Rachel Kersey

And it created this kind of urgency and immediate connection.

But you weren't seeing that a lot in traditional publishing.

Now...

That has been subsumed by traditional publishing.

So a lot of really popular trends, even in terms of writing, began in fan fiction.

You might also see, you know, joyous queer romance was a huge part of fan fiction before traditional publishing got on board.

I think part of it is just a broader mainstreaming of fanfic and that people are kind of waving that fanfic flag proudly in a way that they hadn't a decade or so ago.

And

If we're understanding the structures of traditional publishing, whether it is the editors who are acquiring works or literary agents, a lot of these people are people who grew up on fan fiction, right?

So they might not have the same hang-ups or ideas about fan fiction that previous generations had.

They're interested in it, and they see it as a legitimate form of writing.

But...

Part of it, I think, is because traditional publishing is in, some may say dire straits, and there's a broader hunger for IP, intellectual property, things that have already been proven successes.

And if you look at some of these fanfics on Archive of Our Own, they have millions of views.

I think traditional publishing looks at this and says, this is basically as safe,

a deal as we are going to get in terms of thinking that that might be able to translate into book sales.

What I find really interesting about it is if one of our elemental definitions of fanfic is that it exists in the gift economy, what happens when fanfic becomes a legitimate path to traditional publishing?

What does that mean for fanfic as

an art or as a community.

And I think that that's something that a lot of fanfic writers and readers are wrestling with right now.