Submitting a Continuation of a Story

[Alexander III]

Hi. I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to this kind of thing. I've only recently come accross Literotica. Anyway, I was impressed by a run of stories by Athena_e19 called For the Love of Botany. She ended them but said that she would be happy if someone else continued the story. I have been doing this; I expanded her story, developed her characters and introduced some of my own. The whole thing has taken on a life of its own!
My problem is this. I sent a e-mail to Athena_e19 asking if it's alright for me to continue with this. But I received no reply. So I e-mailed Literotica as well, and told them the situation. Still nothing. I understand that there are several ownership issues involved here and I am willing to drop the whole thing but I would like an answer.
How long do you normally have to wait to get a reply? Anyone have any advice?

 

[Route66Girl]

Hi Alexander

Welcome to Lit

I'm no expert on copyright infringement, but I think it's safe for you to go ahead with this one.

If I understand you correctly, Athena publicly stated that anyone could run with the story. Did she say anything about needing her permission first?

If she didn't indicate that her permission was needed in advance, then you should probably go ahead and post your continuation of For the Love of Botany.

And as for what's a decent amount of time to wait: a couple days is a reasonable time to wait for a reply. If you haven't gotten one by then, you probably won't.

If your conscience is still not eased by this, then when you submit the story, include an Author's Note crediting Athena as the story's originator, saying that your contribution is a continuation of her work.

Hope this helps.

 

[Alexander III]

Thanks for the advice! However as note Athena left at the end of her story suggets, I'll need her permission to continue.

"Authors Note: This will be the last in the series of "For the Love of Botany". I hope you enjoyed it and would be willing to allow someone else to continue it on 2 conditions. I get to preview all work and I have final control of what gets published. I appreciate all the support and letters of compliments I have received. Check out my other stories and Thank you!"

You see the bind I'm in.

 

[Guest]

... Authors Note: ... willing to allow someone else to continue it on 2 conditions. I get to preview all work and I have final control of what gets published ...

If I were to consider writing a sequel, which I am not, a preview would seem reasonable. Final control means my work can be taken and changed in any way the original author wants - that I could not accept.
It would be reasonable to discuss requested changes, not to bind yourself to accepting them all.

 

[Route66Girl]

Ah-ha

Yes, I do see your bind.

Well, in that case, the only thing you can do is sit on the story until you can get a hold of her.

I hope you can get in touch with her eventually and get her stamp of approval. It sounds like you've put a lot of work into it.

It must be disappointing.

And, hey... even if you have to ditch it, I bet you can come up with some original stories of your own that would be good. Think of it as practice for your own stuff

Good luck to you!