#rarelit

Have you ever read a fantastic book and eagerly searched for fanfics on AO3—only to discover it has almost no works? This Terminology Thursday, we're highlighting Rarelit, which refers to fanfiction in small book- or author-based fandoms. It falls under the larger umbrella of Litfic—fanfiction derived from novels or other literary works—but rarelit is set apart by fanfic popularity and size.

So what makes something rarelit? Generally, these are literary fandoms with only a handful to a few thousand fanfics online. The boundary can be fuzzy; medium-sized fandoms like Good Omens or Narnia are sometimes included, sometimes not. And some fans also count fanfiction based on literary adaptations for film or TV as rarelit, though opinions vary.

It really depends on who you ask! If a fandom is included in rarelit, that isn’t to say the work or author is unknown; it simply means the number of fan works associated with that fandom is small. For example, Jane Eyre, the 1847 Gothic romance by Charlotte Brontë, is a widely popular novel, but has just over 300 fics on AO3 as of October 2025, so it is classified as rarelit.

Interested in exploring some obscure literary fandoms? Visit the Fanlore page and discover hidden gems! (Or add your own!)

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