Well, good for you, Pamela
The Observer brings us this relevant tidbit in an article about fan fiction:
A librarian in Idaho recently received a $150,000 advance from Simon & Schuster to publish a three-novel trilogy about a character from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.
The whole article is definitely worth a read.
October 30th, 2006 at 12:12 pm
Did anyone notice that the Observer article in question is awfully similar to the Wall Street Journal article from mid-September? http://www.austenblog.com/archives/2006/09/17/playing-in-janes-sandbox/
Note: By “similar to,” I mean, “appears to be paraphrased directly from.” It uses all of the same examples, even omitting the same authors’ names. And the flow and wording are just way too close to be a coincidence in my opinion. I read the Observer article the other day and thought, “I’ve read this before!” so then I went hunting for the Wall Street Journal article to compare…
October 31st, 2006 at 1:58 pm
MAybe the same freelancer wrote them both to make more money ;D
I find fanfiction rather interesting; I write myself actively my own things, but have never given fanfic a shot. I sometimes visit Fanfiction.com, and its interesting how other people see the characters in my favourite movies/TV/books. To some stories there it’s easy to smile and nod, and other make me cringe. It is sad though that so many stories are short, badly written and full of spelling error. That Pamela Aidan got published already says she must have been better writer than most.
October 31st, 2006 at 4:13 pm
“That Pamela Aidan got published already says she must have been better writer than most.”
Eh… not necessarily. Emma Tennant is published too, and her stuff is absolutely appalling, as are a few other examples of paraliterature you’ll find on the shelves. The majority is - at best - merely mediocre. There are only a precious few that are relatively intriguing, well-written and faithful reflections of the characters and worlds Austen created, and which actually add something of a new dimension to the original works and your enjoyment of them. I can’t tell you how much paraliterature I’ve read, but I do know that I can probably count the books that meet that criteria on one hand.
November 1st, 2006 at 10:34 am
Must be nice to be her. I write fan fiction, but I’m very new to it. And I write it because I love Austen. I certainly don’t have Simon & Schuster beating down my door. No six figure advances for me. I’m gaining my fans the hard way, one at a time. Though most of my fans are actually for my original fiction, my fan fic has a limited readership. Maybe I should move to Idaho?
November 1st, 2006 at 2:05 pm
KArenlee, I actually checked one of Tennant’s books out of the local library once. Never got beyond page three
By the better than most I simply referred to the technical quality - somewhat decent language, grammar, and spelling, and a storyline of sorts. About the actual content I will say nothing. My greatest problem with spin-offs is always that they only depict one person’s idea of how things are; I would find it very distracting to read a sequel/prequel which didn’t fit my own imagination.
I think it is relatively easy to imitate literary styles - I write myself and have written a story in Austen’s style (it was crap probably, but getting in the right flow was quite easy - I used my own characters and story, I should add), but the idea I suppose is that the writer tells us precisely as much as she/he wants to, and the idea of “official” spin-off sort of goes against that. Proper fanfiction, written in the spirit of just getting one’s own idea out is an easier concept for me get.
Apologies for the bda spelilng