Penguin Random House; St. Martin’s Press; Simon & Schuster
Whether it’s One Direction who inspired the author, everyone’s favorite vampireEdward Cullenor even characters from a galaxy far, far away, these five authors found major mainstream success — and some of them, even box office hits — in the stories they’d originally dreamed up as part of a fandom.
Bloom Books
While this X-rated series is now better known as a trilogy of blockbuster movies that grossed more than $1.3 billion worldwide (courtesy ofJamie DornanandDakota Johnson’s on-the-nail portrayal of the protagonists),Fifty Shades of Greybegan as many other steamy romances did: fan fiction.
E. L. Jamesreimagined the relationship between the gorgeous and mysterious vampire, Edward Cullen, and the shy, love-struck object of his attention, Bella Swan. But in this version, Edward became a top-of-his-game businessman and Bella a young college graduate eager to make her mark on the world.
The author originally published the story on Fanfiction.net under the titleMasters of the Universein 2009,Forbesreported, before she self-published it as a novel in 2011 with a new title — and all the explicitTwilightreferences removed. With that, Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey were born.
St. Martin’s Griffin
“I spent a good hour or so Googling and trying to figure out who this kid was and in doing so I discovered that he often dated older women, and so the seed was planted,” she continued.
Harry Styles performs on the Today show; Nicholas Galitzine in ‘The Idea of You’.Peter Kramer/NBC/NBC Newswire/NBCUniversal via Getty; Prime Video
Peter Kramer/NBC/NBC Newswire/NBCUniversal via Getty; Prime Video
In 2020, the novel had a resurgence amidst the pandemic, and Lee spoke toVogueabout her intentions with the story, which she said, “was never supposed to be a book about Harry Styles.”
The inspiration for the love interest, Hayes, turned out to be a mix of elements: ex-boyfriends, her husband and a sprinkle ofEddie Redmayne. “I made him into my dream guy," she said. “LikePrince Harrymeets Harry [Styles].”
The story begins with a meet-cute that will feel familiar to fanfic readers: Soléne catches the boyband member’s attention while bringing her daughter to a meet-and-greet before their concert in Las Vegas, and Hayes is so smitten right off the bat that he invites the girls backstage after the show. From there, he can’t control his pursuit of her (despite their nearly two decade age difference).
Lee’s novelwill soon hit the big screenas it’s been adapted into a filmstarring Anne Hathaway as Soléne and Nicholas Galitzine as Hayes.
Gallery Books
LikeThe Idea of You,Aftersees smoldering senior in collegeHarry Stylesfall in love with the innocent and naive Tessa Young, an origin story Anna Todd has always embraced since she first publishedAfterand its sequels on Wattpad.
She described the story — which she wrote after devouring One Direction fan fiction herself — as a “modern-dayPride and PrejudiceandWuthering Heights,” in a 2019 interview withStyleCaster.
Hero Fiennes-Tiffin as Hardin Scott and Josephine Langford as Tessa Young in ‘After’.Colbert/CalMaple/Kobal/Shutterstock
Colbert/CalMaple/Kobal/Shutterstock
The first book was such a quick hit that Todd soon found interest from traditional publishers. It soon became aNew York Timesbestseller, and Todd sold more than 10 million copies before continuing the series with three sequels and a prequel.
Todd’s series later got adapted for the silver screen, withHero Fiennes-Tiffinstarring as the renamed Hardin Scott and Josephine Langford as Tessa Young, in all four films.Dylan Sprouse joined the cast inAfter We Collided, bringing some star power to the sequel film. The final installment,After Everything, premiered on Netflix in the fall, but some fans were disappointed with the way it strayed from Todd’s original storyline.
Penguin Random House
The most recent example of a fan fiction success story comes from Ali Hazelwood, whose first book,The Love Hypothesis, not only secured her spot as aNew York Timesbestselling author. It also marked the entrance ofStar Warsinto the traditionally published fan fiction canon.
In 2020, an agent contacted Hazelwood about a story she’d published on Archive of Our Own about Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and Rey Skywalker (Daisy Ridley) — characters introduced in 2015’sStar Wars: The Force Awakens, perVulture. She reworked the story to flesh it out further, but kept the general plot the same.
The Love Hypothesisstayed true to its origins in many ways, and even features fan art on its cover.
Simon & Schuster
E.L. James is not the only author who found inspiration inTwilightand went on to carve out a successful book series because of it — author duo Christina Lauren, a joint pen name for authors Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, traveled a similar path.
Hobbs originally published the fan fiction storyThe Officeonline, where it garnered millions of views and became an instant hit in the vampire fandom, before she met and developed a friendship-turned-partnership with Billings. The pair rewrote the story to submit to traditional publishers.
She toldForbesshe had Billings “dissect” and “do whatever she wanted” to the original story as the pair was facing pressure to act as publishers were looking at modifying fan fiction for publication. The book was sold to Simon & Schuster and came out in its current form in 2013.
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source: people.com
