I love fanfiction, and I love writing it. But taking a fanfic, making a few superficial changes, stripping away anything that clearly ties it to the original, and then publishing it as a “new” book, while still marketing it as former fanfiction, just doesn’t sit right with me.
Personally, it’s starting to take some of the joy out of reading books.
I genuinely admire fanfic writers and the incredible talent in that community. But instead of reworking existing fanfiction for traditional publishing, why not give these writers contracts to create something entirely original?
I’m confident that many fanfic authors are more than capable of building their own worlds and stories from scratch.