Share <Embed>

Buy New

$14.95

FREE Shipping on orders with at least $25 of books.

Only 17 left in stock (more on the way).

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Want it Wednesday, Oct. 26? Order within and choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details

Ship to:

Select a shipping address:

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 3 images

Fic: Why Fanfiction Is Taking Over the World Paperback – November 26, 2013

by Anne Jamison (Author), Lev Grossman (Foreword)

34 customer reviews

See all 5 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$9.64

—

Paperback

"Please retry"

$14.95

$6.82

$5.84

What is fanfiction, and what is it not? Why does fanfiction matter? And what makes it so important to the future of literature?

Fic is a groundbreaking exploration of the history and culture of fan writing and what it means for the way we think about reading, writing, and authorship. It’s a story about literature, community, and technology—about what stories are being told, who’s telling them, how, and why.

With provocative discussions from both professional and fan writers, on subjects from Star Trek to The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Harry Potter, Twilight, and beyond, Fic sheds light on the widely misunderstood world(s) of fanfiction—not only how fanfiction is transforming the literary landscape, but how it already has.

Fic features a foreword by Lev Grossman (author of The Magicians) and interviews with Jonathan Lethem, Doug Wright, Eurydice (Vivien Dean), and Katie Forsythe/wordstrings.

Cyndy Aleo (algonquinrt; d0tpark3r)
V. Arrow (aimmyarrowshigh)
Tish Beaty (his_tweet)
Brad Bell
Amber Benson
Peter Berg (Homfrog)
Kristina Busse
Rachel Caine
Francesca Coppa
Randi Flanagan (BellaFlan)
Jolie Fontenot
Wendy C. Fries (Atlin Merrick)
Ron Hogan
Bethan Jones
Christina Lauren (Christina Hobbs/tby789 and Lauren Billings/LolaShoes)
Jacqueline Lichtenberg
Rukmini Pande and Samira Nadkarni
Chris Rankin
Tiffany Reisz
Andrew Shaffer
Andy Sawyer
Heidi Tandy (Heidi8)
Darren Wershler
Jules Wilkinson (missyjack)
Jen Zern (NautiBitz)

Fic: Why Fanfiction Is Taking Over the World

$14.95 FREE Shipping on orders with at least $25 of books. Only 17 left in stock (more on the way). Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Frequently Bought Together

Total price: $87.88

Buy the selected items together

This item:Fic: Why Fanfiction Is Taking Over the World by Anne Jamison Paperback $14.95
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
The Fan Fiction Studies Reader (Fan Studies) by Karen Hellekson Paperback $29.95
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping. Details
Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture by Henry Jenkins Paperback $42.98
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping. Details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Karen Hellekson

1

Paperback
$29.95
Karen Hellekson

6

Paperback
$27.89
Henry Jenkins

2

Paperback
$42.98
Jonathan Gray

6

Paperback
$26.34
Henry Jenkins

48

Paperback
$12.65
Camille Bacon-Smith

7

Paperback
$28.95

NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE

Product Details

Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Smart Pop (November 26, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1939529190
ISBN-13: 978-1939529190
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.4 x 8.1 inches
Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #474,929 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #645 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Books & Reading > General
- #1300 in Books > Reference > Writing, Research & Publishing Guides > Publishing & Books
- #2500 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Pop Culture > General

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars

5 star		47%
4 star		21%
3 star		23%
2 star		6%
1 star		3%

Write a customer review

See all 34 customer reviews

Top Customer Reviews

Very interesting, but also inconsistent

ByEverdeen25on January 7, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I'm familiar with fanfiction and its fandom, so I was very interested to read this book. Some parts of it were very interesting, but the book as a whole is very inconsistent. Parts of the book aspire to provide academic analysis; other parts are just musings on fans and fandom. At times the book treats its subject seriously, at other times it's humor or even silly; it's especially jarring when the discussion turns to sex and sexuality in fanfic, because sometimes it's treated as a serious sociological topic (which it is) and other times feels thrown in for laughs or shock value. Sometimes the book seems to be trying to support the normative claim that fanfic is a longstanding and worthy form of fandom participation (which it is), but other times it comes across as simply descriptive of fans and their viewpoints. Some of the writing is very clear and readable, but the opening chapter is opaque and confusing. Overall, it felt as though the book's editor, who is also the author of the academic sections of the book, wasn't sure what she wanted to accomplish with the book, and so just included everything rather than picking one or more major themes or points and sticking to those throughout.

