How To Become a BNF

[kerravonsen]

With the recent HP fandom controversy going the rounds, I've been wondering about what makes a BNF, and what you have to have and do in order to become one.

ETA: Please note, I do not want to become a BNF. Note that my "mood" is "cynical".

1. Get in on the ground floor.
You have absolutely no chance of becoming a BNF in a particular fandom unless you are one of the first few people in that fandom. It doesn't help if you're more talented than an already established BNF, because by then it is too late. You have to get in while the fandom is hot, and the number of people required to impress is small -- once you've won them over, they will indoctrinate the latecomers.
This also requires a bit of prescience, since you have to know what fandoms are going to become big fandoms, before they do become big (you can't really be a BNF in a small fandom).

2. Live in the USA.
It isn't that there aren't BNFs outside the USA, but the culture of the USA seems more amenable to BNF-dom, possibly because modesty isn't considered a virtue in the USA.
Also, for fandoms based on US TV, it's easier to do #1 if you live in the USA.

3. Do something admirable.
If you want to be admired, you have to be able to produce something which other fans can admire.
(a) writing or art
This is a common method: "I worship your writing" has been uttered by fans of BNFs. You don't necessarily have to have fantastic talent (fans are easy to please) but you have to have some talent.
(b) connections
Have an "in" with actors/producers/writers of the fandom, and use that to score coups which can be shared with other fans.
(c) Organisation skills
Run a convention or a website, so long as it is the biggest convention ever, or THE website for that fandom. It helps if it's the first convention or website for the fandom (see #1)

4. Be prolific and/or tireless.
It's no good being a good writer or having connections if your work isn't appearing before other fans regularly. This is aided by having a spouse who earns the bread, or possibly having a job which is connected with fandom.
You also have to concentrate all your efforts on that particular fandom -- if you are interested in multiple fandoms, you are doomed, since your efforts are spread out over more than one fandom.

5. Be or know a gatekeeper.
The best way to become a BNF is to not only have the talent, but to also control the information flow to other fans. In the old days, this used to be along the lines of running a club or putting out a popular fanzine. Nowadays it's more along the lines of running a website or moderating a forum/mailing list. To avoid an apparent conflict of interest, it may be better if you yourself aren't the gatekeeper, but your best friend is.

---

All of these demonstrate why I will never become a BNF myself -- I'm interested in far too many fandoms, and I always seem to come in on the fandoms too late. Not to mention that I'm no good at self-promotion.

Comments

[watervole.livejournal.com]

A question, becasue I'm curious.

I came into B7 fandom late, but I published an awful lot of zines. I had a very large and active web site (still there, but less active these days) and I wrote masses.

Was I a BNF?

I'm currently chair of the 2008 British National Science Fiction convention (though I don't expect most of the attendees to recognise either my name or my face). Am I a BNF now?

I will not be offended by any answer - just curious.

[kerravonsen]

As you say above, if you're thought of as a BNF, you are one...
But as the whole negative HP thing (and other nastinesses that I know of that occurred in B7 fandom) has shown, there seem to be two kinds of BNF: the ones who don't care whether they are a BNF or not, and get well known by the hard work they do, and others, who also do much hard work, but who do care whether they are a BNF and how much they can influence other fans opinions.

Casting my mind back to Deliverance '98, and the promos you folk were doing for the first Redemption ("After Deliverance comes Redemption") and the negativity that was stirred up afterwards, I think Diane Gies percieved you as a threat to her own BNF kingdom -- so she surely considered you to be a rival BNF.

But you are the first sort of BNF -- the kind who works hard and is more interested in getting the job done than how much fame you get. {hugs}

[kerravonsen]

Another thing is, I personally can't tell whether you are a BNF or not, because I know you as my good friend, so I can't tell how much fame you might have to a random fan.

[hawkeye7.livejournal.com]

You are a BNF. Enjoy!

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

To my eyes - when I tentatively joined the B7 fandom - yes, you were. In fact, the first one I recognised as such :)

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

You certainly seemed to be one to me when I entered the fandom... Probably the most readily identifiable BNF I encountered, really. (Or, in other words, yeah, what Sally said. :))

[mistraltoes.livejournal.com]

Yes, you're a BNF. But by the old-school definition of 'well-known and respected for contributions to fandom', not by the newer one of 'much-hated person with too much clout'. In B7 fandom, I would have to list at least Diane Gies, you, Annie and Leah as BNFs. But B7 fandom is fairly small and close-knit, so there are lots of MNFs, and the BNFs, MNFs, and LNFs all rub shoulders and share a certain kind of egalitarianism.

[kerravonsen]

Well, I would class Diane Gies, Annie and Leah as "much-hated with too much clout" -- if one knows one's fannish history. I'm not so sure that that is a "newer definition", considering how long ago all the stuff with them happened. Or maybe you mean... the connotations of "BNF" are more negative than they used to be?

[mistraltoes.livejournal.com]

Or maybe you mean... the connotations of "BNF" are more negative than they used to be?

Yes, that's exactly what I mean. Any positive connotation of the term is fast disappearing, and most sensible people don't want to be considered BNFs. The nicer BNFs have to deny their BNF-ness. The most you want to be is 'well-known in one corner of fandom'.

[kerravonsen]

Mind you, even the phrase "Big Name Fan" makes me feel uncomfortable, and if I were a BNF I would want to deny being a BNF, or call it something else.