Reply to Comment

Jim Zoetewey said: It's interesting. My most natural inclination is to say, "When I die, my stuff will no longer be written by anybody. That's it."

Trouble is, it's too late for that. I write an online serial (which is slowly being revised into a series of novels and made available through my publisher). One person who is both a fan and writer himself wrote a story with my characters, and it was great--better in certain areas than I generally am.

So clearly, the right people writing my stuff is not a problem.

On the other hand, there's Dune. Personally, I've been unhappy with the novels that were written after Frank Herbert's death.

They're not terrible, but Frank Herbert had a distinctive voice, and the novels released after his death (by others) do not have it.

Knowing those possibilities, I've got to admit that I want my family to get money out of my stuff after I die. Ideally I think I'd like to pick the people who will write on my behalf myself. Even better, I'd prefer to see things that lead people to my work created (movies, comics, tv series, books about side characters), but not continuations.

After a certain point, putting things into the public domain wouldn't be bad either. I want my family to get money out of my work after I die, but don't think it should support them forever--just long enough to get my kids a good start and my wife some help if that's possible.