Fan fiction

So, I've been thinking about this item from the LJ home page:  http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/68332629.html.

As a published author, I thought I should get my thoughts in order on the subject of fan fiction in the unlikely event that someone might want to write some based on my books.

I would be annoyed if other people started making money using my worlds/characters/various types of copyrighted intellectual property.  Dude, I can't even make money with my writing - you think I'm going to be happy if Fanny Fan makes a buck on my work?  No.

That being said, I would be flattered if my work became a subject for fan fiction.  Tobyn from the Clans books would be a perfect fan fic target, if only because he's such a slutty attention whore.

I started in fandom.  One of the first things I tried to write way back in 1978 when I was just a kid was a (truly execrable) Star Wars story (sorry, Darth George), and I was known to turn my hand to some fan fic back in my college days.  It would be the height of hypocrisy if I turned around now and demanded that no fan fic about my characters could be made anyone who had the inclination to do so.

I never made a dime on my fan fic, though.  That, I think, is the dividing line.

(I do think that it's sad to see talented writers not working on their own worlds and characters, but that's a conversation for another day.)