Literary Fandoms
Do you have a favorite author? I do. (Yes, I’m talking about Carol Shields *again.*) However, I can’t follow her on Twitter or subscribe to her newsletter because, well, she is deceased.
Let’s talk about “fandoms,” which means more than being a hardcore admirer of something. It entails identifying with a larger group of fans via a club, an online community, or an event.
The NYT recently published two articles about book-related fandoms and the authors who inspire them. The first, which I shared in stories last week, is about Susan Meachen, a self-published Romance author with a large online following who, well, pretended to be dead. It’s a bizarre and sad story, and the subtext of it all is that “At their best, [romance writers groups] are a fountain of support for ‘indie’ authors, who self-publish their work and help each other with covers and marketing … At their worst, they can be ‘epicenters of nonstop drama.’” Because of mental turmoil, Meachen decided she needed out — hence the dramatic post announcing her “death,” supposedly penned by her daughter. Once this deception came to light, her fans became livid, with one claiming she “feel[s] majorly gaslit.”
On the other end of the publishing spectrum, we have the multiple-bestselling author of Nantucket-based chick lit, Elin Hilderbrand. Her fans are referred to as “Hilderbabes,” and the Times just ran an article about Hilderbrand’s “Bucket List Weekends” — a “pilgrimage to Nantucket [that] is like a Potterhead’s trip to Hogwarts, only this mecca isn’t a film set; it’s a real place.” According to Hilderbrand, who is present at these events, Hilderbabes “come to shop. They come to drink. They’re away from their kids and their husband and their job and they’re with their girlfriends and it’s full on fun having. They have joie de vivre. That is typical of my readers.”
There’s *a lot* to dissect in these (very different) “fandom” stories. I’m trying to imagine a scenario that would make me want to “experience” an author beyond reading their books and possibly seeing them at a literary event. What’s the difference between being obsessed with an author’s work and being obsessed with them as a person?
originally published on instagram