Amazon Alternate Universe
I’m not clear on this, so I’m just posting facts. The article to which I’m linking talks about how Amazon is having success with alternate universe fiction…which is like fan fiction, but not absolute fan fiction. (I think)
Here’s an explanation that might put all this into perspective. I’m not going to attempt to define it in a short post.
Also, the article to which I’m linking mentions author, Hugh C. Howey. I’ve posted about him before, here, with regard to alleged (keep in mind alleged is the key word and nothing has been proven by any means) paid book reviews and aggressive author promotion that includes influencers. He’s one of the alleged amazon .99 millionaires and works with literary agent, Kristin Nelson, in Denver. The Nelson Agency was one of the first to start an e-publishing service for its clients/authors, working with clients in partnership to self-pub digital books. NLA’s Digital Liaison Platform was mentioned in a post here, by Nelson, that discusses how literary agents are changing with the times.
And then Amazon.com opened a creative door for him (Howey). The book-publishing unit at the online retail giant created an imprint devoted to fan fiction, Kindle Worlds, last May. Fan fiction is often dismissed as mediocre writing by wannabe authors.
If there is a bottom line to all this, I think it has to do with the fact that readers want these books and they don’t always care as much about originality as they do about storyline. Readers want to be entertained. I know a lot of writers who have a problem with it. I don’t. If readers want this I see no reason why they shouldn’t get it.
Amazon is betting its alternative universe will succeed because its business model is different. The company doesn’t need blockbusters to offset the duds in its library. That’s because the lion’s share of the books it publishes are read digitally. Amazon doesn’t have to worry about printing costs, distributing books to stores and buying back unsold books from those stores.
You can read more here. It will be interesting to see if this really does take off. I have a few alternate universe stories I’d like to execute but I’ve been fearful of the review police who might try to shoot me down. And they do that, especially if you aren’t a promotion aggressive author like me who is willing to do anything to get reviews. I also have to make a point of actually reading one of Hugh Howey’s books to see what everyone’s talking about. When I do, I’ll post a full review here on the blog.
The Fosters
Friends of mine turned me on to a new TV show called, The Fosters. It’s about a same-gender couple fostering kids and it’s breaking many gender boundaries, educating people, and getting into topics we normally don’t see anywhere.
There are two people in the picture above. Callie is on the left. She is a young, straight woman who was born female and identifies as such (also known as ‘cisgender’). She’s bounced from foster home to foster home with her little brother, always with a protective watch over him. She is currently living with the Fosters, a same-gender couple, and is “in love” with one of her foster brothers. Unless you watch the show, how could you know such personal details? Is it visible? Can you just “sense” it, whatever that means? No? Ok.
You can read more here, and check The Fosters out on the ABC Family Channel. It airs Monday nights, 9/8c.
LGBTI Arrests in Russia
Unless you read publications that are LGBTI oriented you are not going to get all the news about what’s happening in Russia during the Olympics. On Friday, more than a dozen LGBTI activists were arrested in Red Square and why they were arrested is sketchy at best.
Police arrested 10 activists near Moscow’s Red Square who held rainbow flags as they sung the Russian national anthem just before the games opened. Authorities have released the advocates, but reports indicate police beat and threatened to sexually assault them while they were in custody.
I’ve read various comments about them being arrested because they didn’t have permission to protest. But even if that is the case an arrest is something completely different from sexual assault and beatings.
Unfortunately, it might take months to find out what really happened. And that will be long after everyone has forgotten about how “exciting” and “heartwarming” the Olympic games actually are.