You've said in the past that you are under no circumstances allowed to read fanfiction. Why exactly is that? I mean, I assume you are allowed to read published content from rival companies and independent groups. Just wondering what the reason behind th

For legal reasons. Publishers don’t want writers who work for them to read fanfic of licensed characters due to frivolous lawsuits.

I have an award-winning author friend whose career was highly derailed by a lawsuit from someone saying she ripped off their story YEARS BEFORE THEIR STORY WAS EVEN PUBLISHED.

It doesn’t have to be true, the claim can be transparently false and still cause problems. On top of that, and I want to say this delicately, but there are some people out there who have a tenuous grasp on reality for whatever reason. I’m not saying they are bad people or anything, but I have letters from people (we all do) who genuinely think we are spying on them and trying to ruin their lives. One guy is convinced that lots and lots of DC and Marvel writers are all part of a big conspiracy to humiliate him in particular…none of us have ever met him, or know a thing about him, but nothing anyone says will convince him of that.

I want to stress these are separate issues…most fanficcers are lovely people just participating in their own kind of fandom. It’s art, it’s writing, I’m not denying any of that. But there are a lot of people out there who are convinced of the idea that pro writers want their ideas (we don’t, we have our own, that’s why we became writers). And if you have some people out there who lack perspective, it’s a dangerous combination.  But I stress again that this is VERY VERY RARE.

It’s not the fanfic community at large in ANY way. And it sucks that this tiny, tiny percentage forces everyone to be a thousand times more cautious.

So it’s better for everyone simply not to expose yourself to it in any way. I would strongly recommend people who are going pro cease reading fanfic not just to protect themselves, but also as a courtesy to the remaining fanficcers, who deserve the peace of mind of knowing you’re not out there taking their ideas.

It’s oil and water, sadly, it just doesn’t mix well.