This also seems to crop up every couple of years from younger fans, and myself and other fandom elders cannot stress enough just how bad of an idea this is to monetize your fanfiction.
It is also against AO3's rules to link a ko-fi/Patreon/gofundme to your profile or in your fics.
As mentioned way back in the beginning of this guide, the Archive of Our Own is a non-profit that was set up after the events of Strikethrough on LiveJournal AND famous published authors and companies suing fans over their fanworks which contain copyrighted intellectual property. The Organization for Transformative Works (OTW) exists to protect fanfiction, fanart, and other fanworks under the terms of Fair Use as pertaining to US law (as the OTW is based in the USA; American fair use laws do not apply to other countries).
Again: Monetizing your fanfics is a very bad idea, because it easily sets you up to be sued. You are playing in someone else's sandbox, and so you cannot make money based off their IP. Doing so will potentially get you sued for copyright infringement.
Anne Rice, Lucasfilms, and Paramount were notorious back in the day for suing fanfic writers. The Vampire Chronicles, The X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Wars, and Star Trek were dangerous fandoms to be in. Warner Bros. took down Harry Potter fansites. Anne Rice would sic her fans on other fans who wrote fanfiction she did not like (specifically: slashfic). Anne McCaffrey was very strict about Dragonriders of Pern roleplaying and how exactly people could play in her fictional world. (Yes, this included zero queer themes.) Diana Galbadon is not at all friendly towards fanworks of her Outlander series --- despite Outlander itself being based on BBC sci-fi series Doctor Who and its lead Jamie Frasier is very obviously based on Second Doctor companion Jamie McCrimmon (played by Frazer Hines).
TL; DR: Do not do it unless you want to be sued by lawyers representing people who have way more money than you do.
If I see blatant commissions, I will absolutely 100% report you. We did not suffer through the transition from LJ and the FF.net purges (plus other Wattpad purges) just to see people make AO3's job harder than it needs to be.
Again, fanfiction is only currently legally allowed through the "Fair Use" defense. When you charge/commission for fanfic, you lose your ONE defence. Do not put on AO3 that you are charging for fic. Do not link to Patreon/Ko-fi/Gofundme on AO3. Learn your fandom history. It is not hard to link to your Twitter or Tumblr with a vague message such as "if you looking for my works or other ways of supporting me, go here: link".
"But I didn't know you can't charge--"
It is literally in AO3's Terms of Service.
* "You agree not to make available unsolicited or unauthorized advertising (defined as solicitations for direct or indirect commercial advantage)" [AO3 TOS Section I,D]
* "Promotion of commercial activities or products is not allowed." [AO3 TOS Section IV, B]
* "Unsolicited commercial activity is not permitted on the Archive." [AO3 TOS Section IV, B]
To quote Tumblr user majorenglishsquire:
"Go ahead and commission independently. Just do it anywhere else except on AO3. And then don't come crying to the community when you, personally, get a C&D from a massive corporation.
AO3 is our bullet shield. Tumblr will pull your shit down. Wattpad won't fucking protect you. LJ and FF.net already sold our asses for one (1) corn chip. AO3 is trying to protect us, you goddamn lemmings.
If you cannot follow the rules that protect fanspaces, you do not belong in our fanspaces.
The only people who misunderstand this are doing so intentionally and maliciously."
To quote Tumblr user bemusedlybespectacled:
"what I will do:
* rat you the fuck out
in what way:
* mickey fucking mouse in this bitch
* chuck e. fucking cheese
* remy ratatouille
how I will sing:
* like a fucking canary
* like michael fucking jackson in the jackson five"
In conclusion: Don't fucking do it.
YOU ARE READING
A Wattpad User's Guide to AO3
RandomTutorial/Guide for Wattpad users who are migrating to AO3, have never used it before, and/or are unfamiliar with the culture/etiquette on AO3. Written by a Fandom Old who has been using the Archive of Our Own since 2011.
