On HearthWrite, a fan is a reader who showed real interest — usually by following the story or putting it on a list — not someone who only peeked at the first chapter.
That matters because authors and shelves care about commitment, not raw page hits.
- Reader — opened chapters.
- Fan — followed or listed the story (committed).
- Strong fan — crossed a higher “this person really cares” bar. Authors see how many of those they have in Studio.
Your Library status (Currently Reading, Want to Read, Finished…) is for you. Following is the public “keep me updated” signal.