F A N D O M S ! W H AT ’ S T R E N D I N G A N D H O W
Y O U C A N B R I N G F A N S T O Y O U R L I B R A R Y
P C I W E B I N A R S | C A R R I E R O G E R S - W H I T E H E A D |
R O G E R S - W H I T E H E A D @ H O T M A I L . C O M
I’M A BIG
GEEK
• I love the power of
fandoms to bring
people together. Their
universal stories bring
together people of
different cultures and
backgrounds.
WHAT THIS WEBINAR COVERS
Fandom trends
• Streaming services
• TV
• Graphic novels
• Podcasts
• Gaming
Bringing fans in the library
• Outreach
• Marketing ideas
• Social media
• Partnerships
• Displays
References
FA N D O M & G E E K T R E N D S TV, BOOK, MOVIE , AND VIDEO GAME TRENDS
TV FANDOMS • CW- Gen Z station and place for YA
adaptations
• The 100
• Supergirl
• The Flash
• Riverdale
• Batwoman (new!)
• Arrow
• DC: Legends of Tomorrow
SOME POPULAR TV FANDOMS
Dr Who
BBC
The Walking Dead
AMC
Star Trek Discovery
CBS
MORE POPULAR TV FANDOMS
Bob’s Burgers
FOX
Sherlock
BBC
A Discovery of Witches
AMC
VIDEO GAME FANDOMS
• Mobile games
• PC Games
• RPGs
• MMORPGS
• Console games
SOME VIDEO GAME FANDOMS
World of Warcraft
MMORPGS
Fortnite
All platforms
Mario
Video games
ESPORTS
“Over half of eSports fans are between 18-
34 and many teens make up the fan base.
…These typical fans are highly engaged. Like
a football fan who has a season pass and
tailgates each home game, an eSport fan will
spend a significant amount of time and even
travel, for their games.”
“Fans aren't just spending time on eSports,
they're spending money. It's estimated by
Mindshare North America that expenditures
on eSports will reach over a billion dollars
in 2019. Some of the biggest celebrity
players in eSports make six figures. eSports
is a growing part of the gaming landscape,
and is not going away any time soon.”-
Carrie Rogers-Whitehead, Digital
Citizenship: Teaching Strategies and Practice
from the Field
NETFLIX AND FANDOMS
• Netflix has made older
shows popular and brought
new audiences to certain
genres
• It has greatly increased it’s
original content, creating
new fandoms
NETFLIX AND ANIME
Netflix is the exclusive
distributor of lots of anime
Netflix has brought back
popular shows like Evangelion
Netflix has popularized many
anime
Netflix Originals aren’t created
by Netflix, but Netflix has the
exclusive rights such as: Ajin,
Castlevania etc.
CURRENT POPULAR ANIME
• My Hero Academia- Shonen adventure story about
superheroes
• Attack on Titan- Shonen action with humans fighting
giants
• Isekai- Which are stories where people are transported
to video games, or even reserve isekai where video games
players are in the real world
• KonoSuba- Isekai with goddesses and an ordinary teen
boy
• One Punch Man- Shonen about a hero who destroys
things with just one punch
• Dr. Stone- dystopian series in the future where people
are turned to stone
OTHER STREAMING FANDOMS
Good Omens
Amazon Prime
Runaways
Hulu
Westworld
HBO Now
D I S N E Y O W N S M A R V E L , S T A R W A R S , D R E A M W O R K S , P I X A R A N D 2 1 S T C E N T U R Y F O X
DISNEY PLUS
Shows coming up on
Disney Plus (so far):
• Star Wars: Clone Wars
• Mandalorian
• Loki
• WandaVision
• Hawkeye
• Mighty Ducks and
Sandlot reboot
• Monsters at Work
• Muppets Revival
• Lots more…
PODCAST FANDOMS
Nightvale
OG of fictional podcasts spanning a
wide fandom, international tour and
rabid fanbase
Alice isn’t Dead
Quirky podcast spinoff from Nightvale
creator
The Bright Sessions
Fictional recorded therapy sessions
with a Dr. Bright. Being adapted for TV
and a YA series
POPULAR GEEK PODCASTS • Rocket Talk- sci fi author
podcast
• Nerdist Podcast- very large
following
• Tabletop- where Wil Wheaton
and friends play games and talk
• Adventure Zone- comedic
DnD podcast
• More to Come- podcast about
comics and graphic novels by
Publisher’s Weekly
GR APHIC NOV EL TR ENDS
• Creators on Twitch IRL
channels creating meet
ups
• More content on digital
platforms
• The medium is flourishing,
allowing for smaller
publishers to compete
• More than 1 billion in
sales in 2017
• More comics being
supported through
crowdfunding
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE FANDOM?
B R I N G I N G FA N S I N T H E L I B R A R Y MARKETING, OUTREACH
AND MORE
PASSIVE GEEK COMPETITION DISPLAYS
Fandom voting Battle of the geeks Versus: DC vs. Marvel
Where to find geeks on social media
• Tumblr- although not as much as in
the past
• DeviantArt
• FanFiction.Net and AO3 (Archive of
our own)
• 4chan- Beware!
• Discord
• And traditional social media:
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. 23
VISUAL
NOVELS
• Interactive game genre, think
Choose Your Own Adventure
• Usually has anime style art
• Sometimes visual novels are
turned into light novels or
manga. They are very popular
in Japan and growing in
popularity in the US.
• How can libraries capitalize
on visual novels?
COLLECTION
DEVELOPMENT • Group by series
• Keeping graphic novels near the drawing
books
• Video game novel section
• Pulling out in between books, like Diary
of a Wimpy Kid, that aren’t graphic
novels but aren’t fully novels
• Book into movie display
GEEK OUTREACH
• Conventions
• Comic Book Stores
• Renaissance Faires
• Gaming Stores- go to a gaming
night or host the game store
• Cosplay/Costume stores
• Live podcast shows
• Stores with gaming like Microsoft,
Best Buy
For geek
news
• Nerdlist
• Buzzfeed Geeky
• io9
• Geek Tyrant
• Den of Geek
• Geek Insider
• Polygon
• IGN 27
FREE COMIC BOOK DAY
• First Saturday in May
• Run by Diamond Comics Distribution
• Contact Diamond Comics way in advance
• Every year there are different comics
• There are comics for kids, teens and adults
REFERENCES • Rogers-Whitehead, C. (2018). Teen Fandom and Geek Programming: a
Practical Guide for Librarians. Rowman and Littlefield.
• Free Comic Book Day https://www.freecomicbookday.com
• https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-
news/comics/article/78393-selling-graphic-novels-in-a-changing-american-
marketplace.html
• “Top 5 Ways to Celebrate Batman Day 2017,” DC Comics,
http://www.dccomics.com/blog/2017/08/23/top-5-ways-to-celebrate-batman-
day-2017
• Visual Novels Database https://vndb.org
• https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/originals/anime/
• https://www.themanual.com/culture/best-fiction-podcasts/
QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION
T H A N K S ! | R O G E R S -
W H I T E H E A D @ H OT M A I L . C O M