Fanfiction proliferated on fan-made sites in the 1990s

Many believe modern fan fiction began with 'Star Trek.'

Fan fiction has slowly become a part of mainstream publishing

In 2025, the SenLinYu fantasy novel "Alchemised," which began as "Harry Potter" fan fiction, became a bestseller after being traditionally published; its movie rights were sold for over $3M. The mainstreaming of the genre is due to a combination of factors, including publishing's interest in the hard metrics that fan fiction websites provide.

Fan fiction implies art is an ongoing, communal practice

Although some serious literary types disregard fan fiction, other academics consider it a fascinating development in art and communication, one that allows everyday people to participate in worldbuilding and storytelling.

Fan fiction is now studied at universities, including Princeton and Harvard

Some professors approach the genre as a unique form of literature that expands the boundaries of art. Comparative literature courses read the source material as well as its fan fiction byproducts, asking students to analyze the conditions that might've produced such dramatic reinterpretations.

One data scientist argued that fan fiction improved writing

In an academic study, University of Washington professor Cecilia Aragon found that fan fiction often teaches young writers how to craft stronger sentences and convey complex ideas effectively. Much of that comes from the larger fan fiction community, which regularly comments on others' stories, offering kind-hearted constructive criticism in what she calls "distributed mentoring."

Fan fiction relies on tropes and subgenres

Fan fiction sites often appear to be littered with inscrutable codewords, with stories labeled as "AU," "drabble," or "PWP." These alert readers to elements of a fan fiction: "AU" is an alternative universe narrative; "drabble" is a very short story; "PWP" stands for "plot? What plot?"

Fanfic can provide fans with wish fulfillment

Rather than complaining about a writer's decisions, fan fiction is interactive, providing the fandom with the opportunity to tell the story in the way they see fit. That's especially evident in "shipping," a popular fan fiction trope that's focused on the romantic pairing of characters who are not romantically involved in the source material.

Modern fan fiction exists in a legal gray area

Modern copyright law prohibits using someone's intellectual property (like a character) without their permission. By and large, fan fiction is tacitly condoned by copyright holders because it's commonly distributed for free. If anything, the copyright holders often benefit by allowing passionate fan communities to flourish.

Lucasfilm discouraged fan fiction that sexualized its characters

The self-published fan fiction zines of the '60s, '70s, and '80s were obscure enough that they rarely attracted the attention of the copyright holders of their source material. But Lucasfilm, the production company behind the "Star Wars" films, threatened legal action against fans who published X-rated stories and "homosexual expressions of love" featuring its characters.

If a publisher wants to sell fan fiction, they encourage writers to change key details

Historically, companies that publish popular fan fiction have their authors change a few details—like character names, settings, or other details—to avoid potential copyright violations. Many believe the risk is worth the reward, though the legality remains murky. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Explore the world of fan fiction

This guide to the genre's major platforms breaks down their strengths and weaknesses, offering an excellent primer for the uninitiated newcomers.

Several bestsellers began as fan fiction

Ali Hazlewood's "The Love Hypothesis" began as "Star Wars" fan fiction. Cassandra Clare's "Mortal Instruments" series was about "Harry Potter" characters Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley. Anna Todd's "After" series was an example of "real life fiction," or fan fiction that is about real people rather than fictional ones (the books were originally based on the boy band One Direction).

MuggleNet became the internet's largest 'Harry Potter' fan community

Launched in 1999, MuggleNet attracted millions of readers with news, theories, and fan-fiction. It helped define early online fandom, later expanding into podcasts, books and events.

Fan fiction is an unauthorized reinterpretation of a copyrighted story

Writers have always reinterpreted and retold others' stories. (John Milton, for example, used characters from the Bible in "Paradise Lost.") Fan fiction, though, refers to unauthorized, creative retellings of copyrighted stories intended for other fans.

Some fan fiction allows readers to place themselves in their favorite stories

One subgenre of fan fiction is called "self-insert." It's exactly as it sounds: The form takes a preexisting story and inserts a reader proxy into the world of the story, acting as a form of wish-fulfillment.

Comic-Con began in 1970 in the basement of a San Diego hotel, with just a handful of comic book enthusiasts sharing their wares.

How 'Star Wars' changed science fiction

The popularity of "Star Wars" shifted the market away from the more literary, and sometimes cynical, science fiction of the 1960s and '70s. In the wake of George Lucas' space opera, publishers and studios wanted similarly optimistic adventure stories. In time, though, writers like William Gibson would react against that and, in turn, create the "cyber punk" subgenre.

How a crew of hippies and nerdy teens in 1970 launched the global phenomenon of Comic-Con

Brinke Stevens and nearly 50 early organizers recount assembling Comic‑Con in 1970s San Diego—starting with just 300 attendees in a hotel basement—and how that grassroots, inclusive mix of fans sparked an enduring and worldwide pop‑culture movement.

