For those who’re conversant in Fifty Shades of Gray or The Concept of You, you may additionally pay attention to the “fanfiction-to-bestseller” pipeline: the phenomenon by which a author who beforehand specialised in fanfiction comes into mainstream success. For E.L. James (who wrote Fifty Shades of Gray), Robinne Lee (who wrote The Concept of You), and comparable authors, their expertise has maybe not been not like that of their characters: swept off their toes into thrilling new lives of riches and recognition. However as an alternative of Prince Charming — or Christian Gray, because it had been — the get together accountable is none apart from their followers… or moderately, the folks of their fandom of selection.
Certainly, in some ways, the journey of the “fanfiction-to-bestseller” creator is fascinatingly distinctive. Not solely is that this path completely totally different from the publishing routes most individuals would take, however every creator’s expertise additionally is determined by the fandom they’re writing in, their particular strategy to the narrative, and whether or not they intend to create extra works in the identical vein.
With that in thoughts, there are just a few clear commonalities among the many fanfiction success tales of the previous few years. Let’s take a look on the key components of success amongst these well-known (and notorious) fanfic-writers-turned-bestselling-authors.
This primary one is a given: authors who’ve turned their fanfiction pastime right into a publishing profession, have sometimes been writing for a large fandom — one with sufficient folks (and modern relevance) to provide their work momentum. Moreover, they had been writing about characters — sometimes romantic pairings — that the followers like and really feel invested in (that’s, not random tertiary characters or pairings to which they’re largely opposed).
That stated, these components have extra variation than you would possibly assume. The most important fandoms which have spawned publishing success run the gamut of books, TV, movie, and extra … and their hottest “ships” will not be all the time these you’d anticipate.
Take Ali Hazelwood, whose debut novel The Love Speculation famously originated as Star Wars fanfiction — pairing Rey, the protagonist of the brand new Star Wars trilogy, with Kylo Ren, Darth Vader’s grandson and the principle antagonist. Not essentially the most intuitive couple, you would possibly say… however as anybody concerned in at the moment’s Star Wars fandom can let you know, “Reylo” is much and away its hottest ship. One thing concerning the enemies-to-lovers dynamic mixed with the excessive stakes of their universe (plus, in all chance, the truth that they’re performed by engaging actors) has made Reylo some of the celebrated fictional pairings of the twenty first century — and Hazelwood is removed from the one Reylo author to have made the savvy swap over to publishing.
Then once more, in different fandoms, the most well-liked pairings are uncommon not as a result of they contain adversarial archetypes (as with Reylo), however as a result of they contain characters who could not even seem within the authentic story: “OCs” (authentic characters) who’re invented by the authors. Utilizing OCs permits readers to higher undertaking themselves onto these characters, imagining that they are the one romantically entangled with the hero — a state of affairs which has apparent attraction.
OCs are particularly in style in fandoms with robust male leads and no clear feminine counterparts, like some DC/Marvel comics, or within the One Path fandom (which we’ll unpack extra in a bit). And whereas these characters are sometimes criticized for being “clean slates” with little discernible character, there’s no denying their industrial viability. Each my preliminary examples, Fifty Shades of Gray and The Concept of You, arguably owe a lot of their success to their impartial feminine characters — characters in whom nearly any reader would possibly see themselves.
Regardless, it doesn’t matter what the fandom or primary pairing is, the preliminary qualifiers stay true: the fandom should be huge, and the pairing should be in style inside it, for the creator to seek out publishing success. However the fandom could also be of any style, from traditional romance to sci-fi to horror, and the pairing undoubtedly doesn’t have to be canon … and even stick with the supply’s authentic solid.
Talking of sticking to the supply (or not), it’s no shock that one other frequent factor of success right here is fanfiction that departs considerably from the unique work — i.e., fan tales which can be so totally different that they’re unlikely to face copyright points when revealed.
For this reason so many fanfiction-based bestsellers have their roots in both “AU” (alternate universe) fanfiction or “OC” fanfiction, as talked about. Fifty Shades of Gray could have began as Twilight fanfiction, nevertheless it by no means bore a lot resemblance to Twilight apart from the Pacific Northwest setting and the characters’ names. Even in E.L. James’ earlier work (then titled “Grasp of the Universe”), the supernatural components had been eliminated, and Edward Cullen’s position as a BDSM-loving billionaire didn’t precisely match his canon character. Likewise, Ali Hazelwood’s choice to set her Star Wars fic on this planet of STEM analysis was an enormous deviation from different “in-universe” Reylo fics, enabling it to be revealed virtually as-is.
To make certain, one dependable methodology for writing fanfiction that may sometime be legally revealed is to take away the unique creator’s worldbuilding. It then turns into practically unimaginable to attract a line between the 2 tales, particularly in fantasy and science fiction — and even in non-speculative genres, inserting the characters in a special setting (whether or not it’s academia, the company world, or a traditional espresso store AU) inherently fosters a special sort of narrative.
One other strategy to keep away from copyright infringement is to write down fanfiction that’s not primarily based on IP in any respect, however moderately on actual life. This controversial type of fanfiction, referred to as “RPF” (actual individual fiction), was the lifeblood of early-aughts fan communities on LiveJournal and comparable websites, however has since principally dried up. RPF did persist, nevertheless, on LiveJournal, Tumblr, and in the end Wattpad all through the 2010s… with Wattpad giving rise to the best of all trendy RPF communities, made up of notably dedicated (and amorous) One Path followers.
