History FollowTheLeader / Literature

* When Creator/StephenKing published ''Literature/TheGreenMile'' in serial format, lesser-known horror writer Creator/JohnSaul attempted the same thing with ''The Blackstone Chronicles''. It didn't work as well.

** The series caused a boom in the YA vampire genre. Notable examples include P.C. Cast's ''Literature/TheHouseOfNight'' series, Richelle Mead's ''Literature/VampireAcademy'' series, and Melissa de la Cruz's ''Blue Bloods'' series, each having [[OurVampiresAreDifferent a wildly different take on the vampire mythos.]] Not only that, but it caused a surge of YA ParanormalRomance in general, or at least "angsty teenage girl falls in love with the hot new boy at her school who turns out to have a supernatural secret" plots: ''Literature/HushHush'' (supernatural secret: angels), ''Fallen'' series (angels again), ''Literature/TheImmortalsSeries'' ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin immortals]]), ''Literature/TheCasterChronicles'' ([[GenderFlip genderflipped]] and with witches), ''Literature/WolvesOfMercyFallsSeries'' (werewolves) ...

** Popular romance novel ''{{Literature/Fifty Shades Of Grey}}'' was originally a ''Twilight'' fanfiction. It was so successful that it spawned its own followers: two novels entitled ''Gabriel's Inferno'' and ''Gabriel's Rapture'' have gotten a seven-figure deal. And like ''Fifty Shades'', these novels started off as ''Twilight'' fanfics.
* Speaking of ''Fifty Shades of Grey'', it spawned the ''Eighty Days'' series; another trilogy of BDSM romance books called ''Eighty Days Yellow'', ''Eighty Days Blue'' and ''Eighty Days Red'', as well as two additional books set in the same universe, ''Eighty Days Amber'' and ''Eighty Days White''. As you may have noticed, even the title is designed to sound a bit like "Fifty Shades." It's no coincidence that it's got a number in the beginning and is followed by a color. And then there's the short story collection ''12 Shades of Surrender'', which is exactly what it sounds like.

* Creator/JasperFforde pokes fun at this phenomenon in ''The Well of Lost Plots: A Literature/ThursdayNext Novel.'' While Thursday is exploring the Well of Lost Plots, where books and characters are created from scratch, a MrExposition explains to her that, when one character is written with a particularly forceful or distinctive personality, characters-to-be are affected by that and take on those traits. A side-effect of Daphne Du Maurier's ''Rebecca,'' for example, is that hundreds of impressionable characters imitated the creepy and possibly [[PsychoLesbian psychotic lesbian]] housekeeper of the story, which results in, for Jurisfiction, an army of Mrs. Danvers clones. At the end, he offers Thursday, "Can I interest you in a wise {{old|Master}} [[EccentricMentor mentor]] figure?"

* During and after The90s, serial children's novels aimed at and starring elementary-school-age girls became wildly popular such as ''Literature/AmberBrown'', ''Ivy And Bean'', and ''Just Grace''. The Literature/JudyMoody series may be the start of this trend, since it established may of the cliches found in these books (a PluckyGirl protagonist between the ages of 8 and 10, a PunnyName, a school setting).
* The ''Mageworlds'' series are sci-fi novels which feature a BackgroundMagicField that binds everything in the universe, and can give those who can tap into it telepathy, telekinesis, psychic predictions, etc. This magic has good and evil users (Adepts and Mages, respectively) who [[ElegantWeaponForAMoreCivilizedAge use melee weapons in a galaxy full of blasters]]--and frequently, the [[GoodColorsEvilColors Adepts' energy manifests as blue or green, with the Mages' being red.]] The main characters include a [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething princess/queen]], a [[LovableRogue free-trader/smuggler/space pirate]], and [[TheMentor a very old, very wise mentor who is also secretly a user of the mystical power]]. It just might remind people of a very popular [[Franchise/StarWars film series]][[note]]the similarities grow stronger when you look at the generation prior to that of the main characters[[/note]]. There are enough plot differences that it doesn't read like a SerialNumbersFiledOff kind of thing, though.
* The UK and Ireland at one point saw a surge of popularity for "misery lit" books based on stories (some true, some not) of childhood abuse/ParentalAbandonment etc. They all look exactly the same (a mostly white cover with a photo of a big-eyed child and a heartstring-tugging title in twirly, bright lettering), occupy entire shelves in shops, and seem to be competing with each other to see which can be the most depressing. Possibly launched in America by ''A Child Called It'' by Dave Peltzer, which then brought the craze to Britain and Ireland when it was released there. Many bookshops began considering these a legitimate genre and established a section devoted to them, often called "Tragic Lives".

** It created a market for many new YoungAdult {{Dystopia}} novels. To name a few: ''Literature/TheMazeRunner'' by James Dashner, ''Literature/ShipBreaker'' by Paolo Bacigalupi, The ''DustLands'' trilogy by Moira Young, ''Wither'' by Lauren [=DeStefano=]. Many of these also hold to ''Literature/TheHungerGames'''s structure: ActionGirl protagonist (with the notable exception of ''The Maze Runner'', which has a male main character), present-tense first-person narration and social commentary, with many of them, such as ''Literature/{{Divergent}}'' by Veronica Roth and the ''Literature/LegendSeries'' by Marie Lu, often accused of ripping ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' off. In addition, many dystopian YA series have been released that have taken a LighterAndSofter, more romance-based approach, such as ''Literature/{{Delirium}}'', ''Literature/{{Matched}}'' and ''Literature/TheSelection''; these are often criticized for not utilizing their dystopian premises properly, neutering the edge of books like ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' and ''Literature/ChaosWalking'' and being watered-down dystopia for the ''Literature/{{Twilight|2005}}'' audience.

