unless the work is out of copyright - is there a reason you’re not putting it up as fan fiction and just being honest about it?

 

[The Big Peat]

Read Lord of the Rings, read Sword of Shannara, put that much difference into your work, and never admit out loud to more than a respectful amount of influence.

 

[DLCroix]

Hi! First of all welcome.
Now, I think you would worry about all those details only when I finish writing the novel and once I put the word end. Because even writing a bad book is an immense amount of work, and getting a novel itself finished is reason enough to celebrate.
For the rest, there is the fanfic. I have a friend who wrote one of Harry Potter because she did not like the one she had just read and uploaded it to the network and even the author congratulated her and a famous publisher (RHM) hired her immediately. But that girl is an exception, she was fifteen then.
Still give it a try, buddy, and don't worry about those details just yet.

 

[Brian G Turner]

ny thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

You'd be welcome to write it, but you'd never be able to publish it as a sequel, unofficial of not. Some fan fiction writers have re-purposed derivative works precisely to get around this.

 

[viperfish]

Wow, this is exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for! thank you all so much. I am ashamed to admit it, but I had not heard of the term fan fiction before - but I have now googled it, and sure enough, it apples exactly to what I am trying to do. So I guess I would upload the finished book for free to some forum (which I am fine with doing)? Are there any forums that you recommend? I would of course let fans of the original work know on the fan facebook pages that I have found, but I don't believe I can post a whole novel there......I would have to email it to them or send them a link to a forum where I have posted it.....

 

[viperfish]

You'd be welcome to write it, but you'd never be able to publish it as a sequel, unofficial of not. Some fan fiction writers have re-purposed derivative works precisely to get around this.

Thank you for your reply. What do you mean, 'repurposed derivative work'?

 

[Venusian Broon]

Thank you for your reply. What do you mean, 'repurposed derivative work'?

Brian might mean something along these lines:

How (not) to write a sequel to Lord of the Rings

Let’s start at the end: “‘Well, I'm back,’ he said.” And with that, thousand-page long fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings is finally over – J.R.R. Tolkien drops the mic, and the history of Middle Earth is done. Except, of course, that if you turn the page, you’ll find the lengthy appendices in...

www.newstatesman.com

.

So basically, do your own version of the original as well, so that you've got proper continuity, but change it enough so that you don't get sued by the original authors estate

 

[tinkerdan]

It largely depends on how old the original work is and where you are and whether there might still be someone with ownership-family-friend-publisher and or other interested parties.

Here's an example of one that has gone off the rails over the years.

List of works based on The War of the Worlds - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Repurposed fan fiction would include things like 50 Shades Of Grey, Vorkosigan, where the Original world has been changed enough that a new world or story exists - but that doesn’t sound like what you’re doing.

Apparently Quote-V is a good site and they might know the legalities better. Some authors are more okay about fan-fic than others

 

[tinkerdan]

I was reading one author's work that obviously fit into the Star Trek universe.

Repurposed fan fiction would include things like 50 Shades Of Grey, Vorkosigan, where the Original world has been changed enough that a new world or story exists - but that doesn’t sound like what you’re doing.

Apparently Quote-V is a good site and they might know the legalities better. Some authors are more okay about fan-fic than others

However at the time She had too many gender neutral pronouns and the scuttlebutt is that there was enough control over the Star Trek fan-fiction to allow them to sanction certain work. So, she modified it just enough to publish it as her own work in her universe.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I was reading one author's work that obviously fit into the Star Trek universe.

However at the time She had too many gender neutral pronouns and the scuttlebutt is that there was enough control over the Star Trek fan-fiction to allow them to sanction certain work. So, she modified it just enough to publish it as her own work in her universe.

For those without the context - the first Vorkosigan book, Shards of Honour, was originally Star Trek fan fiction.

 

[JimC]

"So I guess I would upload the finished book for free to some forum (which I am fine with doing)?"

I sit on the Board of a Foundation that owns some of Robert Heinlein's Copyrights. If the original story were one of ours, we would NOT allow this and would take legal action to stop its publication. Please take your original copyright owner into consideration - they may rain on your parade. I wish you well and hope they don't.

