70
AdAptAtion in the Age of MediA ConvergenCe
and the changing of names. Yet, screenshots also show that most of the
text remained the same and that the changes did not affect the content or
plot. James’ first novel transposes most of the written material in the same
shape to the new context. Brennan and Large argue that James therefore
profited from “a work with derivative origins” and that “the production of
this work was collaboratively fostered.” 36 They stress that publishing houses
like TWCS or Omnific, and implicitly Leonard “exploit the free editing and
beta-reading labour offered by the fan community.” 37
Like E.L. James, Judith Rumelt has turned from a popular author publishing her fanfiction for free, into an author who has become a multi-millionaire
from the revenues of her franchise. In contrast to Leonard, Rumelt sustained
a visible connection to her former writing identity by only dropping the
“i” from her fanfiction pen name and publishing as Cassandra Clare with
Simon & Schuster. Maybe because she is marketing her professional writing
as Young Adult literature, Clare has seemingly come under less scrutiny
than James as an author of adult fiction. Probably, there is also less interest
in what Clare calls her “juvenilia,” because of the extensive difference in
the corpus of The Draco Trilogy and The Mortal Instruments. Yet, Claire
has also been at the center of a scandal among fans that erupted as part
of negotiations of plagiarism, adaptation, and originality. In her case, the
discourse focused on the lack of explicitness of her intertextual references
and unannounced instances of adaptation. The debate about appropriate
practices of writing implicitly questions what constitutes legitimate practices
of (fan) authorship and adaptation.
Accounts of Claire’s plagiarism affair usually refer to an online source,
a blog by a fan called Avocado (that is now only available via the Wayback
Machine). On the blog, which equals about 100 print pages, Avocado retraces
the connections between The Draco Trilogy and several pre-texts as well as
reproducing email exchanges between different members of the community,
including Claire, and their stance on her writing practice. According to the
site, the conflict began when Avocado identified large portions of Claire’s
fanfiction as unmarked quotes and reproduced passages from Pamela Dean’s
The Hidden Land as well as dialogue excerpts from other books and TV shows
such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In the quoted emails and comments by
Claire, she explains that the hidden references and citations were part of
a game between her and her readers who enjoyed tracing these passages
back to their pre-text, and were therefore a legitimate form of fanfiction
36 Ibid., 27.
37 Ibid., 32.
AdAptAtion in the Age of MediA ConvergenCe
and the changing of names. Yet, screenshots also show that most of the
text remained the same and that the changes did not affect the content or
plot. James’ first novel transposes most of the written material in the same
shape to the new context. Brennan and Large argue that James therefore
profited from “a work with derivative origins” and that “the production of
this work was collaboratively fostered.” 36 They stress that publishing houses
like TWCS or Omnific, and implicitly Leonard “exploit the free editing and
beta-reading labour offered by the fan community.” 37
Like E.L. James, Judith Rumelt has turned from a popular author publishing her fanfiction for free, into an author who has become a multi-millionaire
from the revenues of her franchise. In contrast to Leonard, Rumelt sustained
a visible connection to her former writing identity by only dropping the
“i” from her fanfiction pen name and publishing as Cassandra Clare with
Simon & Schuster. Maybe because she is marketing her professional writing
as Young Adult literature, Clare has seemingly come under less scrutiny
than James as an author of adult fiction. Probably, there is also less interest
in what Clare calls her “juvenilia,” because of the extensive difference in
the corpus of The Draco Trilogy and The Mortal Instruments. Yet, Claire
has also been at the center of a scandal among fans that erupted as part
of negotiations of plagiarism, adaptation, and originality. In her case, the
discourse focused on the lack of explicitness of her intertextual references
and unannounced instances of adaptation. The debate about appropriate
practices of writing implicitly questions what constitutes legitimate practices
of (fan) authorship and adaptation.
Accounts of Claire’s plagiarism affair usually refer to an online source,
a blog by a fan called Avocado (that is now only available via the Wayback
Machine). On the blog, which equals about 100 print pages, Avocado retraces
the connections between The Draco Trilogy and several pre-texts as well as
reproducing email exchanges between different members of the community,
including Claire, and their stance on her writing practice. According to the
site, the conflict began when Avocado identified large portions of Claire’s
fanfiction as unmarked quotes and reproduced passages from Pamela Dean’s
The Hidden Land as well as dialogue excerpts from other books and TV shows
such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In the quoted emails and comments by
Claire, she explains that the hidden references and citations were part of
a game between her and her readers who enjoyed tracing these passages
back to their pre-text, and were therefore a legitimate form of fanfiction
36 Ibid., 27.
37 Ibid., 32.