I just received an email from Amazon. I copied it below in case you would like to read it. Basically it says Kindle Worlds is going away. I am sad to see that, but not surprised. They did nothing (that I ever saw) to promote its existence and, other than a few other writers, I never ran into anyone who had ever heard of it.
Still, I thought it was a great way to legitimize fanfiction, something I am otherwise not a fan of. (I dislike the idea of people making money off of other people’s ideas without permission– Yes, I know there is a big argument there about why I am wrong and fanfiction writers are right, but in the end, on the side of the law (enforced or not), I am right and they are not. There are not many things I will take that solid of a stance on.)
So how does that affect me?
I have three stories, one of which I co-authored with Kevin J. Anderson, that will no longer be available after ( around) August 29th. They will be gone forever. Forever is a sadly long time for a story to go away. But the ownership rights are too commingled to ever be straightened out again, so they, I am 99.99999% positive, will not be. If you ever wanted to read one of these stories. You need to purchase it soon. I will not have the rights to sell them again later, or even give copies away. This applies to nearly all stories in the Kindle Worlds, not just mine, so if you were a fan of other worlds in Kindle Worlds (like Veronica Mars or G.I. Joe) you should go browse now.
I thoroughly enjoyed writing with Kevin J. Anderson and was ecstatic at the opportunity to do so. I will be sorry to see Aberration go away.
Sins of the Final Father and Pining for Penance were intended to be the start of a whole series of stories but, shortly after I wrote them, Kindle Worlds changed some of the “rules” for writing the stories in Blake Crouch’s Wayward Pines world. One of them was that no events could be set after the end of the third book. Unfortunately the third story I intended to tell was going to include events that took place after the third book, so I scrapped the plans.
I still really like Pining for Penance, but it makes more sense as a sequel to Sins of the Final Father. Sins of the Final Father stands alone well and, I think, captures the essence of living in Wayward Pines. If you were a fan of the novels, I think you would enjoy this. It is the details of an event quicky referenced in the novels.
Anyway, my point is, if you ever think you might have wanted to read them, you need to do so now. They will be gone soon. Forever. Not like a Disney forever where they will be back in a new format in five years, but forever forever.
Here is the e-mail I received:
Dear Sam,
As a valued member of the Kindle Worlds author community, we wanted to let you know of some upcoming changes to the Kindle Worlds program.
As of May 17th, Kindle Worlds will no longer be accepting new submissions. Previously published Kindle Worlds stories will no longer be available for sale on Amazon.com on or around July 16th. The Kindle Worlds website will be closed on August 29th; we ask that all Kindle Worlds participants update and validate their banking information, mailing address, and contact information by July 31, 2018 in order to facilitate a timely final royalty payment.
Your final royalty statement will include a proactive final payment for all remaining Kindle Unlimited borrows, including borrows that have not yet met the qualified borrow threshold. We plan to remove Kindle Worlds stories from Kindle Unlimited on May 16th.
Effective as of the date we remove your work from the Kindle Worlds program, we revert the rights granted to us by you in your Kindle Worlds Publishing Agreement. As a reminder, please note that certain rights have been granted to the applicable World Licensor and, as a result, you may not be able to republish your work, use elements from the world, or otherwise exploit the rights you granted unless you obtain the World Licensor’s permission.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email kindle-worlds-support@amazon.
For five years, Kindle Worlds has been thriving, engaging writers and readers who enjoy writing in one another’s worlds, and we’re proud of the work we’ve done together. While we are closing Kindle Worlds, Amazon is constantly innovating on behalf of our authors and readers, and we look forward to continuing to do so.
We hope that 2018 and beyond bring wonderful things for you and your stories, and we appreciate your support over the years.
Warm wishes,
The Kindle Worlds Team
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