From Fanfic to Published Author

Have you ever finished an episode of a television show and thought I wish they had given us a different ending? Or been hypnotized by a side character in a film and wondered what their story might be? If you’ve ever put pen to paper (or fingertips to keyboard) and fleshed out a storyline for someone else’s creation, welcome to the weird, wonderful world of fan fiction!

Years ago, I tumbled down the fic rabbit hole while watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the series, not the film). One episode rubbed me the wrong way, and I felt compelled to fix it. Little did I know, at the time, that hundreds of other people were doing the same thing: taking the characters from Buffy on journeys of their own creation. It was like stepping into a new universe with its own language: BNF (or big name fans), canon versus fanon (what happened on the show versus what fans accept as fact even though it didn’t happen onscreen), and one of my favorites, UST (that’s unresolved sexual tension). 

When you pick up a book, the blurb on the back will give you an idea of what it’s about. We do the same for fiction, but stories are also labeled with tags that can tell readers what to expect (swoony romance, oops, they fell in love, angst with kissing) or might just express the fic author’s innermost thoughts while writing (this keeps me awake at night, don’t judge me).

Name a book, show, or film, and I guarantee you’ll find at least one story on Archive of Our Own, one of the web’s most popular repositories for fan works, from Star Trek to Star Wars to ACOTAR. A quick search for the Supernatural TV series gave me 266,700 results. Pride and Prejudice, the novel, has around 3,100. There’s even fic based on real people, which can be controversial.

Wattpad, the premier platform for fan fiction, has over 90 million monthly users.

You might wonder why a writer would want to play in someone else’s sandbox, but many of your favorite authors have used fan fiction as their training ground. It’s a fantastic way to hone your storytelling skills because much of the world-building and characterization is already done. The challenge is staying true to those characters and worlds while, at the same time, adding your voice. Because one thing fic readers will do is tell you when you’ve gotten it wrong. They’ll also tell you when you’ve done it right, and there’s nothing like the feeling of getting a lovely comment from a reader on your latest chapter. Instant gratification!

Several successful romance novels began as fan fiction, including 50 Shades of Grey by E.L. James (Twilight), The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood (Star Wars), and After by Anna Todd (One Direction). My Buffy fic never made it to the printed page, but my first, self-pubbed novel, Falling Stars, was loosely inspired by Scandal (ABC).

My fellow Tall Poppy writer, Suzy England, also got her start writing fan fiction.

“I began posting in Yahoo Groups way back in the early 2000s, then moved over to Wattpad in 2015. From there, I rewrote my fics (short stories) as original, full-length works and eventually signed on with the Wattpad Stars program.”

The viral success of fan fiction has led some publishers to seek out authors, even though they might be outside the industry. Wattpad launched its own publishing imprint, Wattpad Books, in 2019 to capitalize on the success of the stories on its platform.

“One of my early novels amassed 2 million reads and was later monetized on the Wattpad app,” England says. “I’m querying that same novel at the moment, but Perfect was originally written as fanfic for the 80s romantic crime drama Hart to Hart.” Her novel, Perfect, was published by the Wild Rose Press in 2023.

I recently read a Harry Potter fic from author Julie Soto that pairs Hermione and Draco in a post-war, dystopian setting. It’s a riveting piece, and I’m not surprised it was picked up for publication. You can check it out when Forever releases Rose in Chains on July 2nd. And if, like me, you’re not a Potterhead, don’t worry. The story stands on its own two feet, thanks to Julie’s compelling prose, deft characterization, and immersive world-building.

Fan fiction has moved out of the forums and into the mainstream, but you’ll still find talented authors weaving incredible stories simply to contribute to the fandom they love. I highly encourage you to visit Archive of Our Own or Wattpad and search for a story to sink into. Be warned: fic is addictive, but you never know. You might just discover the next big thing.

Happy reading!