Erotic Harry Potter fan fiction is taking over the world
The hottest trend in books right now is… hot books.
The fiction market is essentially being held up by romantasy novels—or spicy romance stories set in fantastical worlds. At this particular moment in time the spotlight is on erotic Harry Potter fan fiction.
Here’s The New York Times:
People on TikTok were raving about stories set in the world of Harry Potter, written by fans, that imagined a romance between the bookish Hermione Granger and her antagonist, the arrogant bully Draco Malfoy.
Dramione (druh-my-knee) — that’s the name for these erotic Hermione/Draco stories. I haven’t read any, but I’m sure they’re having a great time with “Hogwarts.”
I did, however, search Reddit and there are at least eight subreddits dedicated to erotic Dramione fan fiction alone. Full of acronyms, abbreviations, and inside references. Ironically, they are difficult to penetrate. Though I suppose that’s true of any hardcore fandom (whether or not they’re a hardcore fandom).
But this is a hardcore hardcore fandom:
Publishers are frantically searching for the next breakout romantasy series. Last year, romantasy sales topped more than 32 million copies in print alone, a 47 percent jump over the previous year, according to Circana Bookscan. Five of the 10 best-selling adult fiction titles this year are romantasies. At the same time, adult fiction sales overall have stagnated.
The kind of romance that’s selling like crazy now — erotically charged genre mash-ups — first took off in fanfiction before publishers recognized there was an appetite for it.
It’s not just the publishers. The studios are circling, too. Two of the biggest romantasy titles right now are Rebecca Yarros’s Fourth Wing and Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses. Fourth Wing is already in development at Prime Video. ACOTAR may have stalled at Hulu, but don’t be mistaken: erotically-charged fantasy content is in your future.
Incidentally, HBO just started shooting their new Harry Potter reboot. But I think they need to cut their losses and give the people what they really want: a Euphoria-style take on Hogwarts.
Ginny’s struggles with her body image and develops a Polyjuice addiction. Luna Lovegood microdoses Felix Felicis. Neville gets into an ethically ambiguous relationship with Moaning Myrtle.
People would watch that. Not a lot of them—but at least eight subreddits.