The fan-fiction publishing platform, started in 2013, will cease to exist by September 2018
Earlier this month, the email notices started to go out: Amazon is shutting down Kindle Worlds, with submissions closed effective immediately. While some authors had noticed a decrease in support and marketing activity surrounding the program, the notice was largely seen as abrupt.
While Kindle Worlds has never been a widely known or talked-about program, for those in the industry, it was a fascinating experiment, pointing toward a workable path for monetizing fan fiction. Here’s how Kindle Worlds worked, in a nutshell: Amazon reached out to specific, established authors or their estates (and other IP owners in the entertainment industry) to see if they were willing to make their “worlds” available on the Kindle Worlds platform, where other writers could publish and make money on ebooks based in those worlds. If the IP owners agreed, they had to create a world “bible” to indicate what restrictions, if any, applied to officially licensed works. (For example, the world creator might stipulate that certain characters could not be killed off.) The creators split the sales proceeds with the writers, with each receiving 35 percent; Amazon received its usual 30 percent. Prices were consistently $1.99 and $3.99.
In about five years, Kindle Worlds launched nearly 100 licensed worlds, some well known. Some of the authors and brands you’ve likely heard of: Hugh Howey, Kurt Vonnegut, G.I. Joe, Gossip Girl, and Pretty Little Liars. That said, a scan of all the worlds indicates that the majority are drawn from indie genre fiction.
So why did Amazon shut it down? Kindle World creators and contributors haven’t been given an explanation by Amazon (of course) for this latest development, but the shutdown follows on the heels of another notable closure: that of Kindle Scout, which we covered in April. We notice a few things in common between the programs: they were populated by a cohort of indie authors, they required Amazon staff to be involved in some kind of reviewing/curation (but not as acquiring editors or hands-on editors), and they were driven primarily by low-priced genre fiction ebooks. Amazon Publishing titles, on the other hand, are acquired and edited following traditional publishing standards and sold at a higher price point (usually between $4.99 and $5.99). Without any other evidence, we would assume a low profit margin has driven these decisions.
Bottom line: All Kindle Worlds work will be taken down from sale, with rights reverted, sometime in July. Every world creator must decide how to handle licensing and existing licensed works going forward—although if they wish to see such works made available again, it’ll be their responsibility to re-grant permission and/or create a business structure to facilitate publication and compensation. We’re keeping an eye on StoryShop, a platform for collaborative writing as a possible alternative to Kindle Worlds; they plan to launch about twenty story worlds this fall. If you’re interested in starting a conversation with them now, email publishing@fictionvortex.com.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