Certainly, we are able to’t speak concerning the fanfiction-to-author pipeline with out mentioning the a number of fan works about Harry Kinds that had been become bestselling novels and, later, movies. The Concept of You is just the latest of those, with the After collection by Anna Todd being the behemoth that introduced Harry Kinds/OC fanfiction into the mainstream — although in fact, in After, he’s renamed Hardin Scott (examine to Hayes Campbell in The Concept of You).
Once more, you may see how this type of fanfiction would have such mass attraction … and incomes potential. From the big One Path fandom to the (as soon as once more) comparatively impartial, simply projected-upon feminine characters — Tessa in After, Solène in TIoY— these works masterfully mix the substances we’ve mentioned and, conveniently, revolve round an actual individual whose identification (for higher or worse) can’t be copyrighted.
On that word, in all probability the most fascinating factor about these works is how in a different way they characterize the Kinds determine. In After, he’s brooding, unstable and haunted by previous trauma (borrowing from the Christian Gray playbook, if you’ll); in The Concept of You, he’s candy and delicate, if a little bit of a playboy. These characterizations then feed into the tales’ key conflicts — Tessa and Hardin wrestle to beat his darkish previous and emotional antagonism, whereas Solène and Hayes wrestle with their age distinction and staying out of the highlight.
In different phrases: inside the identical fandom, even with the identical pairing, there might be myriad approaches to the characterization, plot, and the ensuing style. (After is kind of a darkish YA romance, whereas The Concept of You is a romantic dramedy focused at adults.) I don’t learn RPF myself — studying tales about actual, residing folks feels just a bit too fraught — however I do should admit that the potential for adaptation is intriguing. Possibly the Harry Kinds pattern has run its course, however I wouldn’t even be opposed to only one extra adaptation on this vein … if solely to see what characterization we’d get this time round.
The ultimate essential factor of fanfiction-to-novel success — and undoubtedly the one which’s the toughest to tug off — is being “forward of the curve” not directly. E-book advertising and marketing professionals would possibly confer with this factor because the “USP”, or distinctive promoting level, of a narrative … and in fanfiction (much more so than in authentic fiction), it should be current from the very starting so as to give the work a aggressive edge.
Trying on the examples I’ve named thus far, it’s not too arduous to establish the “USP” of every fanfiction-turned-bestseller success story, notably within the context of its preliminary launch. BDSM and company romances are a dime a dozen today, however when Fifty Shades of Gray was first revealed over a decade in the past, the trade had by no means seen something fairly prefer it. The identical would show true for The Love Speculation in 2021, with its STEM-based setting — enhanced by Ali Hazelwood’s firsthand information of the sector — which was profitable sufficient to subsequently turn into her complete area of interest.
Additionally, as touched on above, even the bestselling “Harry Kinds RPF novels” are surprisingly totally different from each other. After was bemoaned by some critics as clichéd, however I can’t consider one other teen romance pre-2014 (when it was first revealed) that follows a school relationship in such intense — if usually painful — element. And the current cinematic success of The Concept of You speaks for itself; clearly, there’s excessive demand for age-gap relationships involving a complicated older girl and delicate youthful boy band member.
However simply because it’s straightforward to pinpoint these USPs on reflection, doesn’t imply it’s straightforward to catch that lightning in a bottle your self. I don’t say this to discourage bold fanfic writers who wish to go professional; quite the opposite, I primarily hope it makes the non-fanfiction-readers — who might need beforehand turned their noses up at this kind of factor — recognize the work and innovation that goes into these books.
True, a novel primarily based on a bit of fanfiction is, by definition, not very authentic. However then once more, is any fiction “authentic” today? Or, to take it a step additional… has something within the literary canon ever been notably authentic, for the reason that daybreak of storytelling?
Mark Twain — who lived over a century in the past — declared in his autobiography that “there is no such thing as a such factor as a brand new concept.” Shakespeare, who lived and wrote primarily within the 1500s, primarily based practically all his performs on historic occasions and pre-existing narratives. Even the traditional Greeks primarily wrote down tales that had beforehand been informed orally … and even with these, who’s to say the place they got here from?
After all, each reader will retain their very own preferences, and a few will keep away from “fanfiction novels” for different causes; perhaps they keep away from romance as an entire, or perhaps they only don’t get into tropes (which these novels admittedly capitalize on) the best way a few of us do. But when your concern as a reader is the shortage of originality, I can solely guarantee you that — within the grand scheme of literature (and media as an entire) — these novels are removed from the worst offenders.
Whether or not writers go the traditional Fifty Shades route of adapting an present fanfic, or take extra of a direct-to-publishing Robinne Lee-style strategy (she was by no means publicly affiliated with fandom earlier than publishing The Concept of You), there are numerous worlds to discover and alternatives for them to understand… in the event that they’re keen to place themselves on the market.
No, these novels won’t be everybody’s cup of tea — however their detractors are mightily outweighed by their simple cultural energy (and revenue). If there are fanfiction authors on the market already incorporating these components into their writing, they may simply be subsequent on the bestseller checklist.
