A common question we hear from writers is ‘What is trending in the market?’ Trying to write to fit a trend almost always guarantees that you will miss the train and finish your manuscript only in time for the market to be oversaturated. Curious how there seem to be dozens of similar titles the moment a break-out book captures the attention of the world-at-large? Those books were written before the hit, edited and polished before the hit, had representation before the hit, have likely been submitted to publishers…say it with me now…before the hit. Publishing a book is a multi-year process, so the books we are seeing on the shelves and bestseller lists today have been acquired several years ago.

What has been hot with the reading and buying public this year:

1. Dystopian everything: Particularly at the start of the pandemic, when the world seemed to be going up in flames, many readers craved to see variations of that theme between the pages.

• • Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
  • The Plague by Albert Camus
  • The Stand by Stephen King
  • Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

2. Classics: There has been something comforting about rereading old favourites or slowing down to finally getting to that book you’ve been telling people for years you want to read.

• • Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
  • Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
  • Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
  • A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

3. Self-sufficiency: Not surprisingly, during the lockdowns when we saw the empty shelves in grocery stores and the shutdown of businesses, a great many of us turned to books on how to develop our skills of cooking, growing food, jarring, mending, and the like.

• • Practical Self-Sufficiency by Dick & James Strawbridge
  • Nothing Fancy by Alison Roman
  • Prescription for Natural Cures by James F. Balch
  • Attainable Sustainable by Kris Bordessa

4. Parenting, Marriage: The most time we have ever spent confined with our nearest and dearest also raised the magnifying glass to the areas that needed improvements in these relationships.

• • The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman
  • When the World Feels Like a Scary Place by Abigail Gerwirtz
  • The Explosive Child by Ross W. Greene
  • How Not to Hate Your Husband After Kids by Jancee Dunn
  • Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb

5. Horror: Similar to the appetite for dystopian lit, horror has been rising steadily, particularly since the new horror is very literary, exceptionally written, and focuses on social issues.

• • Mexican Gothic by Sylvia Moreno-Garcia
  • Death in Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh
  • The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones
  • The Unsuitable by Molly Pohlig

6. Race studies: Recent events have catapulted the demand for books that can help readers contextualize the discussion of race issues central to the current socio-political climate.

• • The Skin We’re In by Desmond Cole
  • White Fragility by Robyn DiAngelo
  • How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X Kendi
  • Policing Black Lives by Robyn Maynard
  • Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad

7. Diversity: The push for diversity in books started several years ago and we are seeing greater results in the publication of #ownvoices authors and featuring BIPOC characters. To underscore, diversity representation in books is not a trend and will continue to grow in importance as an integral part of the future of publishing.

• • The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas
  • Indians on Vacation by Thomas King
  • The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory
  • Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
  • Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Book a consultation with us to review your project to help you determine where and how it can fit the market!