The fan fiction to traditionally published pipeline has a long, rich history.
Some of these stories and characters you can surely recognise, but some you may never have guessed were actually fan fiction.
Harry Potter fan fiction is particularly hot in the publishing world at the moment.
And right now, one of the most popular Harry Potter fan fictions – or perhaps, the most popular Harry Potter fan fiction ever – is in talks to get published.
But how does this happen?
You may have heard of the term “filing off the serial numbers.”
What this means is that, when a fan fic author, or publisher, is looking to traditionally publish, they remove all details that are reminiscent of the source material.
In some instances, this is a pretty easy task.
You just change the character names, the location of the story, and you’re good to go.
This method works especially well with AU (alternate universe) fan fiction stories.
A similarity, however, between all of the fanfics that have found their way into traditional publishing, is the ethical dilemma of removing the source material from its platform, typically Ao3 (Archive of Our Own.)
A lot of the time, fan fiction will stem from diehard fans of texts adapting those texts so that they can see themselves represented within them – for example, by creating queer storylines for their favourite characters.
Many fan fic readers believe fan fiction should stay free, and would, understandably, like the fan fics they read to remain online.
The fan fic to traditional publishing pipeline is an age-old debate, because, of course, it results in someone profiting off of someone else’s art and intellectual property.
But after all, these books sell well.
People love to see their favourite niche fanfic author make it big and go pro.
So, what books have you read that are really just published fan fiction?
While there are many, and some remain mere speculation, here are a few of the most popular, confirmed traditionally published fan fictions:
Alchemised
You will have seen stacks of copies of Alchemised by SenLinYu if you have stepped foot into any book store recently.
The source material?
SenLinYu’s fan fiction, originally titled Manacled, detailing a Harry Potter universe where Voldemort won in the end, and Hermione and Draco (Dramione) fell in love.
The love Hypothesis
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood originated as an alternate universe ‘Reylo’ fanfic.
For those unaware, Reylo is the ship name for Kylo Ren and Rey Skywalker from the Star Wars universe.
And this one didn’t try to be too discrete, either – the male love interest’s name is Adam… like, Driver.
The published book solidified the power of fan fic writers, securing Hazelwood’s position as a New York Times bestselling author.
Fifty Shades of Grey (famously)
You probably know the story…
It’s maybe one of the most famous internet butterfly effect phenomenons, where somehow the tragic events of 9/11 ended up creating Fifty Shades of Grey.
One tumblr user outlines the theory, that is very likely just a myth, but we can never actually know for sure.
“Gerard Way personally witnessed the twin towers falling while on a ferry to New York City. This event inspired him to start my chemical romance. As a result, Stephanie Meyer used him and the band’s music for inspiration for Twilight. As a result of that book, E.L. James wrote a twilight fanfic that eventually became the best selling book fifty shades of grey.”
Interesting…
Anyways, as previously stated, Fifty Shades of Grey did, in fact, originate as a Twilight fan fiction.
After
After, by Anna Todd, was originally a Harry Styles fan fic posted on Wattpad under her username Imaginator1D.
In the fic, Styles is a college senior who falls in love with main character, Tessa.
This one also made it onto the big screen, for a five film series.
All the Young Dudes (TBC)
And finally, to look at the most talked about fan fic of the moment.
And, of every moment, really, as this fan fiction was first published in 2017.
The talk of the recent London Book Fair was the alleged acquisition of All The Young Dudes, by MsKingBean89.
(Who, lots of people think is really Taylor Swift, btw.)
The fic is a whopping 526,969 words long, and is hugely popular, sitting at almost 20 million ‘hits’ on Ao3.
The fic trails the experiences of ‘The Marauders,’ or, Harry Potter’s parents and their friends, if you are unfamiliar.
The fic is set entirely in the Wizarding World, following The Marauders through all seven years at Hogwarts, and then into the first wizarding war.
Primarily, it’s a love story between Remus Lupin and Sirius Black.
And unless fans were one of the many who have actually had the fanfic professionally printed as a hard copy, they’re scrambling to download their beloved story before it’s gone forever, despite there being no confirmation of publication for this one, just yet.
The question everyone is asking though, is how on Earth are they going to scrub this one of its source material?
In our opinion, the genre of magic fantasy school novels is really quite large after all, and as we know, it’s been done before, and so they surely can do it again.