The internet has changed the definition of a cult classic

Cult classics were often established slowly over time, often through alternative outlets, like independent video and record stores, underground magazines, and tape trading. The internet has put those delivery methods on hyperdrive, helping to splinter the notion of a mainstream monoculture. The Ringer's Miles Surrey wonders whether anything can have a "cult following" if everything now exists outside the "mainstream."

Jane Austen inspired stories that some now consider fan fiction

Sybil G. Brinton's 1913 novel "Old Friends and New Fancies" brought together characters from Austen's six major books. Other works of JAFF (Jane Austen Fan Fiction) followed in the same style. The books appealed to the budding group of Janeites, a term referring to Jane Austen superfans.

One writer believes fantasy is a form of realism

The literary genre has become massively popular in the 2020s, turning a previously marginal form into a mainstream concern. Spufford, a literary novelist who grew up loving books that explored fantastic worlds, argues that fantasy is so popular because it so accurately reflects the real world.

The US paperbacks of JRR Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings' series transformed fantasy from a fringe literary genre to a mainstream form.

'Harry Potter’ transformed the young adult publishing industry

The series’ success reshaped the market for youth fiction. In 1997, about 3,000 young adult titles were published annually. By 2009, that number soared to 30,000 as publishers chased the next major phenomenon.

Imagine thousands of alternate histories of the world

AlternateHistory.com has hosted fan-written "what if" timelines, discussions, and speculative fiction since 2000, making it the largest online gathering of alternate history enthusiasts, with over 10,000 active members and a wiki cataloging hundreds of user-created scenarios. Two highlights to pique your interest: what if the Vikings had settled North America? What would have had to happen for the storyline of George Orwell's "1984" to come true?

The word ‘fantasy’ wasn't used to describe the genre until the 20th century

The word—at least as a word used to describe fiction—didn’t appear in the Oxford English Dictionary until 1949. Scholars believe that’s due to the arrival of the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, an influential publication, and the rise in fantasy’s popularity following World War II.

'Harry Potter' became one of the most successful franchises in history

What began as a story written in cafés by an unknown author grew into a global phenomenon—spanning seven books, eight films, theme parks, and video games—reshaping modern popular culture.

Consumers are buying more books now than they were 20 years ago, thanks to a 2020 boom and a popular literary corner on TikTok.

Jane Austen superfans are called Janeites

Austen has a modern fan community unrivaled by that of other novelists of her time, devoted in ways similar to more recent pop culture phenomena like "Star Trek" and "Harry Potter," with Janeites regularly donning period-specific costumes, writing fan fiction, and engaging in spirited debates about the work.

One 'Harry Potter' fan fiction deals with cognitive science and philosophy

Eliezer Yudkowsky's "Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality" is not your typical fan fiction: It uses JK Rowling's fictional universe to wrestle with rationalist philosophy and the physics behind the magic taught at Hogwarts. The book went on to become popular in Silicon Valley, especially in the effective altruism movement.

Romantasy fans explain why they think the genre is so maligned

Romantasy grows more popular every year, but that doesn't mean it's taken seriously as literature. Hosts from KPBS' "The Finest" attended Comic Con 2025 to get romantasy fans' takes on the genre's unserious reputation.

The internet has changed how fans understand wrestling

Maintaining the illusion of professional wrestling—or kayfabe—was once considered the most important aspect of running a successful promotion. That’s changed over time, with wrestling’s most serious fans growing as interested in the stories behind the scenes as they are in the matches taking place in the ring.

The success of 'Fifty Shades' raised questions about fan fiction and copyright

James might've revised her "Twilight" fan fiction book "Master of the Universe" before it was republished as "Fifty Shades of Grey," but studies found that the two manuscripts were essentially the same text. Some wondered whether that meant Stephanie Meyer, author of "Twilight," was entitled to royalties, though Meyer never pursued legal action.

Memes emerged in the 1980s and 1990s

Today's Internet users might think of memes as references spread online through images, videos, and audio clips. But the merger between memes and the internet didn't happen until the 1980s and 1990s—years after the term meme was first coined to describe a different phenomenon.

How Harlequin became the most famous name in romance fiction

The publisher, which began as a modest family operation in 1949 in Winnipeg, took off when it noticed its bestselling titles were romance novels. That success intensified as it began selling its titles in grocery stores during the 1970s. This deep dive explores its meteoric rise and how that would set the stage for the genre for years to come.

Cosplay isn't just costumes—it's deeply personal, say early fandom scholars

Cosplay began as a form of "embodying" beloved characters rather than performing for an audience. Cosplay is a deeply personal form of identity—more about internal connection than public performance.

