Looking for a comment about "50 Shades of Grey"

August 3, 2015 12:32 PM

I'm trying to find a comment on MetaFilter that summarized how 50 Shades of Grey went from fanfic to published work, and specifically talked about the books' author having a background in marketing. Do you know which comment I'm looking for and where it is? More details inside.

I feel kind of dumb even asking about this, but I've looked and looked with no luck. Here's what I can remember about the comment: it was several paragraphs long, and written by someone who was familiar with the fanfiction world. The commenter described 50 Shade's origins as fanfic, then went on to describe E.L. James' background in marketing (I think) and how she used that to her advantage to increase her work's popularity. I *think* the commenter had been involved in the fandom or at least had been a spectator to the whole thing.

The closest I've found was a link (now defunct; I pulled it from the Wayback Machine) within one of the 50 Shades of Grey posts; this link was a description of fighting between James and the link's author over hosting or something. It's not what I'm looking for. I'm almost positive that a) the information I'm looking for was in a comment in the blue; and b) it was a summary more of how James worked the system and not so much about acrimony within the fandom (though that was mentioned a bit).

posted by Janta to MetaFilter-Related at 12:32 PM (11 comments total)

So not a variant on this?
posted by Artw at 12:43 PM on August 3, 2015

Are you sure it was here? That sounds like either the link Artw posted, or someone that was on the now-defunct Fandom Wank boards.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:52 PM on August 3, 2015

This comment on reddit's /r/TwoXChromosomes?
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 2:26 PM on August 3, 2015 [2 favorites]

There's this, which was posted around the time 50 Shades got popular.
posted by sciatrix at 4:40 PM on August 3, 2015

Journalfen apparently had issues with a server migration - hence FandomWank being offline. Might be worth checking back in a few days once they're up and running again.
posted by Deoridhe at 4:44 PM on August 3, 2015

They've been down for a whiiiiiiiiile, though.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:53 PM on August 3, 2015

I'm almost positive it was a comment here -- I don't generally read anything on reddit. That said, Artw's link seems to have the gist of what I was looking for (it came up in conversation with a friend and I wanted to be able to point to some more details than just "oh, I read this one thing once").
posted by Janta at 5:38 PM on August 3, 2015

I have a fuzzy memory of the comment you're describing, and I think it was here. I can't find it, though.
posted by Metroid Baby at 6:46 PM on August 3, 2015 [1 favorite]

The comment NSAID linked to was linked to on the blue here.
posted by Trivia Newton John at 5:27 AM on August 4, 2015

I think I remember the comment you're talking about. but haven't had luck finding it in the 50 Shades threads. I wonder if it was in a more general fanfic or fandom thread?
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 7:49 AM on August 4, 2015

I linked to the reddit comment posted above one time in a comment and I am sure I've seen it linked a couple other times on the blue, so you could have gotten there form here and then just clicked back into Metafilter.

(The Whelk's appalled dismay at the 50 Shades teddy bear still makes me giggle btw.)
posted by Wretch729 at 1:37 PM on August 4, 2015 [2 favorites]