Microfandom

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Synonyms: rarefandom, Really Tiny Fandom, Fandom of One
See also: Overnight Fandom, Rarelit, Yuletide
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A microfandom is a very small fandom. The definition of "very small" is fluid; the term generally refers to sources with:

  • some fannish interest beyond a single fan
  • zero to a handful of fanworks (what constitutes a handful is in the eye of the beholder, an upper cut-off of anything from 5 to 50 might apply)
  • no specific communities or fansites.

Yuletide, an annual rare fandom gift exchange, only allows fandoms with a combined total number of fanfics on AO3 and fanfiction.net of less than 1000.[1]

Often the source material is a classic, a childhood favourite and/or a lesser-known work associated with a creator/actor with a fannish following.

Microfandoms sometimes progress into small fandoms, often because a popular adaptation draws in many new fans (for example, the 2004 adaptation of Gaskell's North and South or the 2011 film of Sutcliff's The Eagle of the Ninth). Determined pimping and creation of infrastructure can help to grow microfandoms, but a critical mass of creators is hard to gain and sustain.

Examples

Where to Find Fanworks

Microfandoms are well represented at Yuletide and other rare fandom challenges/exchanges such as Small Fandoms Fest. They are also to be found at rare fandom communities such as Rarelitslash, RareSlash and Fandom of One. Fancake, a multifandom reccomendation community, also did a round for Small Fandoms.

Where the microfandom is associated with a larger fandom, the latter's infrastructure is often a good source. Promote-a-thons sometimes include microfandoms.[3]

Reference

  1. ^ Fandom Eligibility for 2017 on Yuletide Admin comm on Dreamwidth
  2. ^ Reverie (TV 2018) on AO3. Accessed 16 February 2021. If crossovers and challenge compilation fics are not included, only four fanfics. Zero on FanFiction.Net, Wattpad, Tumblr, or coming up on search engines.
  3. ^ For example, icepixie: The Small Fandom and Rare Pairing/Rarely-Written Character Promote-a-thon! (accessed 7 June 2013)