So, I don't have a lot to say about my writing as I've been distracted this month by health issues and the real world trying to force itself into my forcibly-sheltered life, but I can't talk about the latter because a) it would be bad for my heart and b) it might verge on the political. However, something someone said in replying to me in Discord has put a question in my head, one that others in the IWSG community might have reactions to. (I can't even try to address this month's suggested discussion question because I'm a purely hobbyist writer and thus don't follow the ins and outs of the publishing industry. Except a few minor things I notice as a consumer, but that's sort of a different issue.)
The question is this:
How do you feel about the idea of derivative works featuring your characters? More specifically, how would you feel about the idea of people selling fan art of your characters?
It came up because there was discussion of the sales of fan works of a particular novel being forbidden to be sold. The fan works themselves weren't being suppressed, just them being traded for money, and someone said that was the author's own will. This led to a discussion in which two of our more prolific members--it was a visual novel dev community--discussing their own feelings on the subject. One said that they were conflicted, because they don't want anyone else selling their characters but on the other hand they also don't want to quash the indie artist community. Another said that they would be thrilled if people were selling fan art of their favorites among their characters...and would in fact buy copies of said fan art.
Personally, I don't have all that many of my original characters that are super-important to me, in part because a lot of my original fiction over the last 10-15 years has been based in and around Greek mythology, so many of the characters aren't mine...which doesn't stop me having a lot of feelings about how other people use them, naturally enough! (Hence why I was very nervous about trying the game Hades, which thankfully turned out to hit all my sweet spots, so I absolutely love it.) Of the ones who are original and mean a lot to me, mostly Atalanta and Ariadne (and my version of Eurysakes may as well be an OC, given how little connection there is between him and the original version in the few myths that mention him)...I'm not sure how I would feel about derivative works. On the one hand, I would definitely be flattered if someone cared enough to want to draw them, but how would I feel if they drew them in some grotesquely wrong fashion or doing something horrifically out of character for them? I mean, no, I don't even have to ask that last question: if someone drew them doing something that is antithetical to their character, I would hate it. On the other hand, just drawing them, or drawing them doing something from one of the books, I would probably love that? Or maybe not. I don't know. One of the advantages of releasing only through itch.io and AO3 is that no one pays the least bit of attention to what I've written; it's comfortingly safe knowing that no one is looking. But if someone drew my characters, that would mean that someone was looking, and that might weird me out.
So, there's my answer to my own question: I don't even know. But I'm curious how other people feel on the subject!