All of that said, some parts of the book were very well done and very interesting. The open sections on the history of fanfic and fandom, pointing out that this form of fan participation goes back centuries, was very well written. I particularly liked how the author made reference to modern terms (like 'shipping and trolling) in connection with those historical patterns; it just goes to show how longstanding the fanfic tradition really is. The section on Sherlock Holmes fanfic, from literally more than a century ago to the BBC series today, was fascinating too, as was the chapter on Star Trek zines. Once the book turns to the more contemporary online fanfic fandoms, though, it starts to lose focus.

The book is an interesting read for someone familiar with fanfic communities, but it could have been a lot stronger.

11 comment 22 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

A narrow view of fanfiction

ByLivianiaVINE VOICEon January 6, 2014

Format: Paperback

Based on the long list of names above, I assumed that FIC: Why Fanfiction Is Taking Over the World was a collection of academic essays edited by Anne Jamison. But no, it is a long scholarly work by Anne Jamison with periodic short essays by other people with various perspectives on fandom has a whole.

FIC is divided into sections based on several megafandoms. The first four, on Sherlock, Star Trek, Buffy, and the X-Files, are fairly well done. Sherlock and Star Trek both cover a great deal of pre-internet fanfiction, while Buffy and the X-Files cover the beginning of fic on the internet. The Harry Potter and Twilight sections are shakier. I felt that Harry Potter went by quicker than the other sections, and glossed over some things. Jamison glosses over Cassandra Claire's plagiarism (the most important being several pages of Pamela Dean's writing), trying to make it just a game and pulling out the old fic is basically plagiarism anyway. (It isn't.) There's an essay from Heidi8/Heidi Tandy that presents her as a totally reliable point of view instead of a figure frequently at the heart of controversy.

Then we get to Twilight. Jamison is clearly too close to the fandom to really give a good portrait. She is very clearly in favor of pull-to-publish, or P2P. The other side of the argument is given short shrift in favor of several essays by people who agree with Jamison's point of view. In fact, the authors of BEAUTIFUL BASTARD get an essay together in addition to individual essays.

But I must say that the essays are the best part of FIC. The essay authors make fewer pretenses about their biases and only focus on the narrow aspects of fandom that they are experts in. Jamison shows some of her ignorance just by what she chooses to include. Her megafandoms only include Western sources. The only fandoms represented are literature, television, and film. And why not throw in some discussion of small-to-medium fandoms? I read this book in December as Yuletide was happening. Now there's a big event that shows a wonderful slice of small fandoms all at once, albeit also mostly Western focused.

I was quite disappointed in FIC. I'm all for people taking a scholarly approach to fandom. But this is quite slipshod. The style isn't that great, either. The Sherlock section constantly makes reference to a fic that isn't excerpted. Am I supposed to stop reading FIC and track down this story and read it before continuing? As for when Jamison does excerpt fics, her glowing introductions generally leave me with secondhand embarrassment. Don't tell me that a fairly pedestrian set of sentences are going to totally make me see Edward and Bella in a new postmodern sex positive light.

There's some interesting history in here. But take Jamison's point of view with a grain of salt.

11 comment 29 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

She writes like she thinks nobody who's ever been part of any fandom anywhere is ever going to read her book.

ByWendyon January 29, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I keep going back and forth about this book. Some parts are really well-written and interesting. She provides some valuable historical detail about readers' relationship with published material, over the course of centuries, and she writes interestingly enough about the Sherlock Holmes fandom that I went out and found the original Conan Doyle stories (which I'd never read before). But her style can be really, really grating. She will use common terms out of the fanfiction community -- AU, slash, etc. -- to describe writers of earlier centuries, writing in response to books they loved, and she'll do it in this annoying, heavy-handed way. She will explain what every single term means, as if her high-flown professorial audience has certainly never heard THAT term before. She seems to have gone through all of fanfiction, to find the stories that most represent the graduate-level lit-crit concepts she learned at college, and she showcases those as being THE BEST reasons for respecting fanfiction. She writes about the fandom for BBC's Sherlock, and expresses this huge, enormous surprise, that -- Oh my goodness! -- somebody wrote a fic where Sherlock was a cat. Oh wow, somebody else wrote one where he wore high heels. And my gosh, look at all the SEX in there! Did you know people pair him with John Watson? As in SEXUALLY?!? I'm guessing this was her dissertation, and before she published it for a general audience she should have taken a step back and really thought about who would be reading. Maybe a few professors would like this book as-is, but speaking as a member of several fandoms, I felt condescended to. And I don't suspect people who have never been in a fandom are even going to look twice at it.

