The Enduring Popularity and Industry Appeal of FanFiction

Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.

A Deep Dive Into the Rise of FanFiction in Publishing

Writing for Defector, Eli Cugini explores the vast landscape of FanFiction, focusing on where it stands in publishing today and how it has come to dominate culture with its mass appeal and established fan bases. In so doing, Cugini touches on some of the problematic pieces of FanFic’s current popularity that have generated much online discourse and present complicated questions. For instance, does the ick and real harm of J.K. Rowling’s TERF activism and anti-trans rhetoric stick to Harry Potter FanFic, or do some of these works achieve the claim that writing HP FanFic is an act of resistance to Rowling’s repugnant views? Also, does some erotic FanFic work to normalize taboos that are actually problematic and should be rejected? While the story of FanFic’s success and appeal to the publishing industry offers no simple answers, going down the rabbit hole with Cugini is an interesting exercise.

Middle Grade Books for the Digital Era

Publishers Weekly reports that Scholastic will offer a line of middle grade fiction designed to appeal to a generation of visual and digital content consumers. The publisher’s NEXT line of MG fic will be shorter, include more illustrations, and promises plenty of cliffhangers. Editorial director Aimee Friedman told PW that light novels, popular in Japan and increasingly so in the U.S., inspired the line of books. If you’re trying to figure out what this looks like, take a gander at The Luckies series by Christina Soontornvat and Sarah Mlynowski, illustrated by Madi Wong, following a group of siblings adjusting to their newly-blended family. It’s one of the series in NEXT’s inaugural lineup.

A New $95K Contest for Emerging Writers

ProWritingAid, a writing and editing platform for writers, has launched a global contest for unrepresented fiction writers. Novel Beginnings invites writers who haven’t published a novel with an established publisher to submit the first 5,000 words of a fiction manuscript to be considered for the prize, which will support writers in the early stages of their process. A grand prize winner will receive $50,000 and up to nine emerging writers will be awarded $5,000. According to the press release, in addition to the monetary awards “shortlisted writers will participate in a structured manuscript development program, including expert-led sessions, live drafting sprints, and a guided revision period designed to help participants move from idea to completed draft.” Learn more about the Novel Beginnings.

8 of the Best New Books Out in February 2026

It’s the start of February, and that means a month of new releases to look forward to! There’s plenty for horror and dark fiction fans to anticipate, including some bloody love stories. Find the full list of February new release recommendations here.