Fan Fiction on the Kindle?

I recently stumbled across this post: Amazon now indulges in your GI Joe fan fiction. I was going to tweet it out, but some times my thoughts range over the 140 character limit, no matter how hard I try. This is not the first, in fact Amazon has been running Kindle worlds, a program that allows you to write and sell fan fiction for licensed worlds, which range from Gossip Girls to Vampire Diaries.

Fan fiction is nothing new. In high school I had a friend who had stacks of floppy disks (this was back in the eighties when floppy disks were not only still in use, they were actually floppy) with his own Transformer stories. I can only assume that before computers people were writing out their fan fiction long hand. When the internet appeared people began to share their fan fiction and it was existed online for many years.

But selling fan fiction? That has been taboo for a long time. Will it take off? How will effect publishing?

I have never really be a fan of fan fic, pun somewhat intended. As a reader I have always been more drawn to exploring new worlds and writers, rather than rehashing series. As a writer, my rare attempts at fan fiction were short and stifled. (Other than the occasional joke.) Many writers claim to have gotten their start in fan fic, but to me it’s harder than original writing. Trying to tell a story within someone else’s context is something I could never wrap my brain around.

What do you think about fan fiction be available for sale on the Kindle? Do you read fan fiction? Will you pay for it? What effect do you think it will have on publishing?