How one fan's erotic fantasies about Harry Styles became a publishing goldmine 

Please activate cookies in order to turn autoplay off

How one fan\'s erotic fantasies about Harry Styles became a publishing goldmine

One Direction fan Anna Todd\'s online fan fiction about the adventures of \'dirty Harry\' has been read 800m times and won her a six-figure book deal, with a film in the pipeline

One Direction\'s Harry Styles: the subject of fan fiction After. Photograph: Dave J Hogan

50 Shades of Grey? Is it a dirty book? Almost. After is a piece of erotic fan fiction, published in instalments online, about Harry Styles from One Direction.

Oh good, I\'ve got a free afternoon. How many instalments are there? Currently, there are 294.

Wow. Just bulletpoint the story for me, will you? Well, Harry meets a girl named Tessa. In chapter 22, Tessa goes to the Vancouver Mall. In chapter 75, Harry describes himself as "a sexy rude naked guy". In the next chapter they almost have sex but end up watching a Channing Tatum film on a laptop instead. I stopped reading after that, but presumably the rest is just as gripping.

Who on earth wrote this stuff? A 25-year-old Texan called Anna Todd. She\'s a big One Direction fan and the proud owner of a new six-figure book deal.

There\'s going to be a book? And a film, apparently. And Todd had also just launched a new line of After-inspired jewellery. People can\'t get enough of dirty Harry.

Really? Fan fiction is big business. The chapters of After have been read a combined total of 800m times. And don\'t forget that 50 Shades of Grey started life as a piece of Twilight fan fiction, and as we know, everyone loves 50 Shades of Grey.

So this is how you get rich? Write in a stream of consciousness style about celebrities having sex with an impressionable young woman and wait for the money to roll in? It depends on which celebrities you pick. Stories about Harry Styles and Robert Pattinson, for example, will do well. Stories about Philip Schofield having sex with a dinosaur, possibly less so.

How does Harry Styles feel about this? There\'s a strong possibilty that he\'s not too happy about it. When the book comes out, the Harry character will have a different name. But don\'t worry. He\'ll still be a cheeky brown-haired Brit. Just a different one.

Like Bradley Walsh, for instance? Sure, why not.

Do say: "It could have been worse. It could have been about Justin Bieber."

Don\'t say: "Someone get Hollywood on the line. We\'re making an erotic Justin Bieber fan fiction movie."

Our editors\' picks for the day\'s top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning.

Posted on Sunday 22 June 2014 13.00 EDT The Guardian

Daily Star takes wrong direction over Harry Styles \'x-rated sex pic\'

Media Monkey: Tabloid outfoxed by fake image of One Direction star\'s naked torso, changes front page

Ryan Tedder: One Direction are so normal it almost turns you off

Fashion award-winner Harry Styles\' greatest looks – in pictures

For No Good Reason review – a vivid portrait of Ralph Steadman

The Dirties review – the year\'s most significant horror film?

I Declare War review – thin Lord of the Flies knock-off

Miss Violence review – fear and loathing at home

We can\'t load the discussion on theguardian.com because you don\'t have JavaScript enabled.

1.  Sting says his six children will not inherit £180m fortune

2. \'Why haven\'t you booked me for the Pyramid stage?\': Michael Eavis answers famous festivalgoers\' questions

4. Lana Del Rey\'s Ultraviolence enters album charts at No 1

5. Glastonbury goes green: festival declares war on plastic water bottles

1.  Lana Del Rey\'s Ultraviolence enters album charts at No 1

3. How one fan\'s erotic fantasies about Harry Styles became a publishing goldmine

4. Sting says his six children will not inherit £180m fortune

5. Elton John review – rollercoaster 26-song treat in an unlikely locale

The end of the hipster: how flat caps and beards stopped being so cool

Mystery object in lake on Saturn\'s moon Titan intrigues scientists

Ronaldo\'s knee dominates build-up to key USA vs Portugal Group G clash

Polish foreign minister says country\'s alliance with US worthless

The Fault in Our Stars, Miss Violence and Jersey Boys

Spiders that can capture and eat fish have been discovered by scientists

watch the exclusive trailer for the left-wing icon\'s account of his life

Vanessa Paradis review – the sultry abandon of a teenage girl

Both starlet and harlot, French chanteuse and global player, the singer wielded her natural stage presence to striking effect, writes Betty Clarke

Elton John review – rollercoaster 26-song treat in an unlikely locale

Aldeburgh festival review – pioneering accordion and harpsichord in the smaller venues

Revival review – Bellowhead\'s rousing if slightly excitable fifth album

A quick chat designed to tell you everything you need to know about a story you don\'t need to know about

18 Jun 2014: Jeanette Winterson: a rabbit killer and proud of it

© 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.