58
AdAptAtion in the Age of MediA ConvergenCe
the narrative and specifically the BDSM scenes in the book were adapted
to the screen, as well as which actors were cast as the central characters
Christian and Ana. Throughout this renewed interest in Fifty Shades of Grey,
the history of layered adaptation that the text had transitioned through
before it was turned into a movie receded into the background.
An earlier version of Fifty Shades of Grey, the Twilight fanfiction Master
of the Universe, had been widely read by fans online before the text was
stripped of its direct references to Twilight and became a commercial success in its own right. Master of the Universe is not the only prominent text
that evolved from the realms of fanfiction writing; with Sylvain Reynard’s
Gabriel’s Inferno and the writing duo Christina Lauren’s Beautiful Bastard
at least three other authors of erotic Twilight fanfiction made the New York
Times bestseller list. 2 Beyond easily adaptable “all human” fanf iction
from the Twilight fandom, fanfictions from other fandoms, including texts
that revel in fantastic supernatural worlds, have successfully transitioned
from the communal online and free writing context to the book market. 3
The Harry Potter fanfiction The Draco Trilogy became the hotbed for The
Mortal Instruments series and the ensuing Shadowhunter franchise that
includes multiple series set in its imaginary world. Several installments
of these series have made it to the New York Times bestseller list for young
adult and children’s literature as well.
Fan authors, who engage with media texts, write and publish digital
fanfiction and delete their online material once they are on the way to
becoming professional writers, have probably increased in numbers since
James’ public success. Aja Romano even argues that, “many authors have
been coming to the Twilight fandom specifically to launch their careers
by ‘workshopping’ their writing within the Twilight fandom.” 4 The fan
community itself calls the process “pulled to publish” or, perhaps including
a reference to the obfuscation of the serial nature of the texts that results
2 Actually, E.L. James followed Reynard in the process of “filing off the serial numbers,” and
thanked him in an early edition of Fifty Shades of Grey for taking the route to republishing
fanfiction first. See Anne Jamison, Fic: Why Fanfiction Is Taking over the World (Dallas: Smart
Pop, 2013), 224.
3 See Jamison, Fic: Why Fanfiction Is Taking over the World, 224. And Joseph Brennan and David
Large, “‘Let’s Get a Bit of Context’: Fifty Shades and the Phenomenon of ‘Pulling to Publish’ in
Twilight Fan Fiction,” Media International Australia Incorporating Culture and Policy: Quarterly
Journal of Media Research and Resources 152 (2014): 32.
“All human” or AH is a genre designation that signals to the reader that the characters exist in
the specific fanfiction without their supernatural features.
4 Aja Romano, “Fifty Shades of Grey and the Twilight Pro-fic Phenomenon,” The Mary Sue
(blog), March 23, 2012.
AdAptAtion in the Age of MediA ConvergenCe
the narrative and specifically the BDSM scenes in the book were adapted
to the screen, as well as which actors were cast as the central characters
Christian and Ana. Throughout this renewed interest in Fifty Shades of Grey,
the history of layered adaptation that the text had transitioned through
before it was turned into a movie receded into the background.
An earlier version of Fifty Shades of Grey, the Twilight fanfiction Master
of the Universe, had been widely read by fans online before the text was
stripped of its direct references to Twilight and became a commercial success in its own right. Master of the Universe is not the only prominent text
that evolved from the realms of fanfiction writing; with Sylvain Reynard’s
Gabriel’s Inferno and the writing duo Christina Lauren’s Beautiful Bastard
at least three other authors of erotic Twilight fanfiction made the New York
Times bestseller list. 2 Beyond easily adaptable “all human” fanf iction
from the Twilight fandom, fanfictions from other fandoms, including texts
that revel in fantastic supernatural worlds, have successfully transitioned
from the communal online and free writing context to the book market. 3
The Harry Potter fanfiction The Draco Trilogy became the hotbed for The
Mortal Instruments series and the ensuing Shadowhunter franchise that
includes multiple series set in its imaginary world. Several installments
of these series have made it to the New York Times bestseller list for young
adult and children’s literature as well.
Fan authors, who engage with media texts, write and publish digital
fanfiction and delete their online material once they are on the way to
becoming professional writers, have probably increased in numbers since
James’ public success. Aja Romano even argues that, “many authors have
been coming to the Twilight fandom specifically to launch their careers
by ‘workshopping’ their writing within the Twilight fandom.” 4 The fan
community itself calls the process “pulled to publish” or, perhaps including
a reference to the obfuscation of the serial nature of the texts that results
2 Actually, E.L. James followed Reynard in the process of “filing off the serial numbers,” and
thanked him in an early edition of Fifty Shades of Grey for taking the route to republishing
fanfiction first. See Anne Jamison, Fic: Why Fanfiction Is Taking over the World (Dallas: Smart
Pop, 2013), 224.
3 See Jamison, Fic: Why Fanfiction Is Taking over the World, 224. And Joseph Brennan and David
Large, “‘Let’s Get a Bit of Context’: Fifty Shades and the Phenomenon of ‘Pulling to Publish’ in
Twilight Fan Fiction,” Media International Australia Incorporating Culture and Policy: Quarterly
Journal of Media Research and Resources 152 (2014): 32.
“All human” or AH is a genre designation that signals to the reader that the characters exist in
the specific fanfiction without their supernatural features.
4 Aja Romano, “Fifty Shades of Grey and the Twilight Pro-fic Phenomenon,” The Mary Sue
(blog), March 23, 2012.