* Cory Doctorow's ''Literature/LittleBrother'' has one: ''Brain Jack'' by Brian Falkner, and a few other stories about DeadpanSnarker teen hackers resisting a government technological regime.
* While the whole fictional-story-written-as-a-journal/diary is nothing new, Jeff Kinney's ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'' series has at least one major imitator: Rachel Renee Russell's ''Literature/DorkDiaries.'' Other humorous graphic novel/children's novel hybrid series that have followed in Greg Heffley's wake include ''Middle School'' (Creator/JamesPatterson), ''Tales of a Sixth Grade [[Franchise/TheMuppets Muppet]]'', ''Timmy Failure'' ([[ComicStrip/PearlsBeforeSwine Stephan Pastis]]), and '''two''' ''Franchise/StarWars''-inspired series in ''Literature/OrigamiYoda'' (which takes place in a regular school) and ''Jedi Academy'' (which outright takes place in the Star Wars universe).
** ''Diary of a Wimpy Kid'' also was pretty much the ''codifier'' of the MiddleSchoolIsMiserable trope - as well as using [[JuniorHigh Middle School]] as a setting. During TheNew10s (Especially) there was a ''lot'' of books that were either fictional or real-life accounts of middle school. Plenty of which are either hybrid (like ''Diary'') or even graphic. Again, [[TropesAreTools this is not always a bad thing]] - as others attempt to make them much more character-driven as opposed to comedic.
* The success of ''Literature/BlackBeauty'' led to the (also successful) novel ''Beautiful Joe'' in 1893 (the latter even references the former); both novels helped raise awareness of animal cruelty.

** Jonas Jonasson's SpiritualSuccessor to ''The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared'' had a Swedish title that translates to ''The Illiterate Who Could Count.'' The English translation was named ''The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden''.
** Swedish writer Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg wrote a book called ''Kaffe med rån'', [[DoubleMeaningTitle which can mean both "Coffee with wafers" and "Coffee with robbery."]] The English translators gave it the title '' The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules,'' and in another example of this trope, gave its cover the same kind of design as Jonasson's novels. When she wrote a sequel, the English translation was named ''The Little Old Lady Who Struck Lucky Again!''

* From the same author as ''Shivers (M. D. Spenser)'' came [[Literature/{{Animorphs}} Humano-morphs]]. Unlike the actual Animorphs, this was an anthology series with new characters every time, with a different explanation for how they get the power to morph into other people.

* ''Literature/SoloLeveling'' has spawned its own unique genre of RPGMechanicsVerse {{Manhwa}} and WebSerialNovel[=s=] in which the modern world (usually focusing on UsefulNotes/SouthKorea) gets invaded by monsters from another world, people unlock magical abilities to fight off the monsters, and form [[CreatureHunterOrganization guilds meant to coordinate monster hunts]] which occur in specialized dungeons. Examples of this genre include ''The Undefeated Newbie'', ''Leveling Beyond the Max'', ''My Daughter is the Final Boss'', and ''SSS-Class Revival Hunter''.

** The entire fantasy genre hit a bit of a slump at the end of TheSeventies and throughout the entirety of TheEighties, fueled largely by this trope. Following Tolkien's death in 1973, many fantasy authors tried to claim legitimacy as the heir to Tolkien's throne, writing novels that more or less directly aped Tolkien's work. Throughout the ensuing period, many, many fantasy sagas were published which attempted to replicate the magic of ''The Lord of the Rings''. At the time they were published, many of these books were actually [[OnceOriginalNowCommon praised as worthy successors to Tolkien's epic]], though nowadays [[CondemnedByHistory have not stood the test of time]], and is now regarded by many as an AudienceAlienatingEra for the fantasy genre, in both print and film. It wasn't until the onset of TheNineties that the genre began to break free from Tolkien's shadow, with book series such as ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', and ''Literature/HarryPotter'' seeing immense success, and proving to the general public that there was much more to fantasy outside of ''Lord of the Rings''.

* During and after Main/TheNineties, serial children's novels aimed at and starring elementary-school-age girls became wildly popular such as ''Literature/AmberBrown'', ''Ivy And Bean'', and ''Just Grace''. The Literature/JudyMoody series may be the start of this trend, since it established may of the cliches found in these books (a PluckyGirl protagonist between the ages of 8 and 10, a PunnyName, a school setting).

** ''Diary of a Wimpy Kid'' also was pretty much the ''codifier'' of the MiddleSchoolIsMiserable trope - as well as using [[JuniorHigh Middle School]] as a setting. During TheNewTens (Especially) there was a ''lot'' of books that were either fictional or real-life accounts of middle school. Plenty of which are either hybrid (like ''Diary'') or even graphic. Again, [[TropesAreTools this is not always a bad thing]] - as others attempt to make them much more character-driven as opposed to comedic.

** The entire fantasy genre hit a bit of a slump at the end of TheSeventies and throughout the entirety of TheEighties, fueled largely by this trope. Following Tolkien's death in 1973, many fantasy authors tried to claim legitimacy as the heir to Tolkien's throne, writing novels that more or less directly aped Tolkien's work. Throughout the ensuing period, many, many fantasy sagas were published which attempted to replicate the magic of ''The Lord of the Rings''. At the time they were published, many of these books were actually [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny praised as worthy successors to Tolkien's epic]], though nowadays [[CondemnedByHistory have not stood the test of time]], and is now regarded by many as an AudienceAlienatingEra for the fantasy genre, in both print and film. It wasn't until the onset of TheNineties that the genre began to break free from Tolkien's shadow, with book series such as ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', and ''Literature/HarryPotter'' seeing immense success, and proving to the general public that there was much more to fantasy outside of ''Lord of the Rings''.