Fanfic success

[dreamflower]

wneleh over at fanthropology pointed me to this article: Steps to Achieve Fanfiction Fame by Marisha Aziz. The article was somewhat tongue-in-cheek, advising aspiring fanfiction writers to choose the most popular fandoms, find a well-loved 'ship, and use popular tropes in the hopes of becoming famous, and maybe even rich.

I decided to be a little more practical in my comment to the article, and point the way to become well-known within the your fandom. It's a rather "tortoise v. hare" approach, but it has served me well. Here was my reply:

Or there is the longer and more certain road to fanfiction success (and it will never lead to money or mundane fame). But it will slowly and surely gather you loyal readers and recommendations, and is less likely to embroil you in flamefests and 'shipping wars.

Step 1: Choose your fandom based on your own love for it and for the characters and source material. Study the canon closely and learn all the facts you can, even if you prefer to write Alternate Universe. After all, you need to know what you are changing and why.
Step 2: Read a lot of really good fanfiction to see what genre appeals the most to you. Choose something to specialize in, but remember you might want to occasionally branch out.
Step 3: Get an idea, find a gap that needs filling, or try to figure out what might have happened on the path not taken in canon.
Step 4: Write a story. Do your best. Make good use of spellcheck and grammar check. Edit the heck out of it to find errors the autocorrects will not. Find an experienced author you respect if they have the time and inclination to beta it. Follow her/his advice. Edit the story again.
Step 5: Choose an archive to post your story, maybe more than one. Make sure to write a decent summary about the story. Do NOT put "I suck at summaries." Read and review the stories of other authors. Do NOT ask them to read and review your own. That is rude.
Step 6: Update your story fairly regularly, and post any one-shots you write promptly. This will keep you on the front page.
Step 7: Reply to reviews and thank the reviewers, even the ones who only post a smiley face or say "good story rite mor". Ignore trolls. Thank those who offer con-crit, even if you do not intend to follow their advice, assume they mean well.
Step 8: Engage in forums and discussions about your fandom. Be polite but firm in stating your opinions.
Step 9. Expand your audience by finding more places to post.
Step 10: Repeat Steps 1-9. After a few months, you will have a lot of new friends and some will become old friends after a while. After a few years, you will find that more than a few people know who you are. You will gather kudos and likes and comments and reviews and recommendations, and people will seek you out for advice.

However, you are unlikely to get asked to erase the serial numbers on your story for mainstream publication, and if you go this route, you probably won't want to.

What advice would you give along these lines?

Comments

[shirebound]

A wonderful list!

[dreamflower]

Thanks!

[kerravonsen]

I think step 6 is where a lot of people fail. A corollary to step 6 is "be prolific". Which can be hard to do.

In regard to step 9... I would say, post at one or two general archives, such as fanfiction.net and AO3, and post at a fandom-specific archive for your chosen fandom. Depending on the fandom, there might be one big go-to archive for that fandom, or they might be more fragmented. At a fandom-specific archive, the total number of the audience might be smaller, but they are more likely to want to read your story than the big random masses in a general archive. On the other hand, in a general archive, you're more likely to be stumbled upon by casual readers that might not know about the fandom-specific archive. If you have more energy, you can post more widely than that, but... I don't want to expend that much energy myself.

[dreamflower]

It's more important when starting out, I think, to be prolific. But from my personal experience that's when it's easier. The first two years I was writing I was very prolific, posting just about every day. Now, after 13 years I'm not so much following my own advice, even though I am aware that it's still good advice.

I started out in 2004 at a Tolkien only archive, and added a few more of those, as well as posting on my LJ. But I was wary of general archives. It wasn't until after two of the Tolkien archives were discontinued, another was sold and became a dumping ground for spam, and my first and favorite had a very scary hack attack, that I broadened my scope to general archives. I now wish I had done that much sooner. I never had any of the problems I feared and gained many new and faithful readers. So that's why I advise that now. But it certainly isn't for everyone.

This was a comment to the article, so I'd probably do some editing to it if I thought about posting it somewhere more permanent (other tha my LJ).

[hhimring]

I'd make a small addition to Step 4:
Follow her/his advice if it makes sense to you.

Even from an author you respect, the advice you get might not always work for you.

[dreamflower]

True. But consider it well because you have to ask yourself why it doesn't make sense. If your beta tells you not to use a certain word you really like, look it up. Your beta might be wrong-- but she might not. Best to know for sure.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

What advice would you give along these lines?

To come here and read this! :)

[dreamflower]

*grin* Thanks!

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

A good list.

I would probably add, "Be kind to new writers in the fandom. Err on the side of assuming they do not have thick skin. Don't delight in pointing out their errors and if you feel you must, lavishly pour on the praise for what they got right before you jump on the small canon error in the third paragraph."

[dreamflower]

I agree with that 100%. That 's a whole 'nother topic all by itself!