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Fandom isn't a noun, it's a verb. Fans create; they engage; they discuss. From comics to clothing, boundaries between fans and creators are blurring, and in this new fandom-based economy, it's clear: consumers may buy a product, but it is fans who can make or break it.

An essential guide to the fan-fuelled future, Superfandom explores the explosion of fandom and its transformative impact on culture and business. In chapters centred on illuminating case studies, experts Zoe Fraade-Blanar and Aaron Glazer delve into the history, sociology and psychology of fan culture, and how it can change the way business works. With them we visit Disneyland, drink Frida Kahlo branded margaritas, meet the fans who rebelled when Polaroid discontinued its film, and find out how fan-modding of Grand Theft Auto adds value to the game.

The internet allows direct access to this world: businesses can talk directly to their fans, hear their needs and desires, and react in real time. But while the benefits of this relationship can be huge, businesses that exploit or ignore fan bases do so at their peril. It can be very easy to get fan engagement wrong - as IKEA found out when it tried to shut down a fan site. Practical, investigative and reflective, Superfandom is a compelling and convincing exploration of the subject, and an indispensable guide to the brave new world of tech-fuelled fandom. Superfandom is the ultimate guide to making the most of the new fan-based economy. It presents the new way businesses interact with their customers, and it's funny, too. Read it for insights into epic failure and brilliant success in fan management, or read it for stories about the politics of Disney's Social Clubs. Either way, you won't regret it. Your fandom will be better off for it. -- Jonah Berger, Wharton Professor and bestselling author of 'Contagious: Why Things Catch On' Fans aren't just customers - they care more about what your company does, both good and bad - and no one understands how fans tick and what they can mean for a business better than Zoe and Aaron. -- Clay Shirky, author of Here Comes Everybody and Cognitive Surplus In a 1986 sketch on Saturday Night Live, William Shatner told a gathering of Trekkers at a Holiday Inn in Rye, New York, to "get a life...for crying out loud." A lot has happened since then. Tremendous technological transformations and online opportunities have created a complex calculus regarding the relationship between texts and brands and the people who love them. Superfandom provocatively explores this evolving relationship-with a dazzling number of examples-and describes what happens when fans don't just consume something, but influence it as well. And it's not just a celebration of the new voices now being heard in the process of the production of culture; it also describes how superfans can, on occasion, be real pains-in-the-neck. -- Robert Thompson, Trustee Professor, Newhouse School of Public Communication Director, Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture, Syracuse University

Superfandom: How Our Obsessions Are Changing What We Buy and Who We Are