July 8, 2011

Harry Potter and the Work of Fans

The release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 has led to a variety of articles about HP fanworks.

This article in Parade is disappointingly slight. A group of fans created rules for a magic-less version of Quidditch. Their creation is now played at the intercollegiate level. It's an amazing story, but there are no details about how what the rules are.

Book Cover

Lev Grossman, author of THE MAGICIANS, wrote an article for TIME based on the more controversial subject of fanfiction. He covers a great deal of information in a short amount of time and does it without being judgmental. It's the most balanced view of fanfiction I've seen in a major publication.

For anyone wondering why I don't hate fanfiction when I want to go into publishing, please remember: the people who write fanfiction are fans. They buy the books, they buy the dvd box set, they buy movie tickets, they buy shirts, they buy whatever their fandom has to offer. They make a work more profitable by spreading the word. Fans introduce fans to other fandoms. They're passionate about the original work, which is infinitely valuable.

1 comment:

  1. I completely agree. I used to write fan fiction myself. I never posted it online, but it was fun and it was writing practice. I love reading it too, though it's only ever been HP fan fiction. Never read anything else. If I ever publish a book, I'd be honored to have fan fiction...not annoyed.

    -Lauren

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