I didn't comment on this part in my last note, but should've:
It is often not just a case of being 'interested in something new'. For a fanfic author who has turned professional, their future career could be at stake.
Whether or not "it often is," in the cases in question, it certainly seemed to be. I wasn't generalizing all instances of authors deciding to remove online postings. I do understand the dilemma, and the concern about being associated with previous stuff when you've chosen an entirely different genre to write in. Furthermore, if you're writing under the same moniker, it seems wise to make sure that confusion is avoided.
That said, I continue to be puzzled by the perception that fanfic will scuttle writing careers. I've seen several writers get signed (Naomi Novik, Meg Cabot), and their past dabblings haven't hurt them. As demonstrated neatly by the case of Cassandra Claire, publishers don't care at all about fanfiction involvement. I may be proved wrong -- after all, her first YA book hasn't officially hit shelves yet, and some reporter somewhere may dredge up the fanfic plagiarism stuff and stuff may go down. I think they're not going to bother, though.
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regna
Also
Date: 2007-02-03 11:00 pm (UTC)It is often not just a case of being 'interested in something new'. For a fanfic author who has turned professional, their future career could be at stake.
Whether or not "it often is," in the cases in question, it certainly seemed to be. I wasn't generalizing all instances of authors deciding to remove online postings. I do understand the dilemma, and the concern about being associated with previous stuff when you've chosen an entirely different genre to write in. Furthermore, if you're writing under the same moniker, it seems wise to make sure that confusion is avoided.
That said, I continue to be puzzled by the perception that fanfic will scuttle writing careers. I've seen several writers get signed (Naomi Novik, Meg Cabot), and their past dabblings haven't hurt them. As demonstrated neatly by the case of Cassandra Claire, publishers don't care at all about fanfiction involvement. I may be proved wrong -- after all, her first YA book hasn't officially hit shelves yet, and some reporter somewhere may dredge up the fanfic plagiarism stuff and stuff may go down. I think they're not going to bother, though.