 

[Narkalui]

www.fanfiction.net

And they even list on the site authors like Anne Rice who do not tolerate fan fiction based on their works

 

[Mad Alice]

Thank you for your reply. What do you mean, 'repurposed derivative work'?

Did you know that "fifty shades of gray" started out as a twilight fan fiction?
That is repurposed derivative works.
I wouldn't put the cart before the horse.
Start writing and your own unique voice as a writer just may make what you are thinking to be a fan fiction into an original work.
A good example of this is seen in the movie "Finding Forester".
In the movie the writer Forrester helps the boy who is having a case of writers block overcome it by starting to write by copying an essay that Forrester previously wrote, which is transformed as the boy copies and involuntarily adds his own viewpoints and opinions.
I think you will find yourself undergoing the same process as you write your story. That you will find a unique voice even while starting from inside someone elses work. And what you may end up with may very well be a journey quite separate from the book you admire that inspired you.
Forrester understood a fundamental truth about writers that assuaged any possible fears of the boy's cribbing his work. As writers we are very much disinclined to only retread what has gone before. We are an opinionated bunch and we each have our own individual approach or take to any subject and it is the need to express these personal viewpoints that drive us to write. Because we must share our world view, and go against the normitive desire for privacy and instead surrender that private part of us for public exhibition and whether it leads to disparage mentioned or acclaim is not as important to most as the actual making contact and being heard.
I think people today understand this need more with the advent of the "selfie" generation. People want their story told.
I think you have a great story in you waiting to be told, and I also firmly believe that once you are done writing you will find it is indeed your own personal story more then it is any sort of fan fiction and you could then submit it upon its own merits.
And then you might find that you don't need to keep writing it to a finish because you have finished the story enough for you.
However should you remain in the world of your favorite authors creation and seek to publish it, I would suggest you try the publisher of the original author, because that would know who currently holds the publishing rights to that story and any adjunct stories that are produced from the same world as well as being able to contact the authors on your behalf.

 

[viperfish]

However should you remain in the world of your favorite authors creation and seek to publish it, I would suggest you try the publisher of the original author, because that would know who currently holds the publishing rights to that story and any adjunct stories that are produced from the same world as well as being able to contact the authors on your behalf.

Getting in touch with the publisher (Simon and Schuster, Aladdin Division) was the first thing I tried, but didn't get anywhere. The website seems very careful to avoid giving out any contact info. Sent a message through their FB page but heard nothing back. If anyone here has any contacts, let me know! On the other hand, if the answer is going to be a No, maybe it would be better to not alert them beforehand so they won't be on the lookout for my book.....

 

[viperfish]

"So I guess I would upload the finished book for free to some forum (which I am fine with doing)?"

I sit on the Board of a Foundation that owns some of Robert Heinlein's Copyrights. If the original story were one of ours, we would NOT allow this and would take legal action to stop its publication. Please take your original copyright owner into consideration - they may rain on your parade. I wish you well and hope they don't.

So you are wishing me luck not ending up with someone like you? As I said in my original post, I would be ok with just writing this for myself, but I would like to share it with other fans if possible. On a fan page where I said I was going to do this several people said they would like to read my completed novel.
Just out of curiosity, can you tell me why you are so opposed to fan fiction, whereas some authors are fine with it?

 

[tinkerdan]

This might put you to sleep reading it.

Legal issues with fan fiction - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

However I think it covers the issues quite well.

I think the biggest reasons for allowing it is
1 it doesn't infringe on the authors income.
2 it can act as a means of free advertisement for the author.
3 not shutting it down is like a gesture of good will, makes the author look good and appear to be a good sport.


On a side note; what's interesting or would be, is when an author finds a fan-fiction idea compelling enough to use it--that sort of reverses the issue while at the same time the author is in the better position.

However, that is also a good reason for the author to avoid reading fan-fiction.

 

[JimC]

"So you are wishing me luck not ending up with someone like you?"

Yes.

I love fanfiction, but Ginny didn't allow it. Her restriction is binding.

 

[tinkerdan]

I was thinking:
[Don't try this at home.(the thinking)]
I have hundreds of books I've enjoyed.
Myriads of characters I have wanted to read more of.
However, not so much that I'd want to write those stories.
Not that I wouldn't if asked; however I'm not on the same level as
Spider Robinson
and
Kevin J. Anderson
so, there is that.

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