11 comment 25 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Most Recent Customer Reviews

Interesting book, never really a Twilight Fan so I ...

Interesting book, never really a Twilight Fan so I had no clue that 50 Shades of Grey started life as a fanfic.

Published 7 months ago by Amazon Customer

I purchased this for entertainment, but it ended up ...

I purchased this for entertainment, but it ended up helping me on a research paper on fanworks. It is well written by a number of contributors which gives it a diverse look into...Read more

Published 9 months ago by Rat

I loved Anne's book

I loved Anne's book. As a writer and avid consumer of multi-fandom fanfics, I was like 'yeeeeesssss' - she gets it!Read more

Published 1 year ago by Kim

Fascinating and informative.

4.5

"Writing and reading fanfiction isn't just something you do; it's a way of thinking critically about the media you consume, of being aware of all the implicit...Read more

Published 1 year ago by L.S.F

In an anthology like this, you're always going to get a mixed ...

In an anthology like this, you're always going to get a mixed bag. I *loved* the essay about being fannish in non-Western countries, for example, but the section about Twilight...Read more

Published 1 year ago by Aubrei

Interesting, but often lacks nuance.

This book great because it analyses and often debunks fandom prejudice, such as professionally publishing fic, or the pre-conceived notions of certain fandoms (mainly Twilight and...Read more

Published 1 year ago by Sarah

Why fic is amazing

Jamison pulls together many threads from across the worlds of fandoms and fanfic into a very illuminating and entertaining treatise.

Published 1 year ago by Kate Hoole

Doesn't present a balanced view of fanfic

This was an interesting book, and I enjoyed reading it. I've never been a real participator in any fandom, but I'm definitely a big lurker, and I have a lot of opinions on fanfic.Read more

Published 1 year ago by Laura

Five Stars

Excellent, fun, astute and insightful.

Published 1 year ago by Carman C.

and enjoy.

Hilarious. Heartwarming. Very insightful look at fanfiction and the reason people write it. Read, relax, and enjoy.

Published 1 year ago by Volfan1988

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway

This item: Fic: Why Fanfiction Is Taking Over the World

Set up a giveaway

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?

Enterprising Women: Television Fandom and the Creation of Popular Myth (Contemporary Ethnography) Paperback

Camille Bacon-Smith

7

$28.95
Fandom At The Crossroads: Celebration, Shame and Fan/Producer Relationships Paperback

Lynn Zubernis

6

$41.95
Fangirl: A Novel Hardcover

Rainbow Rowell

1,508

$11.17
The Fan Fiction Studies Reader (Fan Studies) Paperback

Karen Hellekson

1

$29.95

Conditions of Use
Privacy Notice
Interest-Based Ads

6pm Score deals on fashion brands	AbeBooks Rare Books & Textbooks	ACX Audiobook Publishing Made Easy	Alexa Actionable Analytics for the Web	Amazon Business Everything For Your Business	AmazonFresh Groceries & More Right To Your Door

AmazonGlobal Ship Orders Internationally	Home Services Handpicked Pros Happiness Guarantee	Amazon Inspire Free Digital Educational Resources	Amazon Video Direct Video Distribution Made Easy	Amazon Web Services Scalable Cloud Computing Services	Audible Download Audio Books

BeautyBar.com Prestige Beauty Delivered	Book Depository Books With Free Delivery Worldwide	Casa.com Kitchen, Storage & Everything Home	ComiXology Thousands of Digital Comics	CreateSpace Indie Print Publishing Made Easy	Diapers.com Everything But The Baby

DPReview Digital Photography	East Dane Designer Men's Fashion	Fabric Sewing, Quilting & Knitting	Goodreads Book reviews & recommendations	IMDb Movies, TV & Celebrities	Junglee.com Shop Online in India

Kindle Direct Publishing Indie Digital Publishing Made Easy	Prime Now FREE 2-Hour Delivery on Everyday Items	Prime Photos Unlimited Photo Storage Free With Prime	Shopbop Designer Fashion Brands	Soap.com Health, Beauty & Home Essentials	TenMarks.com Math Activities for Kids & Schools

Wag.com Everything For Your Pet	Warehouse Deals Open-Box Discounts	Whispercast Discover & Distribute Digital Content	Woot! Deals and Shenanigans	Yoyo.com A Happy Place To Shop For Toys	Zappos Shoes & Clothing

Buy New $14.95