The 21st-century novel is increasingly autofictional

Although autofiction, a literary genre blending autobiography and fiction, has been around for millennia, it has become a popular mode in the 21st century. This extensive study of the genre—which analyzes works by Megan Boyle, Tao Lin, and others—argues that the form has become more prevalent because it mirrors the defining technology of the times: social media.

'Creepypasta' is a meme that has its roots in folklore

The genre of crowdsourced, horror folklore comes from copypasta, a term that refers to snippets of content copy-and-pasted online ad nauseam. These memes' allure stems at least partly from how they seemingly rise from nowhere, with tales crafted by many hands over many iterations.

EL James' 'Fifty Shades of Grey' was originally 'Twilight' fan fiction

The first volume in the popular erotic romance series was originally called "Master of the Universe" and focused on the main characters of "Twilight," the popular vampire series by Stephanie Meyer. After it became a hit in fan fiction communities, James removed the references to "Twilight" and changed the title. It would go on to be the fastest-selling paperback of all time in the United Kingdom and lead to additional books and film adaptations.

The original 'Star Wars' was quietly showcased at Comic‑Con in 1976 to little fanfare

In a bold pre‑release move on July 22, 1976, Lucasfilm set up an eight-foot booth and slideshow at San Diego Comic‑Con, introducing the then‑titled "The Star Wars"—with no premiere buzz, just intrigue among a few hundred early fans.

George RR Martin opposes fan fiction

The "Game of Thrones" author is all for fans creating their own stories, but he finds attempts to commercialize fan fiction distasteful. He's also not interested in reading it. "What I see doesn't affect me, so if you want to do it, I don't care," he said in an interview, "but please don't send it to me."

In 1974, 'Dungeons and Dragons' turned fantasy into a game

Inspired by the fantasy paperback explosion of the late 1960s and early 1970s, Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson published the original incarnation of the game, which immersed players in worlds similar to fantasy fiction. Since then, several newer editions have been released. In recent years, podcasts and livestreams featuring individuals playing the game have gained popularity.

Writer William Gibson invented the term 'cyberspace'

The science-fiction writer coined the term in his 1982 short story "Burning Chrome" to describe "a consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators, in every nation, by children being taught mathematical concepts...A graphic representation of data abstracted from the banks of every computer in the human system. Unthinkable complexity. Lines of light ranged in the nonspace of the mind, clusters and constellations of data. Like city lights, receding."

Why dystopian literature remains popular

Yale English professor Joe Cleary argues that dystopian literature’s continued relevance is due to a torrent of additional societal anxieties and that the streaming adaptations of dystopian classics "The Handmaid’s Tale" and "The Man in the High Castle" have expanded the genre’s popularity, introducing new audiences to its tropes.

By the 1980s, fantasy football was a national activity

The Greater Oakland Professional Pigskin Prognosticators League was a private league, but by the end of the ‘60s, a bar in Oakland opened the first public fantasy football league. Over the next few decades, the game grew more popular, as evidenced by this how-to article from a 1980 issue of “Inside Sports.”

As fantasy football grew more popular, the NFL began adapting

By the late 1990s, CBS, ESPN, and Yahoo had all launched their fantasy platforms, allowing the game to grow even more popular. By 2009, the NFL took note and began offering coverage that explicitly focused on fantasy metrics, including “RedZone,” a popular Sunday show that allows viewers to tune into the most crucial moments from around the league—or across their fantasy rosters.

Unpacking the rapid rise of romantasy, the genre that blends fantasy and romance

The subgenre—primarily aimed at female readers and sometimes bordering on erotica—has become a sensation, due in no small part to its popularity on social media platforms like TikTok. Writers like Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Yarros harken back to early Gothic works, which similarly sought to combine the supernatural and the erotic.

Dr. Seuss was likely the first to use the word 'nerd' in print

The word appeared in 1950's "If I Ran the Zoo," but there are theories that the word (or forms of it) were already part of popular slang before the book was published.

Circulating libraries helped the novel's popularity surge

As literacy rates began to rise in the 19th century, so did the demand for reading materials. The only problem? Newspapers and books weren’t cheap, and newly literate middle-class families struggled to afford literature. That changed when booksellers began offering small fees for patrons who decided to borrow rather than purchase books. This was eventually called a circulating library, an innovation that would satisfy the burgeoning readership of novels and increase literacy rates further.

The history of the commercialization of the internet, from ARPANET to NSFNET and beyond

NSFNET was launched in 1986 by the National Science Foundation as the first network available to all researchers, connecting them to a system of supercomputer facilities. Despite growing from 2,000 computers in 1985 to 2 million by 1993, the rapid expansion of commercial internet services led to NSFNET's decommissioning by 1995.

One fantasy football league has been running for over four decades

The Fantasy Football League began in 1980, before fantasy football was available online. The group, which began in Northern California, originally used a touchdown-only format because it was easier to score in the preinternet era.