I knew I didn't put that part well -- apologies. A question that pops into my mind every now and then is "why do some (books/series/etc) have a fandom and others don't?" and then I wonder whether I can moan that there is no Saint fandom (I'm thinking of Charteris' books, not the film or the TV series) to join when the books' many fans do in fact form clubs and issue newsletters, etc. And that's ace, but I'd still like to join a creative fandom in the sense of finding fic to read and sharing fanart I made.
This creative rather than analytical segment is what I find crucial for there being a Fandom with its capital F. I'm not saying meta-based fan associations aren't fandoms, but I'd like there to be a difference in terminology between fandoms with a creative element (which need archives such as the AO3) and those without.