Read Lovely Books
Fanfiction is shaping the fiction landscape whether you like it or not
But just as important and often overlooked in this equation are the readers
And what is between writers and readers? That’s right, the publishing industry
Look, if you are not have never been a fanfiction reader or writer, I’m not saying
I know a lot of tropes and narrative qualities fanfiction readers look for in the fanfiction they’
But I have seen it start to permeate mainstream, traditionally published fiction more and more
Anecdotally, I’ve seen a bit of a general divide for this stylistic decision
Younger readers weaned on fanfiction may like it, may prefer it, or at least be so used
It seems more and more that many new debut authors have a backstory that began with them
Now, not all fanfiction authors what to write original fiction or be published authors
Some just want to write fanfiction for fun, whether it is their way to engage with other
There are, in fact, brilliant writers in the fanfiction genre that have no interest in turning their
However, there are fanfiction writers who discover their love of writing through fanfiction (like me)
While there have been a few BNF (Big Name Fans) who have leveraged their fanfiction audience into
James is infamous, I think Cassandra Clare is a better example because she wrote fanfiction under the
The point is not to build up the metrics to leverage in a book deal
That is to say, writers aren’t there to get enough followers so they can get sponsorships
But they are, well, if “trendsetters” is too strong of a word, they are a community where
And if writing trends in fanfiction influence mainstream fiction, the writers of fanfiction are the ones that
I will not sit here and pretend that I have some great insider knowledge of the publishing
James is the notorious example of a fanfiction turned bestseller
In the years since, I’ve found books from that publishing house in bookstores, on library shelves,
People who got their passionate start in the literary world are not just readers and writers
Look, this article started with me writing an entirely different article about fanfiction and writing (coming soon)
Tastes and trends are being formed in fanfiction spaces, and fanfiction natives are involved in every level