I’ve been checking the site at least once or twice a week to see when they posted this, but Troy discovered it today and posted it on the G.I. Joe Discussion Group on Facebook.  I posted very excitedly about the Kindle Worlds prospect about a month or so back, and the past four weeks have done little to muffle that excitement.

Now, on the Kindle Worlds Blog, they have posted their “World Content Guidelines” to submit G.I. Joe oriented stories to the Kindle World format.

Kindle World is a revolutionary new licensing agreement where authors can write stories based on existing properties and sell them through the Kindle Worlds store on Amazon, keeping a share of the money earned by their sale.  The full details can be read on my previous post about this initiative.

For the full G.I. Joe “World Content Guidelines” click “Read More” below.

World Description

G.I. JOE VS. COBRA

G.I. JOE is a highly trained, special operations unit composed of men and women representing all branches of the Service. Prepared to deploy at a moment’s notice, trained to act wherever and whenever necessary, the soldiers of G.I. JOE are true heroes, fighting to keep the world safe from evil.

For much of their history, these warriors did not officially exist, operating in the shadows and known only at the highest levels of government. Even today, few know the truth – that G.I. JOE fights a secret war, as the first and last line of defense against forces that seek to plunge our world into chaos. Chief among these threats is COBRA. Formerly nothing more than a rumor of evil, COBRA has revealed itself as the chief architect of all that is vile and corrupt in the world.

G.I. JOE: ADVENTURE TEAM

Not all of the missions the G.I. JOE team handles are military in nature. The Adventure Team is tasked with operations in virtually any theater and any environment, from jungles and deserts, to mountains and deep sea exploration. The Adventure Team, no less heroic than their military counterparts, maintain readiness for any form of natural and ecological disaster, and are also often at the forefront of scientific discovery.

G.I. JOE – Content Guidelines

1. Pornography: We don’t accept pornography or offensive depictions of graphic sexual acts.
2. Offensive Content: We don’t accept offensive content, including but not limited to racial slurs, excessively graphic or violent material, or excessive use of foul language.
3. Illegal and Infringing Content: We take violations of laws and proprietary rights very seriously. It is the authors’ responsibility to ensure that their content doesn’t violate laws or copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other rights.
4. Poor Customer Experience: We don’t accept books that provide a poor customer experience. Examples include poorly formatted books and books with misleading titles, cover art, or product descriptions. We reserve the right to determine whether content provides a poor customer experience.
5. Excessive Use of Brands: We don’t accept the excessive use of brand names or the inclusion of brand names for paid advertising or promotion.
6. Crossover: No crossovers from other Worlds are permitted, meaning your work may not include elements of any copyright-protected book, movie, or other property outside of the elements of this World.
7. No graphic/detailed descriptions of extreme violence and/or gore.
8. No descriptions of sex/sexual acts/pornography.
9. Characters may not be described in the nude.
10. No use of profanity/racial or ethnic slurs, disparaging or offensive remarks or language pertaining to sexual orientation, or any offensive remarks regarding any identifiable persons or companies.  No G.I. JOE character (in other words, the GOOD GUYS) shall be portrayed as a member of a specific real-world political party or movement or as holding or advocating extreme real-world political or social views, such as racism or any belief in the superiority of one ethnic or racial group or sexual orientation.
11. No illegal drug use by characters (but illegal drugs and/or drug use can be used as a broader plot point).
12. No use of any characters, characterizations, or plots derived from the Paramount-produced theatrical motion pictures, G.I. JOE: The Rise of Cobra, and G.I. JOE: Retaliation.
13. No use of names or personal information (for example, without limitation, addresses, telephone numbers, or places of employment) of real persons, including but not limited to Sgt. Slaughter or William “The Refrigerator” Perry, notwithstanding their appearance within the Universe in the past.
14. No use of third party intellectual property (such as, without limitation, characters, brands, logos, or lyrics), or crossovers with other brands/universes.
15. The character, Snake Eyes, shall never be depicted or described as a fan of the New York Yankees.
16. No member of COBRA, or any other enemy/criminal organization, shall be depicted or described as employees, fans, endorsers or supporters of any actual, identifiable persons, companies, or entertainment/media franchises existing in the real world.

HOWEVER,

1. It is permissible to kill off main characters, but authors are encouraged to think carefully about the plot value of doing so, and avoid simple “shock value” events.
2. It is permissible to create new characters.
3. It is permissible to push boundaries of good and evil, and even have the main characters switch sides.
4. Authors are encouraged to explore different genres within the Universe, such as, for example, science fiction, military realism, superhero, etc.
5. Despite restriction above on portrayals of sex/sexual acts, depictions of sensuality are permissible (and are, in fact, inherent to the core attributes of several characters in the Universe).

For announcements on when the G.I. JOE World opens, tips and more, make sure tosign-up for the Kindle Worlds Newsletter.